Southeast Missouri State baseball team survives 13-inning thriller vs. Austin Peay

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team never expected to be in the 13th inning of its series finale against Austin Peay on Sunday at Capaha Field.

The Redhawks watched the unthinkable happen when the Governors, down to their final out in the ninth inning, went on a six-run rally to tie the game at 11-all and send it into extra innings.

It took four innings of shutout baseball, but Southeast pinch-hitter Nolan Fisher laced a 3-2 curveball just out of the reach of APSU third baseman Logan Gray, giving the Redhawks a 12-11 walk-off win in 13 innings and securing a 2-1 series win for Southeast.

"It's a character-building game," Southeast coach Steve Bieser said. "That's not the way we wanted to finish it. We wanted to put the nail in the coffin when we were up 11-2. We want to be able to finish that game without having all these extra things happen to us, but give our guys credit. They did not shut down. That's very deflating to give up as many runs as we gave up through the back half of that game, and that's a tough thing to bounce back from. But our guys never let up. Once we got through that, our pitching did an outstanding job of keeping us in the game."

After Hunter Leeper's two-run triple in the bottom of the sixth inning helped the Redhawks (19-12, 11-4 Ohio Valley Conference) build an 11-2 lead, the Govs (16-12, 9-6) responded in the bottom of the eighth when Gray blasted a three-run shot over the center-field fence off of Southeast relief pitcher Alex Siddle. It was Gray's second home run of the day, and it trimmed Southeast's lead to 11-5.

With one last chance to extend the game in the ninth, Cayce Bredlau and Patrick Massoni each hit two-out RBI singles off of reliever Greg Mosel. The next batter, Chase Hamilton, sent a two-RBI single into right field, and suddenly, the Govs trailed 11-9 with the tying run at the plate.

Southeast Missouri State's Clayton Evans touches home plate to score against Austin Peay catcher T.J. Marik on a triple by Trevor Ezell during the fifth inning Sunday, April 5, 2015 at Capaha Field. (Fred Lynch)

Matt Wade replaced Mosel and was faced with the daunting task of finding a way around Gray, who hit his third home run of the day on an 0-2 pitch over the right-field fence, tying the game at 11-all.

"Our first thought was, 'Let's go win the game here.' We weren't really too worried," Southeast third baseman Trevor Ezell said. "We had the opportunity to bat. We didn't get it done there, but we ended up getting it done four innings later."

Despite giving up a home run against the first batter he faced, Wade kept his composure and delivered 3 1/3 solid innings. He allowed three hits and finished with three strikeouts and two walks in extra innings.

"What Matt did, I thought, was extraordinary. He's a closer. Usually we're asking one inning out of him, and we asked him to go multiple innings," Bieser said. "He made one bad pitch to kind of get the game tied up, but maybe I should have had him in there at least one batter before that and had him ready. It didn't really sneak up on us because we had the plan that if the tying run got in the hole, Matt needed to be ready, but I don't think Matt was ready for the batter before that. We had to wait until we got to Gray, and obviously the pitch he left over the plate on an 0-2 count was something I know he wants back. ... To settle back down and go another three innings and give us a chance to win, that's the difference in this ball game."

Wade also made a defensive play that saved the go-ahead run from scoring in the top of the 12th. With runners at the corners, Caleb Mitchell laid down a squeeze bunt. Wade bare-handed the ball and quickly tossed it to catcher Alex Burridge, who tagged out Kyle Blackburn in a close play at the plate and prevented the Govs from taking their first lead of the game.

Bieser said his infielders anticipated the situation.

"We had everybody crashing," Bieser said. "Matt Wade came off the mound, and we'd just finished practicing that particular play before the series started to make sure that wouldn't catch us. Our pitchers work on that at least once a week, as far as just coming off there, bare-handing it and flipping it. It's nice to see that you're able to execute that preparation in a game."

