JONESBORO, Ark. – Andrew Keck went 3-for-6 with a pair of doubles, a run scored and three RBI to lead Southeast Missouri (10-1) to its eighth-straight win, a 14-6 victory over Arkansas State (4-6) Tuesday night at Tomlinson Stadium.
SEMO, which leads the Ohio Valley Conference and ranks eighth in the nation in walks, walked a season-high 13 times. The Redhawks also had seven extra base hits against the Red Wolves.
Rain caused the game to start 50 minutes later than its originally scheduled 6 p.m. first pitch.
SEMO became the third team in the OVC to win 10 games this season joining Tennessee Tech (10-0) and Belmont (10-3). The Redhawks are on their longest winning streak since the 2016 club won 11 in a row from Mar. 18-Apr. 5. Additionally, SEMO scored double-digit runs for the seventh-straight contest.
SEMO trailed, 3-0, before it got its bats going in the top of the third.
Jevon Mason and
Peyton Leeper slugged back-to-back home runs to ignite a four-run five-hit inning. Mason drove a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall for his fourth of the season and Leeper sent his second round-tripper of the year down the right field line.
Following a
Tyler Wilber strikeout, three-straight two-out doubles led to two more runs.
Andrew Keck doubled to right center and scored on
Lincoln Andrews' double down the right field line. Andrews scored the go-ahead run to give the Redhawks a 4-3 edge on
Brett Graber's double to left center.
ASU answered to regain a one-run lead in the bottom of the third. Will French singled to left, went to second on a base hit by Ben Klutts, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout Mickey Coyne. On the next play, Jaylon Deshazier singled home Klutts to put the Red Wolves ahead, 5-4.
SEMO, which leads the Ohio Valley Conference in walks, used four bases on balls and a two-out, two-RBI single by Keck to grab a 6-5 advantage in the top half of the fourth inning.
Ben Palmer, Leeper, Wilber and Andrews all walked in the inning.
An inning later, SEMO blew the game open.
Vaske reached on a leadoff walk and moved to second on a nice bunt single by
Danny Sperling. With one out, Mason Walked and Vaske scored on a wild pitch after that. Wilber then delivered a two-RBI single with Mason and Sperling both scoring on the play. Leeper later scored on an error to widen SEMO's lead to 10-5.
The Redhawks capitalized on a second error by ASU when they came to the plate in the top of the seventh. Mason reached on a fielding error by second baseman Daedrick Call. Mason moved into scoring position on a walk by Wilber and scored on an ensuing double by Keck. Andrews grounded out and Wilber scored to make it 12-5 in favor of SEMO.
Palmer accounted for SEMO's fifth double to bring home
Spencer Parker who singled before him in the eighth inning. A third ASU error allowed Parker to score giving the Redhawks a 14-6 lead.
Austin Williams (1-1) picked up the win in relief. Williams retired seven in a row and 10 of the 11 hitters he faced. Williams struck out four and allowed only one hit in 3.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
Kyle Miller recorded three fly ball outs to close out the victory strong.
Offensively, SEMO outhit ASU, 11-9.
Ten Redhawks had at least one hit. Mason (4) and Leeper (3) scored half of SEMO's runs.
SEMO has homered in 10-straight games and registered double-digit hits in eight of 11 games this season.
The Redhawks claimed their 10th win of the season, 12 days earlier than they did a year ago.
Red-hot SEMO returns home to host Valparaiso in a three-game series this weekend. First pitch of the series is 3 p.m., CT Friday at Capaha Field.
