Top-ranked Notre Dame baseball team suffers second loss

~ Sikeston won the battle of Bulldogs 10-7

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Sikeston baseball team hoped to enter this weekend's SEMO Conference tournament with some momentum.

Sikeston got the big win it needed by defeating rival Notre Dame 10-7 on Tuesday.

Notre Dame is seeded No. 1 in the SEMO Conference tournament and was ranked No. 3 in the state in all classes, according to prepbaseballreport.com.

"That's saying something for a Class 3 team to be the third-best team in the state, and we came out today and we beat them," Sikeston coach Alan Scheeter said. "Any time you get a win, it feels good. And any time you get a win over a quality club like Notre Dame, it feels even better. It's a big rivalry between us and them, and to get a win here at our place in any fashion feels good."

Sikeston (9-5) broke a 1-1 tie with a nine-run explosion in the third inning to build a 10-1 lead.

Notre Dame (13-2) rallied to the point of bringing the go-ahead run to the plate in the sixth.

Sikeston was able to get out of the jam, and Drew Harper pitched a perfect seventh inning to close out the win.

"It was nerve-racking in that stretch for me," Scheeter said. "We've had troubles in the past winning the close game. We've lost three games by one run. I was just hoping today would be the time that we turned that around a little bit. We let them back in it, and we didn't buckle. I was real proud of our kids."

One of those one-run losses came at the hands of Notre Dame, a 10-9 setback in the season opener.

Tuesday was a chance to avenge that loss.

Sikeston struck first with a run in the first inning, but Notre Dame tied it in the third on an RBI single by Chase Simmons to plate Kyle Campbell.

Sikeston then blew open the game in the third when it sent 13 batters to the plate.

"We opened the door in that one inning, and they took advantage of it," Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett said. "You throw in a few walks and a couple flares, then a few big hits and they explode for nine runs."

Notre Dame scored three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to trim its deficit to 10-7.

Sikeston committed three errors during the stretch and gave six free passes to Notre Dame batters by either walk or hit batter.

Notre Dame's Josh Haggerty strolled to the plate with the bases loaded, two outs and his team trailing by three in the sixth, but Harper was able to induce a pop up to end the rally.

Harper then closed the door in the seventh by striking out two batters and getting a ground out to end the game.

Notre Dame 001 033 0 -- 7 7 3

Sikeston 109 000 x -- 10 10 3

WP -- Trey Tigart. LP -- Jonathan Lynch. 3B -- Stephen Brennan (ND). 2B -- Tyler Anderson (S). Multiple hits -- Notre Dame: Stephen Brennan 2-3, Kyle Campbell 2-4; Sikeston: Patrick Smith 3-4, Trent McMillan 2-3.