CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. ­– It was a record-setting evening at Capaha Field Thursday during Southeast Missouri's 9-2 game one victory over Belmont University (29-25, 15-13 OVC).
 
Southeast improves to 35-16 on the season and 22-6 in OVC play.
 
Senior left-handed pitcher Joey Lucchesi broke the Southeast Missouri and Ohio Valley Conference single-season strikeout records in Thursday's start. Lucchesi fanned 13 in the contest and now has 136 this season. Lucchesi broke Ryan Spille's 1998 record of 130 and Todd Kemp's (Tennessee Tech) 1986 OVC strikeout record of 133.
 
Lucchesi (9-4) pitched six complete innings en route to his ninth victory of the season. Lucchesi allowed two runs on six hits, walking two.

"It's been a great season for Joey," Steve Bieser said. "It's hard to do it one time but to come back and do it again with teams gunning for you and wanting to make a statement is outstanding to watch. As well as he threw last year, his numbers are even better this year. His next start is going to be the most important start of his college career and I'm excited to see how he's going to respond to it."
 
Jacob Lawrence pitched three scoreless, hitless innings to close Thursday's game en route to his second save of the season. In three innings, Lawrence struck out seven of the nine batters he faced.  

"Jacobs' performance out of the bullpen is one of the best I've in a long time. The reason I say that is because it's hard to come into a 9-2 game and have that intensity, focus, and pinpoint control. Some pitchers may enter with a seven-run lead and be spotty with their control or not get after it. Every pitch Jacob threw was right where he wanted to throw it."  

Belmont starter Aaron Quillen (5-4) suffered the loss. Quillen pitched four innings, allowing eight runs on eight hits. Quillen struck out five and walked two.
 
Garrett Gandolfo provided pop to the Redhawk offense going 3-for-4 with four RBI and a pair of runs scored. Gandolfo fell a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.

"Garret is a good hitter and he needs to continue to swing well. He's getting more aggressive at the plate and not being so passive. He's just a good hitter and when he's playing hard, there's not many guys who can hit better than him in this conference."

Southeast outhit the Bruins 9-6 in the game.
 
Belmont jumped on the board in the top of the second inning on a leadoff home run down the left field line by Brennan Washington. Clay Payne followed with a double, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Desi Ammons, putting Belmont up 2-0 in the second.
 
Southeast got both runs back in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. Daniel Costello sacrificed to move Gandolfo and Dan Holst into scoring position. Scott Mitchell singled to right center, driving in Gandolfo, and putting Southeast on the board, 2-1. Brian Lees grounded into a fielder's choice that scored Holst, tying the game.
 
Chris Osborne and Gandolfo each hit solo home runs in the third inning, giving Southeast a 4-2 advantage.
 
A four-run fourth broke the game open for Southeast. With two out, Andy Lack scored from second on a single up the middle by Trevor Ezell. After a walk to Osborne, Branden Boggetto singled to center, driving in Ezell. Gandolfo ripped a double to center field, scoring both runners and opening an 8-2 lead.
 
An RBI fielder's choice hit into by Gandolfo in the sixth tacked on another Redhawk run, widening the lead to 9-2 on the Bruins.
 
Aside from Gandolfo, six other Redhawks combined for the other six hits in the game while four Redhawks drove in a single run apiece.
 
Payne was the lone Bruin with multiple hits, going 2-for-4.
 
The Redhawks and Bruins will face off in game two Friday evening at Capaha Field at 6 p.m.
 
Southeast will host the final tailgate of the season sponsored by the Bank of Missouri and River Eagle Distributing. Mississippi Mutts will be sponsoring Bark in the Park while Burrito-Ville will be handing out Redhawks baseball t-shirts to the first 300 fans in attendance.