Southeast Missouri State baseball team knocks off Missouri

~ Southeast scored two runs in the ninth for a 9-7 win in the first meeting between the schools since 2006

Southeast Missouri State baseball coach Steve Bieser was happy to renew the Redhawks' rivalry with Missouri this year after the teams had not meet since 2006.

Bieser was even happier Tuesday night after the Redhawks beat the Tigers 9-7 in Columbia, Mo.

Junior Matt Tellor led off the top of the ninth inning with a home run on the first pitch, breaking a 7-7 tie, as Southeast won for just the second time in its last nine games.

The Redhawks also broke a six-game losing streak in mid-week nonconference matchups.

"We needed this mid-week win. They really came ready to play. I'm very proud of all these guys," Bieser said.

Southeast improved to 21-25 while MU fell to 15-25. The Redhawks have now won four of the past six meetings with the Tigers although MU still leads the all-time series 21-10.

"This was such a great ballgame by both clubs. We just kept coming back, they kept coming back," Bieser said. "We played a complete game. We didn't make any mental errors and that was the difference in the game."

The back-and-forth contest featured two ties and leads by both teams although neither squad was ever ahead by more than two runs.

MU forged a 7-7 tie by scoring two eighth-inning runs with two outs.

Southeast didn't waste any time in going ahead for the final time. Tellor's team-high eighth homer of the season broke the deadlock after he had entered the at-bat 1 for his last 15.

"He's been trying to do so much and carry the team. I told him he doesn't have to worry about carrying the team, just do what he does best," Bieser said.

The Redhawks added an insurance run when sophomore Dalton Hewitt singled and later scored on a two-out RBI single by freshman Clayton Evans.

Southeast outhit MU 15-8 and had two of the game's three home runs along with all of the game's four doubles.

"They didn't throw any slouches against us. They threw quality arms out there," Bieser said.

Junior Derek Gibson's inside-the-park homer in the first inning, after sophomore Jason Blum led off with a single, staked Southeast to a quick 2-0 lead.

MU failed to make connections while attempting a diving catch on Gibson's line drive to left field. The ball rolled to the wall and Gibson was able to circle the bases for Southeast's first inside-the-park homer since 2010.

Evans went 3 for 4 with three RBIs. Gibson went 3 for 5.

Blum, sophomore Nolan Fisher and sophomore Ryan Barnes all added two hits. Blum matched Gibson with two RBIs.

Southeast led 3-1 after 3 1/2 innings before MU went ahead 5-3 after five innings.

Blum's two-out, two-RBI double in the sixth inning was part of a three-run outburst that put the Redhawks back on top 6-5.

Fisher's RBI single in the seventh inning made it 7-5. MU tied it in the eighth inning to set the stage for Southeast's go-ahead ninth inning.

Southeast used four pitchers.

Senior Tony Zerrusen started. He allowed just one run and two hits in three innings.

Freshman left-hander Alex Winkelman allowed four runs and three h its in two innings.

Junior lefty Skylar Cobb, a Scott City High School graduate, gave up two runs and two hits in 2 1/3 innings.

Senior Bobby Hurst (3-2) notched the win as he pitched the final 1 2/3 innings. Hurst allowed the tying two-run single in the eighth -- the runs charged to Cobb on the only hit Hurst gave up -- before nailing down the victory in the ninth.

"Credit the guys who threw on the mound for us," Bieser said. "We did not give them any huge innings and that was the difference in the game."

Southeast played without sophomore third baseman Andy Lennington, who had started every game this year. He was sidelined with a pulled muscle behind his right shoulder.

The Redhawks were already without junior center fielder Cole Bieser, who recently went down with a season-ending wrist injury.

Southeast resumes Ohio Valley Conference play this weekend with a three-game series at Murray State. Starting times are 3 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.