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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – The Southeast Missouri baseball team posted runs in every inning except for one in an 18-0 shutout over the Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (2-3) Friday evening. Southeast Missouri improves to 4-2 on the season.
 
This is the first shutout Southeast has posted since March 18, 2013 in a 1-0 victory at Belmont last season.
 
Southeast Missouri scored a run each in the first two innings. Cole Bieser scored the first run in the first inning and then drove in the Redhawks' second run on a sacrifice fly out to center the next inning, putting Southeast up 2-0.
 
The Redhawk bats exploded in the third inning as Southeast put up a seven-spot on the board. The Redhawks batted around in the inning as 10 batters saw a plate appearance and combined for six hits in the inning. Andy Lennington led off the inning with a double and then immediately came around to score on an RBI single from Dalton Hewitt. After Derek Gibson singled, IPFW made a call to the bullpen to pull their starting pitcher, Brandon Pease. With bases full of Redhawks, Hewitt scored on a wild pitch. A walk, two hits, three runs, and an error later, Southeast found themselves up 7-0 on the Mastodons. With a runner on, Cole Ferguson blasted his first home run as a Redhawk to extend the lead to 9-0 after three innings.
 
Southeast nearly batted around again in the fourth inning as they put up two more runs in the inning to lead 11-0 after four.
 
IPFW was able to keep the Redhawks from scoring in the fifth inning; the only inning the Redhawks did not score a run.
 
The Redhawks began pulling men off the bench in the sixth inning, including Alex Burridge, Nolan Fisher, John Logan Zink, and Ryan Barnes. The quartet each had a hit, and combined for two runs, and three RBI in the game.
 
Bieser added: "To have guys contribute off the bench and to give them opportunities to pinch hit is very special to see. I believe coming off the bench cold is one of the hardest things to do in baseball. Not only did they have the opportunities, they seized them here tonight."
 
Redhawk starter Tyler Iago's night was finished after the sixth inning. Iago completed the evening with 6.0 scoreless innings pitched while only giving up three hits to the Mastodons. Iago also struck out nine batters and only gave up one walk, the only walk given up by a Redhawk pitcher Friday evening.
 
Southeast used two, two-RBI doubles from Bieser and Burridge in the seventh inning to widen the lead to 16-0.
 
Jason Blum and Bieser each added an RBI single in the eighth.
 
Bieser finished the game with five RBI to his name in a 2-for-3 performance while also scoring two runs. Gibson went 3-for-4, also with two runs scored.
 
"Cole [Bieser] was superb tonight," Bieser said. "He had four at-bats with bases loaded tonight. For him to knock in five runs tonight was excellent to see. Cole [Ferguson] did what he came to Southeast to do this evening. We brought Ferguson here to be a big, power guy and he proved himself as that with that monster home run in the third."
 
Every batter in the Redhawk lineup contributed at least a hit Friday with five contributing multiple hits. Seven Redhawks also tallied RBI. Southeast outhit IPFW 19-4.
 
Iago (2-0) earned his second victory of the young season Friday.
 
"Tyler is a strikeout pitcher and that's what we want in a guy. He throws a lot of strikes and he can put the ball in play and trust his defense will have his back. He really set the tone for our staff tonight after stranding the leadoff double in the first inning."
 
Perry Middleton pitched 2.0 innings in his Redhawks debut, giving up only one hit and fanning three batters. Alex Siddle came in to close the game for Southeast and struck out the side in the ninth.
 
"All three of our pitchers faced good Division I hitters this evening and they never lost focus. They pounded the strike zone well tonight. It was another spectacular outing for our pitchers."
 
IPFW used five pitchers in the contest. Pease (1-1) recorded his first loss of the season.
 
Game two of the series will be Saturday at 2 p.m. from Capaha Field.