Three-run ninth lifts Southeast in opener

JACKSON, Tenn. -- The injury-decimated Southeast Missouri State baseball team hasn't enjoyed one of its better seasons, but first-year coach Steve Bieser has never questioned the Redhawks' toughness and resiliency.

Those traits shone through in a big way Wednesday night as the Redhawks began their Ohio Valley Conference-record 19th straight OVC tournament appearance with a bang.

Southeast, the sixth seed for the six-team, double-elimination event at the Ballpark at Jackson, squandered early leads of 5-0 and 6-2 as third-seeded Belmont rallied for a 6-6 tie.

But freshman reliever Alex Siddle stemmed the tide with four shutout innings and the Redhawks scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning to post a 9-6 victory.

"This team doesn't quit," Bieser said. "We've had so many things happen to us this year. ... I'm extremely proud of this group."

The Redhawks (25-31) advance to today's 7 p.m. winners bracket semifinal, where they face OVC regular-season champion Tennessee Tech (39-15).

Tech handily swept all three games at Southeast May 10-12, romping 16-1, 11-6 and 5-1 in the Redhawks' final OVC series.

"They're a real good ballclub but we're here to win," junior left fielder Derek Gibson said.

Neither Southeast nor Belmont (37-19) scored during the fifth through eighth innings Wednesday as the squads headed to the ninth knotted 6-6.

The Redhawks then broke through against elite Bruins closer Josh Davis -- and the rally was fueled by Southeast's Nos. 8 and 9 hitters, who both entered the night batting well below .200.

Redshirt freshman shortstop Andy Lack drew a one-out walk and went to third on freshman catcher Tyler Boxwell's single.

Sophomore second baseman Jason Blum, who earlier homered and doubled while saving an eighth-inning run with a diving stop on an infield single, was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Blum extended his single-season school record of being hit by a pitch to 22 times this year.

Gibson, who has been slumping the past several weeks, delivered a tie-breaking two-run single to right field.

"It really feels good," Gibson said. "That's just baseball. You go through tough times."

Sophomore right fielder Dalton Hewitt added some insurance with a two-out RBI single.

"We jumped out to an early lead and they came back," Blum said. "We showed our toughness by scoring three runs in the ninth inning. We executed."

Southeast still wasn't out of the woods as Belmont used a leadoff double and two-out walk to bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth against senior closer Bobby Hurst, who had recorded the final out of the eighth inning in relief of Siddle.

Hurst (4-4) finished with a flurry, striking out the final batter of the game for his second punch out of the inning as he recorded the victory.

"To Southeast Missouri State's credit, they kept hanging around with us," Belmont coach Dave Jarvis said. "At the end of the day, they found a way."

Things couldn't have started much better for the Redhawks, who scored in each of the first four innings during which time they had 10 hits.

Southeast led 5-0 after 2 1/2 innings and 6-2 after 3 1/2 innings, knocking out sophomore left-hander Dan Ludwig -- a first-team all-OVC pitcher who leads the league with 11 wins -- during the fourth inning.

"Dan has been extremely good for us all year long. He was not very good for us tonight," Jarvis said.

The Redhawks got an unearned run in the top of the first inning, taking advantage of two Belmont errors.

Southeast scored three times on five hits in the second inning. Blum had an RBI double -- his 20th of the season, fifth-most on the school's single-season list -- and Gibson added an RBI single.

Freshman center fielder Clayton Evans' RBI single in the third inning made it 5-0.

"I thought we were able to execute early in the game," Bieser said. "It gave our team an opportunity to get the lead and that was key."

Sophomore left-hander Will Spitzfaden threw two shutout innings before the Bruins began getting to him in the third, scoring two runs.

Blum's fourth home run of the season, leading off the fourth inning, built a 6-2 advantage.

Spitzfaden was knocked out during Belmont's four-run fourth that saw the Bruins scored four runs to forge a 6-6 tie.

Senior Tony Zerrusen came on and was charged with Belmont's final run of the frame before he had to leave with an apparent injury, another blow to Southeast's injury-depleted pitching staff.

The Redhawks began the tournament with only eight available hurlers after senior lefthander Zack Smith -- scheduled to start Southeast's second tournament game today -- did not make the trip following his dismissal from the team for violating undisclosed university and NCAA policy.

"We've got to get Tony checked out," Bieser said.

Siddle, who has had several strong outings recently in an overall solid rookie season, allowed just two hits during his four scoreless innings. He struck out four and walked three.

"He did amazing," Blum said. "Every time you thought maybe he was running out of gas he proved us wrong."

Southeast outhit Belmont 17-12 and did not commit an error while the Bruins had four errors.

"This keeps us out of the losers bracket, which is a tough way to go," Fisher said.