Southeast Missouri State's Branden Boggetto signals after his 2-RBI double down the left-field line against Austin Peay during the second inning Sunday, April 5, 2015 at Capaha Field. (Fred Lynch)

The Redhawks had an ideal chance of their own in the 11th inning when Fisher stepped in to pinch hit with one out and the bases loaded. Fisher struck out, and the next batter, Ryan Rippee, followed suit.

Fisher redeemed himself two innings later with the game-winning hit and admitted he was chasing his first time around.

"With the bases loaded, it was a tight situation. He didn't have anywhere to put me, and that's probably why I was a little over-aggressive and swung at a high fastball to strikeout," Fisher said. "The next time, there was a base open at first, and I thought he could go off-speed because a walk really wouldn't do anything."

Southeast was in complete control through the first six innings. Ezell led off for the Redhawks with a solo home run to right-center field in the bottom of the first.

Southeast put together a four-run rally with two outs in the second, starting with a single by Jason Blum. After Andy Lennington reached base on a walk, Ryan Rippee hit a fly ball along the right-field line, where three Govs converged to make the catch. The first baseman was unable to play the ball, and both runners scored to give the Redhawks a 3-0 lead. Boggetto hit a two-RBI double into left field to push Southeast's lead to 5-0 heading into the third.

"That's been our ball club, kind of what we thrive on," Bieser said about the fast start. "We want to make sure that we get off to a good start and that we never let up."

A two-run triple from Ezell in the bottom of the fifth was followed later by a two-run triple from Leeper in the bottom of the sixth, giving Southeast a comfortable 9-0 lead heading into the seventh.

Ezell, who singled to get on base and score the game-winning run, finished 4 for 6 and was a double shy of hitting the cycle, however, he wasn't alone. Leeper finished 3 for 4 and was a home run away from hitting the cycle.

Southeast Missouri State coach Steve Bieser walks out to the third-base umpire to discuss a call after Clayton Evans grounded out to third base during the sixth inning Sunday, April 5, 2015 at Capaha Field. (Fred Lynch)

Five different players recorded multiple hits for Southeast, which combined for 18 on the day.

"It just goes to show that everybody's ready whenever they get their shot," Ezell said about the team's depth. "No matter what, everybody's ready to do what they need to do."

Southeast starter Alex Winkelman held APSU scoreless through six of his seven innings on the mound.

The lefty scattered five hits and finished with four strikeouts and two walks. His only two runs allowed came in the seventh inning, when Gray sent his first homer of the day over the left-field fence.

"Alex Winkelman's been outstanding all season, and his record does not do him justice," Fisher said about Winkelman, who remains 0-2 on the season. "I have no idea what it is, but I know he's been an ace all season. The fact that he's pitching on Sunday, that just speaks to the rest of our team. There's just so much depth."

Defensively, the Redhawks helped their starter by turning three double plays through the first five innings.

"I thought it was just an outstanding outing for Alex. When he got a baserunner on, he made a quality pitch, got a ground ball double play, and he really made things work in his favor. That's a good sign from him," Bieser said. "The defense worked great. We turned a lot of double plays and did a lot of nice things on defense. I'm very proud of the way our defense has been playing and coming together."

Southeast's Ryan Lenaburg (2-2) pitched 2/3 of an inning in the top of the 13th to earn the pitching win, while Levi Primasing (2-1) took the loss. Primasing was one of nine APSU pitchers used and allowed two hits and one run in 2 2/3 innings.

The victory puts the defending regular-season conference champions atop the OVC standings with Belmont (8-3) and SIUE (9-6) lurking in second and third place, respectively.

"This is a good team that we played, and we know that we control our own destiny," Bieser said. "We've got to win every series and make sure that if things stay tight that we do have the tiebreakers. We still get to play the Belmonts. We get to play those teams that are at the top of the conference. We decide that ourselves, so that's why we want to have the control in our hands and not in somebody else's.

"If we can come out and win two out of three and occasionally get that Friday night game that's been so elusive from us and sweep a series, then that puts us in that much better shape."