Southeast Missouri State baseball team drops pitchers duel to UALR

~ Southeast mustered just four hits in a 1-0 loss to the Trojans

Southeast Missouri State and the University of Arkansas-Little Rock baseball teams combined for seven hits.

The timely hits amounted to zero.

The host Trojans came away with a 1-0 victory, scoring the game's only run on a first-inning sacrifice fly.

Southeast dropped its second consecutive game and fell to 2-2 on the season, squandering the strong starting pitching of Alex Winkelman and the work of relievers Travis Hayes and Greg Mosel.

Winkelman (0-1) allowed all three Trojan hits, walked two and struck out five in five innings to take the loss. Hayes pitched two 1-2-3 innings, striking out three, while Mosel pitched around an eighth-inning walk in his one inning.

The Trojans improved to 4-0 after a season-opening sweep of Creighton over the weekend. UALR has allowed one run or less in three of its four games.

UALR turned a leadoff double to center field by Ben Crumpton in the bottom of the first inning into the lone run. Crumpton took third on a groundout to the right side by Scott Ryan and scored on Austin Pfeiffer's one-out flyball to right field.

Southeast's prime opportunity to score came in the sixth inning when it had runners at second and third with no outs. Dalton Hewitt led off with a single against UALR starter Chad Bradford and went to third on a throwing error on Derek Gibson's sacrifice bunt. Gibson stole second before Bradford struck out Branden Boggetto and hit No. 9 hitter Clayton Evans to load the bases for junior preseason All-American Jason Blum.

UALR then turned to a bullpen that did not allow an earned run to Creighton over the weekend. Reliever Jesse Harbin (1-0) escaped the jam when he induced Blum to hit into an inning-ending double play.

Southeast advanced only one more runner into scoring position the remainder of the game against Harbin and three other relievers. That came when Blum coaxed a two-out walk in the eighth and stole second. Cole Bieser popped out to end the threat.

Harbin threw 1 1/3 innings to collect the win.

The game originally was scheduled to be played in Cape Girardeau, but wet field conditions at Capaha Field forced the game to be moved.

Southeast is tentatively scheduled to play its home opener at 3 p.m. today against Harris Stowe, but a decision has yet to be made on whether the game will take place.

The Redhawks also are scheduled to open a three-game weekend series against Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne at home on Friday.