ST. LOUIS – Southeast Missouri baseball (27-10) earned its sixth consecutive victory Tuesday evening with a 10-3 decision over Saint Louis University (16-22).
 
The contest remained close much of the evening until a five-run ninth inning broke the game wide open for the Redhawks. The loss is the eighth straight for Saint Louis.
 
Jacob Lawrence (3-1) worked five innings in the start en route to his third victory of the season. He allowed three runs on five hits to SLU while striking out five, walking one. At one point, Lawrence retired eight consecutive batters.
 
Adam Pennington pitched four innings of one-hit baseball in relief Tuesday evening. Pennington entered the contest with runners on and no out in the sixth and went on to close the game. Pennington struck out two, walked none, and retired 12 of the 13 batters he faced.
 
Jackson Wark (0-2) picked up the loss for the Billikens. Wark worked three and a third innings in his start, allowing three runs on three hits and four walks. In all, SLU used 10 pitchers on Tuesday.
 
Cole Dubet ripped a leadoff double to left to begin the Billiken half of the first inning. He advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a sac fly to center by Josh Bunselmeyer to give SLU a 1-0 lead in the first.
 
A wild pitch allowed Chris Caffrey to touch home and tie the game in the top of the third inning, 1-1. The wild pitch moved the go-ahead run to third in Scott Mitchell but he was stranded there to close the inning.
 
The Redhawks loaded the bases with one out in the top of the fourth inning. SLU went to the pen for Luke Sommerfeld who immediately gave up a two-run single to Caffrey, putting Southeast up 3-1.
 
With runners on the corners for Garrett Gandolfo, he drilled a single over the first baseman to plate Dan Holst and widen the lead to three in the fifth, 4-1. Southeast loaded the bases with one out in the inning but didn't push anymore runs across.
 
A single off the bat of Dubet plated Alex King in the sixth inning, cutting the Redhawk lead to 4-2. A 6-4 double play ended the Billiken scoring threat in the inning.
 
Braxton Martinez made it a one-run game in the sixth inning with a double ripped down the left field line, scoring Bunselmeyer and cutting the Redhawk lead to one, 4-3. Pennington entered the game and retired the three batters he faced to end the SLU half of the seventh, stranding two Billikens on base.
 
A wild pitch allowed Gandolfo to score in the top of the seventh, bringing the Redhawk lead back to a pair of runs, 5-3.
 
The Redhawks fired up the two-out production in the top of the ninth inning to put up a five spot. With bases loaded, Brian Lees singled up the middle to plate Hunter Leeper. Trevor Ezell immediately followed with a single through the right side to score Caffrey. All three runners were running on a full count to Holst who poked a base hit through the right side scoring Kylar Robertson and Lees. The leftfielder overran the ball on the play, allowing Ezell to score and Holst to take third. Southeast led 10-3 going to the final three outs.
 
Pennington finished his dominant performance with another 1-2-3 inning in the ninth, securing his first save.
 
Gandolfo and Caffrey each scattered three hits in the contest with two runs scored. Gandolfo extended his hitting streak to 17 games. Meanwhile, Holst and Caffrey were the only multi-RBI performances for Southeast with two apiece. Ezell had two hits Tuesday.
 
Dubet and Martinez each had two hits for SLU in the game.
 
Ohio Valley Conference leading Southeast Missouri will travel to second-place Jacksonville State for a three-game series this weekend. The series will open Friday evening at 6 p.m. from Jacksonville, Alabama.