Southeast Missouri State baseball team splits season-opening doubleheader

It was unusual to see the Southeast Missouri State baseball team commit six errors and be thrown out attempting to steal six times in its season-opening doubleheader on Friday.

What wasn't quite so unusual for the defending Ohio Valley Conference champion Redhawks was ability to put their miscues and a loss in their first game against Bowling Green aside and rebound with a win in Game 2.

Southeast responded from a 7-6 loss to the Falcons in Game 1 with a 6-5 win in the seven-inning second game at Capaha Field.

"We've kind of got that bulldog mentality that we're always going to give it all we got," Southeast senior second baseman Jason Blum said. "The one thing we can control is our effort. We're going to make sure we give it our all and leave it all on the field and whatever the score ends up at the end of the game we're going to know that we tried our best."

Southeast plated the first two runs of Game 2 in the bottom of the first.

Blum led off with a single and scored from first on a double by freshman left fielder Trevor Ezell.

Ezell scored to make it 2-0 on a single through the right side by designated hitter Ryan Rippee.

The Falcons got a run back in the third on a couple of Redhawks errors. After a leadoff single, Southeast catcher Scott Mitchell tried to pick off Kory Brown at first, but overthrew down the line, allowing Brown to advance to second with no outs.

Blum fielded a grounder off the bat of Brandon Howard, but first baseman Garrett Gandolfo mishandled it and Brown scored.

Shortstop Branden Boggetto singled home right fielder Dalton Hewitt in the bottom of the fourth to push the lead to 3-1.

An error by Boggetto to start the top of the next inning eventually led to a tie ballgame.

After the error, starting pitcher Travis Hayes walked the next two batters to load the bases with no out before a sacrifice fly by Bowling Green's Brian Bien scored to cut the lead to one.

"I definitely think it's something fixable," Southeast coach Steve Bieser said of the errors. "Yeah, it's cold, but a lot of it is we've got some new guys mixing in there, and I think it just takes a little bit to gel. Even though we've been together practicing, this is the first time we're out where it really counts. I think we played a little bit jittery, a little bit on edge, and just didn't relax and play that we're capable. ... It's one of those tough things because there's so much competition. Everyone wants to be in the lineup. A lot more people than nine deserve to be in this lineup. ... We've got some guys that could be pressing just to try to be so perfect rather than just relax and play."

Hayes struck out the next batter before a wild pitch allowed the tying run to score. A groundout stranded two Falcons.

"A situation like that, it's just about trying to slow it down as much as you can, and that's what we tried to do," Hayes said. "I've always got Jason [Blum] out there reminding me, 'Slow it down a little bit.' Same thing with Lenny [Andy Lennington] at third and Getto [Branden Boggetto] at short. They're always talking to me, so that helps, and just knowing that you've got those guys up the middle, Lenny's so good at third base, and the guys in the outfield all run all over the field and catch balls that other guys won't. It's really nice to know that I've got those people behind me that if I just make my pitches I'm going to get weak contact and they're going to field it 99 percent of the time."

The Redhawks answered with two in their half of the inning -- on a bases-loaded RBI single by Lennington and a bases-loaded walk by Boggetto -- to take the lead for good.

Southeast Missouri State's Ryan Rippee hits an RBI double that scored Trevor Ezell against Bowling Green State during the first inning of the first game Friday, Feb. 13, 2015 at Capaha Field. (Fred Lynch)

They tacked on a run to make it 6-3 on a two-out RBI single by Rippee in the bottom of the sixth.

A leadoff error came around to score on a double off reliever Brady Wright. Wright struck out the next batter before the Falcons' Trey Keegan singled home a run to cut it to 6-5, but the Redhawks turned a game-ending double play to secure their first win.

"Brady does what Brady does," Bieser said. "He got in trouble, and once he did he locked in and got the ground ball double play."

Wright was credited with the save while Hayes picked up his first win of the season. The senior allowed four hits and three unearned runs over six innings of work.

The Redhawks led 3-1 after three innings in Game 1. Rippe, who finished his first game at Southeast 3 for 6 with five RBIs, drove in all three runs.

Bowling Green took a 4-3 lead in the top of the fourth when first baseman Randy Righter sent a three-run homer over the right field wall off starting pitcher Alex Winkelman.

"Alex did not have his best stuff. He couldn't really settle in with his breaking stuff, and really when he found it was his last inning and he was out of pitches," Bieser said. "... He was a one-pitch pitcher, and he was getting away with it for awhile, but once they were able to just sit back and sit on his fastball he was getting hit a little bit harder than I'd like to see him get hit."

Southeast tied it with a solo shot to center by Boggetto to lead off the bottom of the inning.

The Redhawks used a homer from Hewitt to tie it at 5-all in the sixth.

The Falcons plated a run in each of the next two innings to give themselves a two-run cushion.

Boggetto drove in a run in the eighth, but was caught stealing to end the inning and strand the tying run on third.

The Redhawks had the tying run on first in the bottom of the ninth, but pinch runner Nolan Fisher was picked off for out No. 2. A fly out ended Southeast's season-opener.

"The running ourselves out of innings is not something that I'm going to make a big deal of because they're taught to be aggressive," said Bieser, who was not pleased with the errors or base running at times. "Every guy that we have, when they feel that they've got an advantage and they feel like they can steal a base, unless I stop them they're going to continue to go. Part of it is we do have to get a little bit smarter whenever we see a catcher that can really control the run game that much."