Southeast rallies for six in the fourth to grab opener

~ Jim Klocke collected four hits to lead the Redhawks past Murray State 10-7.

PADUCAH, Ky. -- Southeast Missouri State had never beaten Murray State in the Ohio Valley Conference baseball tournament, losing all three meetings by identical scores of 4-3.

One big inning by the Redhawks on Wednesday night helped take care of that jinx.

The Redhawks wiped out an early 4-0 deficit with a six-run explosion in the bottom of the fourth, providing the spark for a 10-7 first-round win at Brooks Stadium.

"I had no idea we had never beaten Murray State in this tournament," Southeast coach Mark Hogan said. "That's pretty amazing, but mainly it's nice to win this first tournament game. It's always so important."

Southeast starting pitcher Dustin Renfrow delivered a pitch during Wednesday's game in Paducah, Ky.

Third-seeded Southeast (32-22) advances to today's 2:30 p.m. winner's bracket semifinal against second-seeded Jacksonville State (31-25), which received an opening-round bye.

Murray State (18-34), seeded sixth for the six-team event, plays fifth-seeded Eastern Kentucky (23-28-1) at 11 a.m. today in an elimination contest.

"It's big to win the first game," Southeast senior right fielder Daryl Graham said. "We're in good position for the rest of the tournament."

Southeast, which took two of three games from the Thoroughbreds during the regular season, was led offensively by a freshman catcher who displayed absolutely no nerves playing in his first OVC tournament game.

Jim Klocke, fresh off being named the league's rookie of the year the previous day, went 4-for-5 with a home run and two runs batted in to pace the Redhawks' 11-hit attack.

"I was just trying to hit the ball tonight and make something happen," Klocke said.

Said Hogan: "Jim is a sensational player and a great kid. He shows maturity beyond his years."

The Redhawks fell behind 4-0 and were one-hit through three innings -- that lone safety being a single by Klocke -- before the St. Louis native got Southeast's fourth-inning uprising started with a bang.

After the first batter was retired, Klocke ripped a Mike Perconte pitch over the right-field wall for his fourth home run of the season.

"We were dead and I was just lucky to hit it hard," Klocke said. "It was the spark we needed."

The blast ignited the Redhawks, who strung together four more hits in a row.

"Klocke's hit really got us going," Graham said. "Hitting is contagious."

Senior second baseman Omar Padilla doubled and scored on sophomore first baseman Matt Wagner's single.

Sophomore designated hitter Matt Wulfers singled and so did senior left fielder Asif Shah, which brought in another run and made it 4-3.

With two outs, Graham provided the game's biggest blow, a three-run homer well over the left-field wall that put the Redhawks ahead 6-4. They kept the lead the rest of the way.

"I was pumped when it went out," Graham said.

Holding on to a precarious 6-5 lead, the Redhawks opened up some breathing room with a four-run seventh that featured an RBI single by Klocke.

Junior right-hander Dustin Renfrow, who entered the game with the OVC's second-best ERA at 2.33, earned the victory.

Renfrow (5-1) was charged with five runs -- three earned -- on four hits in six-plus innings. He struck out five and walked three.

After allowing two runs in both the second and third innings, Renfrow set down the Thoroughbreds in order from the fourth through sixth.

"I didn't have my best outing, but the bats picked us up," Renfrow said. "The six-run inning felt great. I was getting down on myself and it picked me up."

A single and hit batter to start the seventh ended the night for Renfrow, who was replaced by junior right-hander Ivan Nails.

"Dustin maybe didn't have his best stuff, but he really battled," Hogan said. "We put together a great inning in the fourth, and in the meantime Dustin settled down. He was awesome."

Nails gave up a bunt single that loaded the bases with nobody out, but he did a masterful job to avoid major damage, allowing just a sacrifice fly, with the run being charged to Renfrow.

So the Redhawks still held a 6-5 advantage, which they expanded to 10-5 in the bottom of the seventh.

"Ivan did a great job to get out of that spot with only one run coming in," Hogan said.

The Redhawks weren't out of the woods yet.

After Nails worked a perfect eighth, he ran into trouble in the ninth, allowing three straight hits to start the inning as the Thoroughbreds made it 10-6.

Senior left-hander Josh Parham nailed down the victory by retiring the final three batters, with a run scoring that was charged to Nails.

The final out was recorded on a diving catch by senior shortstop Robby Moore as Parham claimed his third save of the season to tie Nails for the team lead.

"We turned to our veteran, Josh, to close it out and he did a great job," Hogan said. "And what a catch by Robby for the last out.

"We just got great contributions from a lot of people. It was a really gritty win for our program."