Southeast Missouri State falls into loser's bracket at OVC baseball tournament

JACKSON, Tenn. -- There was no easing in to the Ohio Valley Conference baseball tournament for starting pitcher Joey Lucchesi and the regular-season champion Southeast Missouri State Redhawks.

The OVC pitcher of the year struggled with command from the first pitch Thursday night, which led to an early Belmont lead that the Bruins didn't relinquish as they defeated top-seeded Southeast 7-2 at The Ballpark.

The junior lefty walked the first three batters he faced before a two-run double to the wall in left off the bat of Bruins second baseman Tyler Fullerton put Belmont ahead for good.

"In the bullpen I felt really good, loose. I was throwing really hard," Lucchesi said. "I thought I was going to deal today."

Belmont (29-27), which defeated SIU Edwardsville in an 11-inning game that lasted until nearly 1 a.m. Thursday, scored one more run in the top of the first on an RBI groundout and held a 3-0 advantage after one inning.

"I thought he made some good pitches at the bottom of the zone and he was having a tough time adjusting to a call," Southeast coach Steve Bieser said. "Joey pitches more at the knees and he just really wasn't getting that call early on and then he tried to elevate. He was just out of his element tonight, just trying to figure out how to attack hitters and I think part of it was he was playing a little keep away, trying to get guys not to put the ball in play at all, and that's where he got hurt. He had to make too many pitches early and he tried to settle in in the middle, but he never really did look like Joey, the way Joey's thrown all year."

Lucchesi (7-2) recorded a pair of strikeouts to start the second inning before walking the lead-off hitter Alec Diamond. Diamond stole second and advanced to third on a pitch in the dirt before center fielder Drew Ferguson singled up the middle to drive him home and make it 4-0.

Southeast responded with a run in the second off starting pitcher Patrick McGrath, who was the only Belmont pitcher to win a game against the Redhawks in their final regular-season series last weekend. Right fielder Dalton Hewitt singled and stole second to lead off the inning. Left fielder Hunter Leeper then doubled to left to cut the deficit to 4-1. The Redhawks stranded one runner in each of the first three innings.

"He basically did the same thing he did last time," Bieser said of McGrath. "He's going to pitch his game and he's not going to come out of it. If you beat him on his terms then he's fine with that. Really what he does is he just does a good job of mixing pitches around the zone and getting us to swing at pitches that we can't do a lot with. He made a few mistakes and then when we did hit the ball hard we were hitting it right at guys. He's just a solid pitcher and he's tough to beat."

Lucchesi, who said he noticed he was rushing his mechanics at times, hit third baseman Tyler Walsh with a pitch with one out in the top of the third before left fielder William Dodd doubled high off the wall in right. Walsh scored on a groundout to third to extend the lead to 5-1.

The Redhawks had two hard hit fly outs deep in the outfield off the bats of third baseman Trevor Ezell and second baseman Jason Blum to start the bottom of the third. Shortstop Branden Boggetto then sent a single into left center but was stranded on a groundout to short.

Hewitt reached on a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fourth but a double play and a strikeout kept Southeast off the board.

The Redhawks managed to pull within 5-2 in the fifth. Leeper singled up the middle and stole second. Ezell drew a one-out walk and Blum followed with an RBI single to right center that plated Leeper. Ezell was thrown out trying to advance to third and Blum moved to second on the throw, but a three-pitch strikeout by Boggetto ended the threat.

"We tried to talk about it all game long, 'We've got nine innings, we're going to score runs. We've just got to basically stay in our gameplan,'" Bieser said. "We would do it for a bit but then we'd fall right back out and try to press and try to get that big hit rather than just continue to string little hits together. McGrath's hard to get that big hit from because he's going to give you a single, but he's trying not to let you get those extra-base hits."

Meanwhile Lucchesi retired 10 straight batters from the final two outs in the third inning through the sixth inning. He issued a two-out walk in the sixth to end the streak and was relieved by freshman right-handed pitcher Zach Moore in the seventh.

Lucchesi issued his seventh walk of the game to start the inning, but the lead runner was erased on a 6-4 fielder's choice.

He gave up a double -- his fourth hit allowed in the game -- to Fullerton to put runners in scoring position with one out for Moore. He struck out the first batter he faced and coaxed an infield popup to escape the jam. He retired the Bruins in order in the top of the eighth.

Blum was walked on four pitches in the bottom of the inning but was stranded after Boggetto flew out to the warning track in center and third baseman Andy Lennington grounded into a 1-6-3 double play.

The Bruins made it 7-2 on a two-run home run to left by Ferguson in the ninth. Moore allowed a double before Brady Wright came in to pitch and retired the side.

In the Redhawks' half of the inning first baseman Ryan Rippee hit a one-out triple just fair down the third-base line and into the corner. Pinch hitter Cole Ferguson then drew a walk, but closer Matthew Kinney struck out the final two batters to secure the Bruins' victory.

McGrath improved to 9-4 with the win. He allowed five hits in eight innings of work with seven strikeouts and four walks.

Southeast (33-22) will face fifth-seeded Jacksonville State in an elimination game at 11 a.m. today. The winner of that game will face No. 4 Tennessee Tech at 3 p.m.

The Redhawks will have to win two games today, two games Saturday and a winner-take-all game on Sunday to claim the championship and secure the conference's automatic bid to an NCAA regional.

In last year's tournament Jacksonville State lost its first game before winning six elimination games to win the title.

It was the only time the feat had been accomplished since the tournament went to its current format in 2005.

"[Bieser's] message was just to relax," Rippee said. "We still believe that we're the best team in this tournament and that it just got a little harder now. We've just got to bear down for five games here and win all five and enjoy it."