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EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The Southeast Missouri baseball team won its first Ohio Valley Conference series Monday with a 13-1 victory over Eastern Kentucky.

Southeast improves to 6-7 overall and 2-1 in OVC play after taking two games of the three-game series. EKU falls to 5-9, 1-2 OVC.

"Joey Lucchesi did a nice job keeping EKU hitters off balance," said head coach Steve Bieser. "I felt he was getting stronger as the game went on and was very efficient with his pitch count, which allowed him to get deep in the game. With Joey setting the tone on the mound, it allowed our offense to get in a groove. We got a lot of production from the bottom of our lineup today and that was a good sign."

Clayton Evans continued his hot streak Monday by getting the Redhawks rolling in the second inning. With bases loaded and Evans at the plate, Dalton Hewitt scored on a wild pitch to give Southeast a lead. Evans then threaded a single through the left side past a diving third baseman to score Branden Boggetto and Garrett Gandolfo, putting Southeast up 3-0.

With bases loaded and two out for Gandolfo in the third inning, he hit a line drive to center that rolled to the wall past a diving center fielder for a three-RBI triple. Evans then singled to deep short to plate Gandolfo and put the Redhawks up 7-0.

EKU scored their lone run in the fifth when Luke Wurzelbacher scored from third when Kenny Hostrander grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. Southeast led 7-1 going to the bottom of the fifth.

The Redhawks put up another four-run inning in the sixth. With bases loaded, Jason Blum knocked in Gandolfo with a single to center. Andy Lennington then hit a sacrifice fly to plate Scott Mitchell. Hewitt then singled down the right field line to drive in two more runs and extend the lead to 11-1. EKU used three pitchers in the inning.

Evans scored on a Cole Ferguson hit in the seventh, extending the lead to 12-1.

Evans recorded his fourth RBI of the day when he drove Ryan Barnes in from second base to bring the final score to 13-1 in the eighth. It was the second time this season Southeast scored 13 runs in a game. The Redhawks combined for 25 runs in their two wins on the weekend.

Evans and Gandolfo each had three hits in the game. Evans' four RBI was a career-high for the junior. Gandolfo finished with three RBI of his own. Hewitt finished with two hits and two RBI.

Evans finished the series hitting .545 (6-for-11) with six total RBI. He scored two runs and stole a pair of bases on the weekend.

Lucchesi (1-0) picked up his first win in a Redhawk uniform in his first start. He worked seven complete innings. Lucchesi allowed one run on five hits. He struck out two and walked none. Wesley Pyles and Matthew Wade each pitched a scoreless inning in relief.

Kyle Nowlin was the only EKU hitter with multiple hits after going 2-for-4.

Alex Hamilton (0-2) suffered the loss. He pitched five innings, gave up seven runs (three earned) on seven hits. EKU committed three errors on the day. Only five of Southeast's 13 runs were earned.

The Redhawks are slated to play Saint Louis University Tuesday at 3 p.m. from Billiken Sports Complex. Garret Stockton will make his second start of the season against the Billikens.