Southeast Missouri State baseball team splits doubleheader with OVC leader

Saturday's doubleheader between the top two teams in the Ohio Valley Conference standings could not have been closer.

Perhaps fittingly, Southeast Missouri State and host Austin Peay split a pair of one-run decisions in Clarksville, Tenn.

Austin Peay won the opener 6-5, scoring the winning run on a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Southeast received a complete-game pitching performance from senior Jon Dicus to take the seven-inning nightcap 3-2.

The three-game series concludes today with a 1 p.m. first pitch.

LEFT: Southeast Missouri State outfielder Nick Harris is helped off the field after injuring his knee in Game 2. ABOVE: Southeast Missouri State second baseman Tim Rupp turns a double play during the first game.

"It had a championship feel on the field. Both games were down to the last pitch," Southeast coach Mark Hogan said. "I guess it's deserving it came down to a split. Both teams laid it on the line."

Austin Peay (26-21, 14-5 OVC) continues to lead Southeast (29-18, 11-7) by 2 1/2 games. Both squads have four league contests remaining.

The Redhawks, who snapped the Governors' eight-game conference winning streak in the nightcap, remained 1 1/2 games ahead of their nearest pursuers.

Even if Southeast can't win the OVC regular-season title, nabbing at least second is important. The top two finishers earn byes for the first round of the six-team conference tournament, which sends its winner to the NCAA tournament.

"There's still a lot on the table, not only for first place but the byes," said Hogan, whose squad is closing in on extending its league record of 16 straight OVC tournament berths.

Southeast, which has won 13 of its last 17 games, bounced back to salvage a split.

Dicus (4-4) fired the first complete game of his two-year Southeast career. He scattered nine hits while striking out six and walking none.

Junior Trenton Moses gave the Redhawks a quick 2-0 lead with his team-high 10th home run of the season, a two-run shot in the first inning.

Austin Peay answered with a run in the bottom of the first and tied things in the third.

Southeast went ahead for good in the sixth. Seniors Casey Jones and Blake Slattery both singled with one out and moved up on a wild pitch.

Senior Tim Rupp walked to load the bases. The rally looked like it might die when Jones was forced out at home on a ground ball, but Slattery scored on a wild pitch one delivery before a strikeout ended the inning.

Dicus did the rest, working out of a sixth-inning jam that featured two hits after two were out and retiring the side in order in the seventh.

The victory was marred when senior Nick Harris suffered an apparent knee injury in the final inning. He missed several weeks earlier this season with a knee injury.

Harris hit what would have been a single to center field but never got out of the batter's box as he went down in pain and was thrown out at first base.

The extent of the injury was not known, although Hogan said "it's heartbreaking."

A wild pitch skips through the legs of Austin Peay catcher

Harris and Moses both had two of Southeast's eight hits.

Southeast built a 4-0 lead through two innings in the opener but then struggled offensively.

Left-hander Jeremy Dobbs, tied for the OVC wins lead with eight, set down Southeast in order from the fourth through sixth innings.

Dobbs, who worked 7 1/3 innings, retired 14 straight batters during one stretch before allowing a seventh-inning single.

Austin Peay, after getting a third-inning run, tied the contest with three runs in the sixth inning to knock out senior left-hander Jordan Underwood.

The Govs went ahead 5-4 in the seventh inning before Southeast tied it in the eighth with an unearned run, its third unearned tally of the game.

Rupp's sacrifice fly brought home Slattery, who had drawn a one-out walk after his foul popup was dropped for an error.

Things remained 5-5 until the bottom of the ninth. A one-out single, a stolen base, an intentional walk and a single loaded the bases.

A ground ball allowed Southeast to get a force at home for the second out, but the bases remained full.

Senior left-hander Logan Mahon, who has had a brilliant season out of the bullpen and retired the final three batters in the eighth, fell behind Matt Wollenzin with three straight balls.

Mahon came back with two called strikes before Wollenzin fouled off a pitch. Mahon then just missed with ball four to force in the game-ending run.

Underwood was charged with four runs on six hits in five innings. He struck out three and walked four.

Mahon (5-4), Southeast's fifth pitcher of the game, took the loss.

Southeast had nine hits, just two after the second inning. Senior Michael Adamson led the way with three hits. Junior Kenton Parmley added two hits.

The Govs outhit the Redhawks 20-17 on the day.ga