~ The Redhawks failed to capitalize on early chances in an 8-5 loss Friday

Southeast Missouri State had one of the Ohio Valley Conference's premier pitchers on the ropes early during Friday's OVC opener.

Ryan Quick was able to escape significant damage while finding his groove, helping defending OVC regular-season and tournament champion Austin Peay to an 8-5 win in the opener of a three-game series at Capaha Field.

"You have to give him credit," Southeast senior Kody Campbell said. "He'll be one of the best pitchers we see, and he got out of some jams."

Quick allowed four hits and walked two over the first two innings. Austin Peay also committed an error, but the Redhawks managed just one run out of all that.

"I felt lucky to get out of the first two innings with only one run," Quick said. "They had a lot of guys on base. I made some good pitches, but they have some good hitters. I was just trying to stay calm and work out of it."

Quick (2-0), a junior college transfer, wound up going six innings, allowing three runs and six hits while walking four and striking out two. He entered the weekend with a 2.45 ERA, second-best among OVC starters.

"I worked out of some jams, and after that I settled in," Quick said.

Southeast had two hits and a walk in the first inning. A double play erased senior Kenton Parmley's leadoff single, but the Redhawks later put runners on second and third with two outs.

Campbell ripped the first pitch from Quick down the right-field line for what looked like it might be a two-run double. But the ball landed just inches foul. Campbell wound up flying out to left field.

"You know how it is sometimes," Campbell said about his near-miss and several other line drives that were hit right at Austin Peay fielders. "We swung it well. We hit a lot of balls at them. That's just baseball."

The Redhawks took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Sophomore Cole Bieser drew a leadoff walk and came home on sophomore left fielder Derek Gibson's double.

Runners were on first and third with nobody out when juco transfer Shane Blair's ground ball to third base was booted by senior Greg Bachman for an error.

Gibson tried to score when the ball bounced away from Bachman but the third baseman retrieved it quickly and gunned out Gibson at the plate.

Instead of having the bases loaded with nobody out there were runners on first and second with one out. Quick retired the next two batters, then set Southeast down in order over the next three innings.

"We had a big chance there," Campbell said.

While Quick was holding down Southeast's offense, the Governors broke through against sophomore left-hander Christian Hull with a five-run third inning that featured four hits and three walks.

All three of the walks, which came against the inning's first four batters, scored. Bachman had the key blow of the frame, a two-RBI single. Senior Reed Harper capped the uprising with an RBI double.

"It really helped me settle in," Quick said of the big third inning.

The Govs made it 7-1 in the sixth inning on a two-run homer by sophomore P.J. Torres.

It was 8-2 when Southeast three runs in the seventh inning. The first run was charged to Quick after he was removed following a leadoff walk.

True freshman Ryan Barnes delivered a pinch-hit RBI double and Parmley added an RBI single to make it 8-4. Rain then forced a 23-minute delay.

Juco transfer Tyler Rogers came on to record the final two outs of the frame when play resumed, allowing an inherited runner to score.

Rogers finished off the three-inning save, allowing five hits and no walks while striking out four.

Southeast threatened in the ninth, loading the bases with two outs before Rogers recorded a strikeout to nail down the victory.

"We battled. We're not hanging our heads," Campbell said.

The Redhawks outhit Austin Peay 13-11, but Southeast was hurt by grounding into three double plays. The Govs had the game's only error in the contest.

"I was really proud of the way we played. We had the one bad inning, but we really battled and fought," Southeast coach Mark Hogan said.

Southeast All-American senior Trenton Moses belted his 10th homer of the season, a solo shot in the sixth inning.

Moses had two hits, while Parmley and redshirt freshman Andy Lennington led Southeast with three hits apiece.

Hull (2-3) gave up seven runs and seven hits in six innings to take the loss. He walked three, all in the crucial third inning, and struck out three.

Juco transfer Tony Zerrusen was solid out of the bullpen for Southeast, allowing one run and four hits over the final three innings to give the Redhawks a chance at coming back. He struck out one and walked two.

"He was really good. He's had some very good outings lately," Hogan said.

Bachman, Harper, Torres and sophomore Jordan Hankins all had two hits for Austin Peay. Bachman delivered three RBIs.