MOREHEAD, Ky. – Southeast Missouri baseball (6-5, 0-1) fell to Morehead State (9-5, 1-0) in Thursday's Ohio Valley Conference opener, 12-9.
 
The game featured seven home runs including a season-high four by Southeast. The Redhawks scattered 16 hits and had three players record three-hit performances. Southeast was led by a career-high five RBI from Chris Osborne. He finished 3-for-5 with a pair of home runs, his first multi-home run game as a Redhawk. Dan Holst and Chris Caffrey also had three hits while Holst drove in two.
 
For the second-straight start, Robert Beltran (0-2) had a rocky outing. He worked one and two-thirds innings, allowed five runs, four earned, on six hits. Southeast ran six total pitchers out to the mound on Thursday. Jared Waldhoff worked one and two-third scoreless innings as the first out of the pen while Carlos Vega pitched the final two innings, allowing only a hit.
 
The nation's leader in walks allowed per nine innings gave up a season-high six walks and hit a pair of batters.
 
Dalton Stambaugh (1-1) earned the victory for the Eagles. He pitched five and two-thirds in his first weekend start, allowed six runs, five earned, on 11 hits. He fanned five hitters and walked one. Jake Ziegelmeyer picked up the three-inning save, pitching three and a third innings and striking out four Redhawks.
 
Morehead State touched home twice in the opening stanza. The Eagles began the game with a single and a double for a pair of runners in scoring position. A fielding error by Connor Basler allowed the first run to cross the plate. With bases loaded and two down, Beltran issued a walk to Braxton Morris push the second run in.
 
An RBI groundout to second by Niko Hulsizer, who reached on the error by Basler in the first, scored another Eagle run in the second inning. Later in the inning with two down, Braxton Morris launched a two-run home run to center to go up 5-0 on the Redhawks.
 
With two out in the Redhawks' half of the fourth inning, Caffrey worked a seven-pitch at bat into a double laced into right center. Osborne stepped in and blasted his second home run of the season over the wall in center to put SEMO on the board, 5-2.
 
The Eagles got both runs back in the bottom of the inning. Ryan Losman entered to pitch and gave up a leadoff single and back-to-back walks. Losman was relieved by Chase Hagerty, who inherited the no-out, bases-loaded jam. With one out, A sacrifice fly by Morris scored Hulsizer. A second error by Basler allowed another Eagle run to score, making it 7-2 after four innings.
 
Hulsizer blasted a solo shot to right in the fifth, widening the lead to 8-2 on the Redhawks.
 
SEMO put up a four spot to slice the Eagle lead to two in the top of the sixth inning. Kylar Robertson got the scoring going with a solo homer to center. The Redhawks revved up the two-out production beginning with Kyle Bottger's first Redhawk home run, making it 8-4. Basler and Evans followed with back-to-back singles then moved into scoring position on a fielding error by the left fielder. The red-hot Holst drove in both runners with a single into left, bringing the score to 8-6.
 
Morehead State responded with four runs of its own in the bottom of the inning to go back up by six on the Redhawks. Morris' third RBI came on a leadoff solo home run. Morehead then put up three two-out runs to make it 12-6 after six.
 
Robertson and Caffrey sent back-to-back singles into right for a pair of one-out runners in the top of the seventh. Osborne launched his second home run of the game to right, cutting the lead to three, 12-9.
 
The three-run deficit would be the closest SEMO would get to Morehead the rest of the game.
 
Reid Leonard finished 4-for-6 for Morehead while three others recorded a trio of hits each including four RBI by Hulsizer.
 
Southeast Missouri and Morehead State will face off in a doubleheader Friday beginning at noon, CT.