CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.– Sophomore
Tyler Wilber had two hits, including a go-ahead bases clearing double in the bottom of the eighth inning to lead Southeast Missouri (9-3) to an 11-9 come-from-behind win over longstanding rival Southern Illinois (6-4) Wednesday.
On a frigid day with the temperature 32 degrees at first pitch, SEMO heated up to make its big comeback late in the game.
After SIU scored twice to take a 9-5 lead in the top of the eighth,
Turner Fritts sparked a big six-run eighth inning with a leadoff home run. Fritts slugged his second round-tripper of the season over the right field wall.
Alex Nielsen was hit by a pitch on the next play and
Devon Wilson, who pinch-hit for
Brett Gonzalez in the nine-hole, greeted SIU reliever Jared Kengott with a single to center.
Connor Basler then walked to load the bases.
Following another pitching change for the Salukis,
Danny Wright hit a two-strike single off Trey McDaniel to score Nielsen. Wilber ripped McDaniel's ensuing offering into the right center gap to give SEMO its first lead at 11-9.
Left-hander
Aaron Stretch entered the game in the ninth and retired SIU in order to nail down his first save of the season as the Redhawks snapped a six-game losing skid in their all-time series against SIU. The teams met for the 50th time today with SEMO beating SIU for the first time in four years.
Both teams scored once in the first inning and SIU widened its lead to 6-1 after tacking on five runs in the top of the third. A RBI-triple by Alex Lyon, run-scoring single by J.T. Weber and three-run home run by Grey Epps accounted for the scoring.
The Redhawks answered with three runs in the bottom of the third when
Connor Basler scored on a wild pitch and both
Austin Blazevic and
Andrew Keck delivered RBI-hits.
Fritts' triple to right field scored Keck in the bottom of the fifth as SEMO pulled to within a run (6-5).
SIU countered with an unearned run in the sixth before scoring its other two runs right before the Redhawks pulled ahead in the eighth.
Freshman
Bryce Grossius (1-0), one of six pitchers who took the mound for the Redhawks, claimed his first career win. He struck out the only hitter he faced.
Austin Sachse gave way to Grossius after tossing five quality innings. Sachse recorded a career-high six strikeouts and scattered three hits in five innings of work.
Offensively, SEMO pounded out 14 hits, its fourth-straight game with double-digit hits.
Wright, Wilber, Blazevic,
Wade Stauss, Keck and Fritts all had two hits. Basler, Wright and Wilber scored twice, while Wilber (3) and Blazevic (2) combined for five of SEMO's nine RBI.
McDaniel (0-1) suffered the loss out of the bullpen for SIU. He allowed two runs on two hits and walked one in an inning.
SEMO is now 9-3 this year. That start is the Redhawks best through their first 12 games of a season during their NCAA Division I era (since 1992) and best since 1983 (10-2).
Additionally, SEMO collected its fourth-straight victory and snapped a five-game winning streak for SIU.
The Redhawks remain home to host UT Martin in its Ohio Valley Conference opener this weekend. SEMO and UTM begin a three-game series Friday at 1 p.m., CT.
