Southeast Missouri State baseball team splits first two games of series with SIUE

~ The Southeast baseball team beat SIUE 8-4 on Saturday after getting shut out Friday

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team was shut out by one of the Ohio Valley Conference's premier pitchers Friday night.

Southeast bounced back from that 4-0 loss at SIU Edwardsville to beat the Cougars 8-4 on Saturday afternoon.

Southeast (16-16, 8-6) and SIUE (8-17, 6-8) will decide the three-game OVC series today with a noon contest in Edwardsville, Ill. The starting time was moved up an hour due to the threat of rain in the area.

The Redhawks, after being held to four hits Friday, pounded 14 hits Saturday and stole 10 bases as they led much of the way but had to overcome a 4-3 deficit in the middle innings.

"Our guys did a very good job on the bases and taking advantage of the situation they were put in," said Southeast coach Steve Bieser, whose squad remained in fifth place in the 11-team conference. "We had five two out RBIs and we will win a lot of games that way."

Sixth-place SIUE, which has scored in only two innings of the series, used a four-run fourth inning to wipe out a 3-0 deficit.

A two-out RBI single by junior center fielder Cole Bieser in the sixth inning forged a 4-4 tie.

Southeast went ahead for good in the seventh inning on a two-out, two-RBI single by freshman right fielder Clayton Evans.

The Redhawks added single runs in the eighth and ninth innings. Junior left fielder Derek Gibson had an RBI double in the eighth and sophomore catcher Alex Burridge delivered an RBI single in the ninth.

Southeast's bullpen, strong all season, had another impressive performance as three relievers combined for 5 2/3 scoreless innings.

Junior Luke Shearrow (2-2) notched the victory with 3 2/3 two-hit innings. He struck out three, walked three and hit a batter.

Senior Tony Zerrusen worked a hitless eighth inning, although he did hit two batters.

Senior closer Bobby Hurst finished up in a non-save situation, allowing two hits in the ninth inning. He struck out two.

Senior Trevor Kill started. He allowed four runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings. He struck out two and walked one.

Evans had a perfect day at the plate, going 3 for 3 with a walk and a sacrifice. He drove in two runs and became the first Southeast player to steal three bases in a game since 2009.

Gibson went 3 for 4 with two doubles. He drove in two runs and stole two bases.

Bieser tripled, doubled, walked twice and was hit by a pitch. He had two RBIs.

Burridge and sophomore second baseman Jason Blum each added two hits.

Freshman shortstop Branden Boggetto also swiped two bags. Southeast's 10 steals were the most in the OVC since Austin Peay recorded 11 thefts in 2006. The Redhawks lead the OVC in stolen bases.

The Redhawks, like most teams this season, didn't have much success offensively against SIUE junior Travis Felax during Friday's game.

Felax entered the contest with a sparkling 1.63 ERA that ranked third in the league, but he was only 2-3 due to sparse run support by one of the nation's worst offensive squads. The Cougars, who scored all their runs in the second inning, came into the game hitting just .212.

Felax lowered his ERA to 1.38 with his third complete game of the season. He struck out 10 and did not issue a walk during a game that took 1 hour, 55 minutes to complete.

The Redhawks had two runners on base in only one inning, the fifth, when they got two of their four hits. Burridge singled with two outs and Blum followed with a double.

Felax escaped that jam with a ground ball, and Southeast didn't have another baserunner until a leadoff infield single by Gibson in the ninth inning. Felax retired 13 of the final 14 batters he faced.

Southeast's other hit was a one-out double by junior first baseman Matt Tellor in the fourth inning. The Redhawks also had runners reach base on an error and a hit batter.

"He's a true pitcher. He just doesn't give you anything to square up," Bieser said. "Sometimes you've just got to tip your cap. He did an outstanding job. We hit some balls hard but just couldn't find any holes."

Southeast sophomore left-hander Will Spitzfaden had another solid start but took the loss. He had trouble in only one inning, the second, when SIUE did all its damage.

The Cougars used four hits, a walk and a throwing error to build a 4-0 lead. Three of the runs were earned, but at least one could have been avoided as Southeast botched a rundown play and missed a tag at the plate.

Spitzfaden (3-3) worked 7 1/3 innings. He allowed 10 hits, struck out five and walked two.

Senior Michael Patman recorded the final two outs in the eighth inning as he got a double-play ground ball with the bases loaded.

"Spitz was good enough for us to win the game if we just don't have a couple of fundamental mistakes," Bieser said.

Senior left-hander Zack Smith will start on the mound today for Southeast, which is good news for the Redhawks.

Smith was expected to be out for a while after suffering a finger injury during last weekend's series, but it turns out the injury was not as serious as first believed.