Box Score |
PDF Box ScoreNASHVILLE, Tenn. – Southeast Missouri baseball won its series against Belmont Saturday with a 6-3 victory over the Bruins. The Redhawks improve to 8-6 in 2014 and 2-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play. Belmont falls to 6-8, 0-2 OVC.
Both teams combined for nine runs despite the game lasting only two hours, exactly; by far the Redhawks' shortest game this season.
Once again, Southeast Missouri was the designated home team in the contest.
Belmont was the first team to score in game two. With two out in the first, Jamie Ritchie reached on an single to left and immediately scored on a double off the wall by Nick Egli to give Belmont their first lead of the series.
A series of interesting events led to a four-run second inning for the Redhawks.
Matt Tellor led off with a single to left followed by an infield single by
Dalton Hewitt.
Branden Boggetto then hit a high chopper over the mound that the shortstop overthrew to first, allowing Tellor to score. With runners on the corners,
Derek Gibson hit a two-RBI triple to left-center. Gibson immediately scored on a sacrifice fly to right by
Clayton Evans, giving Southeast a 4-1 lead after two innings.
Belmont took a run back in the third on a first-pitch leadoff home run to left by Drew Ferguson to bring the Bruins within two runs, 4-2.
Both offenses remained stagnant following the Ferguson home run until Boggetto hit an opposite-field home run to put the Redhawks up 5-2 in the sixth inning.
In the eighth inning with Redhawk starter
Ryan Lenaburg still at work on the mound, Ritchie hit and two-out RBI double to bring the score to 5-3. Lenaburg was pulled from the game after pitching a spectacular 7.2 innings in his fourth start.
Greg Mosel came in to relieve Lenaburg and worked out of the inning by snagging a line drive right back to him.
In the bottom of the eighth, leadoff hitter Tellor liked the first pitch he saw and launched it over the outfield fence in left to take the run back and put the Redhawks back up by three runs.
Belmont cared to make it interesting in the ninth by hitting a leadoff double but Mosel worked out of it to secure his first save and the Redhawks' second OVC victory.
At the plate for Southeast, Gibson was 3-for-4 with two RBI as Tellor was 2-for-4 with one RBI. Southeast once again outhit Belmont 10-6 in the contest. Belmont also committed two errors in the game.
"It was nice to see the middle through the bottom part of our order producing; for example, Gibson hitting in the eight-hole and having three big hits for us," said
Steve Bieser. "Tellor and Boggetto both had solo shots for us today and I also think Evans looked good today as he did good things for us."
Ritchie had Belmont's only multi-hit performance in the series thus far, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
On the mound, Lenaburg (1-1) saw 7.2 innings of work, giving up Belmont's three runs on five hits. Lenaburg struck out four batters and walked two. In Mosel's 1.1 innings, he gave up only a hit and struck out two.
"Lenaburg started off a little shaky but was superb through the latter part of the game as he began dominating hitters. Mosel was again very steady on the mound and came in and did what he does; he dominated hitters."
Belmont's Dan Ludwig (0-3) pitched a complete game but suffered the loss. Ludwig struck out four batters and walked only one in 8.0 innings.
The Redhawks will look for a sweep of the Bruins Sunday at 1 p.m. when
Travis Hayes makes his first start on the mound for Southeast.