Southeast Missouri State baseball team's quick start enough to beat Ball State

~ Southeast downed Ball State 12-7 in Friday's game

It took the Southeast Missouri State baseball team only four batters to match its hit total from Tuesday's contest against NAIA Harris-Stowe State.

That early offensive onslaught set the stage for Friday's wild 12-7 win over Ball State in the opener of a three-game series at Capaha Field.

"We needed that big time," senior left fielder Michael Adamson said. "We'd gone about an 18-inning stretch where we weren't hitting well. That was huge."

The Redhawks managed just four hits against Harris-Stowe although they posted a 3-0 victory.

Southeast's first four to the plate Friday hit safely, part of a five-hit, three-run opening inning that was a welcomed sight after the potent Redhawks entered play carrying just a .200 batting average through their first four games.

"That was a huge positive sign for us," senior third baseman Nick Harris said. "Once you get a rally like that in the first inning, it builds confidence."

The Redhawks, winning for the fourth time in five outings, scored in just three innings, topped by a seven-run fifth that broke a 3-3 tie.

Southeast finished with 16 hits, helping make up for the Redhawks' shaky defense. They committed five errors. They only had one error in the first four games.

"It was a pretty tough [defensive] game," said normally slick-fielding junior shortstop Kenton Parmley, who had two of the errors on consecutive ground balls in the second inning. "But we'll take a win."

Ball State, which lost its fourth straight to begin the season, also did solid damage at the plate with 10 hits while making three errors of its own.

Adamson and Parmley paced Southeast's offense with four hits apiece. Adamson drove in two runs. Harris doubled twice and had three RBIs.

Junior second baseman Taylor Heon had two hits, including a double, and two RBIs. Senior first baseman Brett Russell added two hits, including a double.

"It was good to see a lot of guys hit," Southeast coach Mark Hogan said. "Sixteen hits, 12 runs will usually get the job done."

Southeast's pitching staff, which entered with a glittering 1.80 ERA, did not have that damaged very much due to the errors. Four of the Cardinals' seven runs were unearned.

Senior left-hander Jordan Underwood went 3 2/3 innings in his second start of the season before coming out after throwing 93 pitches.

Underwood gave up three runs, just one earned. He allowed three hits, walked four and struck out three.

Senior Kirk Boeller, a Notre Dame Regional High School graduate, relieved Underwood in the fourth inning with the bases loaded, two outs and the squads locked in a 3-3 tie.

Boeller escaped the jam with a ground ball, then fired off a scoreless fifth inning and received credit for his first win of the season and second of his career when Southeast exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the fifth.

Boeller wound up being charged with his first runs of the year after entering the series having thrown four shutout innings in two appearances.

Boeller gave up two runs, one earned, and two hits in 1 2/3 innings.

"Kirk has really done a good job for us," Hogan said. "He has really good movement and he throws strikes."

Junior college transfer left-hander Ryan Prickett, Southeast's fourth hurler, got a one-out double play with the bases loaded to end the seventh inning when Southeast led just 10-7.

Prickett, who gave up a walk and a hit before the double play, followed with a perfect eighth and ninth innings to record his first Southeast save. He has not allowed a run in 3 2/3 innings this year.

"He can be an important guy for us in the late innings," Hogan said.