Osborne's walk-off homer lifts Southeast Missouri State baseball team to win over Eastern Illinois

Southeast Missouri State right fielder Chris Osborne got a bit nervous when the Redhawks' six-run lead over Eastern Illinois was erased in the eighth inning on Saturday afternoon.

Even though he and his teammates had battled back for late-game victories a few times this season and he feels his team should never be counted out of any game, the two-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth, and the way it had arrived at that, was slightly disheartening.

Except when Osborne arrived in the batter's box with runners on the corners and the Redhawks two outs away from letting the Panthers escape with a victory, any worry he had disappeared.

The junior left-handed hitter swung at the first pitch he got from reliever Matt Wivinis and blasted it over the right-center field wall for a 12-11, walk-off win at Capaha Field.

"You've got to walk up there with confidence and know you can do something," Osborne said, "but try not to expect anything too much, just try to get a good swing off and hopefully good things happen."

Osborne, who leads the team with nine home runs in just 64 at-bats, is not a stranger to making good things happen for the Redhawks. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth and Southeast down two runs to Arkansas State on April 5 he hit a three-run home run to right center on the first pitch he got in a pinch-hitting appearance to lift the Redhawks to a 4-2 victory.

A week ago, he became the first Southeast player to hit for the cycle since 2003.

"The only thing that's going through my head is praying that he gets a pitch down the middle and he definitely got that pitch," Southeast coach Steve Bieser said. "He's been really clutch all season and just put a really good swing. Sometimes you worry about guys overswinging, but he just put a really solid swing on it and got the pitch that he could handle.

"Just a huge swing. Huge swing for many reasons. Huge swing in the season -- you drop that game right there you don't know where that could lead you to as a team. It just kind of lifted the spirits, which weren't really good up until that point."

Osborne's homer definitely gave third baseman Hunter Leeper a boost after feeling responsible for the seven runs the Panthers (5-29, 1-13 Ohio Valley Conference) scored in the top of the eighth inning.

EIU designated hitter Demetre Taylor hit one toward Leeper to lead off the frame and beat out the throw to first for an infield single when Leeper couldn't get the ball out of his glove.

Lefty Jake Busiek, who relieved starter Clay Chandler for the eighth, gave up a single and hit a batter to load the bases before recording a strikeout.

Pinch Hitter Matt Dunavant drove in a pair with a single to right and cut it to 9-5. Leeper bobbled a ball from the next batter to reload the bases before leadof hitter Josep Duncan, who went 4 for 6, cleared the bases with a triple into the right-field corner, trimming the deficit to one.

A Cale Hennemann single plated Duncan to tie it before closer Justin Murphy was brought in. He gave up back to back base hits that put the Panthers up 10-9 before a double play ended the rough inning.

"The first ground ball...was kind of like a backhand, like a slow, high chopper and I couldn't get it out of my glove and he beat it out," Leeper said. "The second one should've been a double play, I just tried to tag the bag before I had the ball, really, and that cost us."

Southeast pinch hitter Chris Caffrey reached second on a hit and a throwing error and Andy Lack, who pinch ran for him, reached third on a groundout, but was stranded in the bottom of the eighth.

EIU shortstop Nick Maton tripled off the wall in center with one out in the ninth and scored when shortstop Branden Boggetto mishandled a ball.

"I can't say I'm satisfied with our defense right now," Bieser said. "There's still some plays that we're leaving out on the field. We're making some good plays but the consistency just has to be better, and we've got to figure that out. We can't continue to play lackluster defense and just expect our pitching to always bail us out or our offense to bail us out. We want to take it to that next level, to be that next-level team, and what's missing right now is just our defensive ability." Boggetto made up for his miscue by singling through the left to lead off the home half of the ninth. He reached second on a groundout and advanced to third on a wild pitch before Leeper, who was on base four times in the game, drew a walk to bring up Osborne.

"I figured he was going to come after me," Osborne said. "He was having a little trouble with his location for the last couple of guys, so I figured he was going to try to put a fastball over the plate."

"That's the stuff you dream of, coming up big in the ninth inning, so I can't feel better than right now,"

EIU led 1-0 after Chandler gave up back to back doubles to start the game, but the Redhawks plated four with a two-run double by Garrett Gandolfo and a two-run single by Scott Mitchell to lead 4-1 after one.

The Panthers cut Southeast's lead in half with a run in the top of the second, but Boggetto scored Trevor Ezell with a sacrifice fly in the home half to make it 5-2.

Gandolfo saved a couple of runs in the third. Making his first start at first base of the season, he made a diving stop and raced to the bag to end the inning and strand two.

Mitchell, who went 2 for 3, drove in his third run of the game with a single up the middle in the bottom of the third before Brian Lees gave the Redhawks a 9-2 advantage with a three-run shot to left center.

Chandler allowed just one double over the next three innings before exiting with the seven-run lead. EIU's 10 hits off of him were the most he'd allowed an opponent this season. He walked three and struck out 10.

Southeast had a chance to extend its lead in the sixth. Reliever Jason Euler walked the bases loaded with no outs, but Boggetto popped out to second and Gandolfo grounded into a double play.

"We just can't be satisfied. Whether we've got a six, seven-run lead, we can't be satisfied with that," Bieser said. "When we've got opportunities to pick up runs we've got to continue to pick up runs and we let that sixth inning go away. Bogey pops up, Gandy hits into a doubleplay, those things happen, but I think we've got to stay hungry because when those guys are locked in and hungry one of those two guys is going to make something good happen there and at least get us a run."

The Redhawks improved to 25-10 and 15-2 in the OVC with the victory. With Jacksonville State losing 7-6 to Tennessee Tech on a two-run walk-off home run to drop to 12-2 in conference, Southeast takes sole possession of first place.

"We're thankful for the win and we're excited about that win, and I didn't want to take too much thunder away, but obviously the message was you can't take anybody lightly, you can't let up," Bieser said.

The Redhawks will go for their fifth OVC series sweep with a 1 p.m. finale vs. the Panthers Sunday.