~ Poplar Bluff blanked the Bulldogs 4-0 to reach the title game

It didn't take long for the Poplar Bluff baseball team to get on the scoreboard in its 4-0 victory against Notre Dame in the semifinals of the SEMO Conference baseball tournament.

The Mules scored three runs in the first inning, and Wesley Pyles pitched a six-hit shutout on Tuesday at Capaha Field.

"No speeches," Poplar Bluff coach Stan Bullington said about why his players came out ready to play. "I mean the guys know what was expected and the situation we're in, what we're trying to get to. They just rose to the challenge.

"[Notre Dame pitcher Justin] Landewee was having trouble finding the zone early in the game and we were able to capitalize on that. Jeff Rowland came through with a big hit there and then Logan Faith followed up with another one, so I mean those two were clutch hits at the time and those three runs in the first was a pretty big relief, you know to play the rest of the game a little more comfortably rather than tense."

Notre Dame third basemen Luke Haines bobbled an infield grounder on the first play of the game, which would be the Bulldogs' only error, but proved a critical one. Landewee walked Josh King two batters later, and Rowland drove in the first run with a double to right-center field. A second run scored on Logan Faith's groundout, and second baseman Drew Dowd added an RBI single up the middle.

"We just didn't come out ready to play today," Bulldogs catcher Chase Simmons said. "From inning one, that error killed us and it looked like everybody just went down, and when things get like that we've got to learn how to pick it back up and go from there."

The Mules added their final run in the fifth inning. Rowland blasted a double off the wall in left-center and Faith followed with a double up the middle to drive the run in.

Pyles, a junior who has verbally committed to play baseball at Southeast Missouri State, earned the win. He did not walk any batters and had two strikeouts.

Bullington and Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett noted Pyles was able to keep the Bulldogs batters off-balance throughout the game.

"There was only a couple of balls that they really squared up and hit hard. A couple hits they had were just kind of bloops over the infield, and one infield hit I remember," Bullington said. "So he just had them off-balance, which that's a heck of a hitting team."

Landewee was credited with the loss, his first of the season. He pitched five innings, giving up all four runs, just three of which were earned. He allowed six hits, walked two batters and had two strikeouts before giving way to Josh Haggerty.

"I think it's just one of those games. You usually have a game throughout the year where you don't have it," Graviett said about Landewee. "He's been so good for us all year long, he just didn't have his best stuff today. And we let him down in the beginning making an error in the first inning. So he didn't have his best, but he pitched well enough to give us a chance today."

Notre Dame (20-4) had defeated Poplar Bluff 3-0 on April 8. Graviett said his team had gotten out to an early lead like Poplar Bluff did Tuesday.

The Mules (14-3) earned a berth in the tournament championship game against Jackson.

The Bulldogs host Sikeston at 5 p.m. today in the third-place game.

"Just the same intensity that Poplar Bluff brought today," Simmons said about his expectations of the next opponent. "They were all jacked up to play us and, I mean, everybody is. My thoughts are whoever we get, we've got to come ready to play from inning one."

Poplar Bluff 300 010 0 -- 4 8 1

Notre Dame 000 000 0 -- 0 5 1

WP -- Wesley Pyles. LP -- Justin Landewee. 2B -- Jeff Rowland (PB), Logan Faith (PB). Multiple hits: Notre Dame -- Luke Haines 2-3; Poplar Bluff -- Rowland 2-4, Drew Daud 2-3. Records -- Notre Dame 20-4, Poplar Bluff 14-3.