Southeast Missouri State baseball team evens series against EIU with 25-run attack

~ Southeast set a school record for runs in an OVC game in Saturday's 25-6 win

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team bounced back from Friday's loss with a vengeance.

Southeast evened its Ohio Valley Conference series at Eastern Illinois with Saturday's 25-6 romp as the Redhawks set a school record for most runs during an OVC game.

The Redhawks scored at least four runs in four different innings after they were shut down offensively during Friday's 4-2 series-opening setback in Charleston, Ill.

The Redhawks are 20-20 overall and a fifth-place 12-8 in the 11-team OVC. EIU is 13-22 and a 10th-place 4-12.

Southeast Missouri State players Matt Tellor (19), Andy Lennington (2), Derek Gibson (27) and Branden Boggetto salute Ryan Barnes on his grand slam during the seventh inning Saturday in Charleston, Ill. (WAYNE MCPHERSON ~ Special to Southeast Missourian)

Southeast will look for its fourth straight OVC series victory today when the squads play the rubber matchup at 1 p.m. The Redhawks have won eight of their last 11 league games.

The Redhawks batted around in four different innings Saturday, including the second when they scored eight runs on six hits and two errors to break a scoreless tie. Junior first baseman Matt Tellor had two hits in the frame, including an RBI single.

Sophomore DH Ryan Barnes had an RBI double, while freshman right fielder Clayton Evans, sophomore catcher Dalton Hewitt and junior left fielder Derek Gibson all added run-scoring singles.

"We got off to a great start and got deep into their bullpen," Southeast coach Steve Bieser said.

Southeast made it 9-0 in the third inning but saw its lead sliced to 9-6 after six innings.

Southeast Missouri State’s Jason Blum slides into third base with a triple as Eastern Illinois’ Brant Valach takes the throw Saturday in Charleston, Ill.

The Redhawks then broke the game open with a seven-run seventh inning, all scoring with two outs. Tellor had a two-run single and Barnes capped the uprising with a grand slam for his first home run of the season.

Southeast added four runs in the eighth inning and five in the ninth.

Junior Josh Meade had a pinch-hit three-RBI double in the eighth. Gibson had a two-RBI double in the ninth, pinch-hitter Nolan Fisher added a two-RBI double and Meade rounded out the scoring with an RBI single.

"When it got 9-6 it started to get a little scary, but we really came on and put some good at-bats together late in the game," Bieser said.

The Redhawks banged out a season-high 22 hits, including five doubles, a triple and a home run.

Southeast Missouri State players Matt Tellor (19), Andy Lennington (2), Derek Gibson (27) and Branden Boggetto salute Ryan Barnes on his grand slam during the eighth inning Saturday in Charleston, Ill. (WAYNE MCPHERSON ~ Special to Southeast Missourian)

Tellor went 4 for 6 with three RBIs. Gibson went 3 for 6 with five RBIs and four runs scored.

Sophomore Jason Blum, normally Southeast's second baseman who was playing center field, went 3 for 4, including a triple, as he extended his hitting streak to 14 games. He also scored three runs.

Barnes added two hits and five RBIs, while Meade delivered two hits and four RBIs in just two plate appearances.

Hewitt had two hits and scored three times. Evans added two hits.

Sophomore left-hander Will Spitzfaden (5-3) notched the victory. He allowed six runs and 10 hits in five-plus innings, with one strikeout and two walks.

Southeast's bullpen did the rest.

Senior Tony Zerrusen was key. He entered with the bases loaded and nobody out in the sixth inning after EIU had already scored five runs. Zerrusen recorded three straight outs with only one additional run coming home on a sacrifice fly.

Freshman Alex Siddle allowed one hit over 1 1/3 innings, and freshman Tyler Thomas finished with 1 2/3 hitless frames.

Friday's game was marked by Blum breaking the school single-season record for times being hit by a pitch.

Blum was hit twice, giving him 19 HBP on the year to break the previous mark of 18 set by All-American Trenton Moses last season. Blum also moved up to second on Southeast's career HBP list with 28. Moses leads with 49.

Senior left-hander Zack Smith had one of the best pitching performances of his two-year Southeast career but took the loss. He worked a career-high eight innings in his first complete game of the season.

Smith (2-4) allowed four runs and six hits, while striking out one and walking one. He retired 17 of the last 18 batters he faced and blanked EIU over the final five innings.

Only one of EIU's runs was unearned, but a couple more could have been avoided if Southeast had been better defensively.

"Zack was the one bright spot in the game," said Bieser, whose squad committed three errors and failed to execute some other defensive plays.

Southeast took a 1-0 lead as EIU freshman Jake Johansmeier ran into first-inning trouble, walking three and allowing an RBI single to sophomore third baseman Andy Lennington.

But the Redhawks stranded the bases loaded with one out, and Johansmeier (2-2) blanked Southeast over the next six inning. He allowed just four hits, struck out five and walked four. The seven-inning outing was the longest of his young collegiate career and the five strikeouts marked a career high.

Two EIU relievers finished up. Southeast got an eighth-inning run on Lennington's RBI single but stranded runners on first and third. The Redhawks stranded one runner in the ninth.

Lennington and Hewitt each had two of Southeast's five hits.

The Panthers scored an unearned run in the first inning to tie the contest. They went ahead for good in the second inning and rounded out their scoring with two runs in the third.

Southeast junior center fielder Cole Bieser, who leads the OVC with 15 stolen bases in 15 attempts and is batting .306, did not play either Friday or Saturday after he suffered a wrist injury Tuesday against Arkansas State. He is not expected to see action today.