COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Southeast Missouri baseball (32-15, 21-6 OVC) avoided a sweep at the hands of Tennessee Tech (25-20, 12-12 OVC) Sunday with a 7-1 victory in the series finale.
The Southeast win coupled with a Jacksonville State loss keeps the Redhawks two and a half games ahead of the second-place Gamecocks in the Ohio Valley Conference standings. The magic number to clinch the OVC regular-season championship sits at three for Southeast.
Redhawk starter
Robert Beltran (7-1) pitched six solid innings in his start. Beltran allowed one run on just four hits. He struck out a season-high 10 hitters and walked three in the outing.
Jake Busiek pitched two perfect innings in relief on Sunday. Busiek retired all six batters he faced in the seventh and eighth innings.
Justin Murphy retired the side in the ninth to slam the door shut on the Golden Eagles.
TTU starter Nick Osborne (1-3) worked five and two-thirds innings before being pulled in the sixth. He allowed three runs on only four Redhawk hits. Osborne struck out five and walked one. He gave up a pair of home runs to Southeast. In all, Tennessee Tech used four pitchers in the contest.
The Redhawks strung together 11 hits in the contest. The Southeast pitching staff held Tennessee Tech to just four hits a game after the Redhawks were held to the same amount.
Chris Osborne powered the offense for Southeast going 2-for-5 with two runs scored and driving in three. It's the first time this season Osborne hit in the two hole in the lineup.
With two out in the opening frame,
Branden Boggetto drew a base on balls.
Garrett Gandolfo put the Redhawks on top with one swing, homering to left field, and giving the Redhawks a 2-0 lead in the first.
Gandolfo's home run would stand as the only scoring all the way until the bottom of the fourth inning. A two-out RBI single by David Garza plated Kevin Strohschein in the inning, cutting the Redhawk lead in half, 2-1. The Golden Eagles loaded the bases but Beltran worked out of the jam to preserve the lead. The run would be Tennessee Tech's lone run of the game.
Solo home runs by Osborne and
Dan Holst in the sixth inning widened the lead to 4-1 for Southeast. Osborne's jack to lead off the inning broke a string of 11 Redhawks hitters coming to the plate with none getting on base.
With two out and a pair of runners in scoring position, Osborne ripped a double off the right center field wall to score both runs and widen the lead to 6-1. Boggetto traded places with Osborne on a double of his own to push the lead to 7-1. The double, Boggetto's 57
th of his career, moved him into sixth all-time on Southeast's career doubles list.
Busiek and Murphy combined to retire the final nine TTU hitters to close the game and salvage the win for Southeast.
Holst finished with a pair of hits in the game along with an RBI and a run scored.
Hunter Leeper also strung together a couple hits.
The Redhawks will return to action next weekend when they host Stephen F. Austin in a conference bye week. The series will open up Friday at 2 p.m. from Capaha.
