Lucchesi shines again as Southeast Missouri State baseball team moves closer to OVC title

Southeast Missouri State starting pitcher Joey Lucchesi hit a brief snag during the second inning of the Redhawks series opener against Tennessee Tech on Friday night at Capaha Field.

The junior lefty walked the first three batters to start the second after a scoreless inning of action, which elicited a visit to the mound from pitching coach Lance Rhodes and the Southeast infielders. The Golden Eagles plated the first run of the game when Southeast turned a 6-4-3 double play before they were stymied by the defending Ohio Valley Conference pitcher of the week.

Lucchesi recorded his first strikeout of the game for the final out of the inning. It was the first of 13 strikeouts, which tied a career-high, and the second-inning run was the only one allowed in Southeast's 9-1 victory.

The first-place Redhawks improved to 30-15 on the season and 20-5 in the conference. A sweep of the Golden Eagles guarantees Southeast a share of its second consecutive regular-season conference title. The Redhawks came claim the championship outright with one loss by third-place Morehead State (29-17, 14-8 OVC) this weekend.

"I guess I was just trying to be too fine with my pitches," Lucchesi said of the early struggle. "I just told myself to just be myself -- nice and relaxed -- and just pitch. That's what I did and it worked out well for me."

Lucchesi gave up just four hits in the game -- one in each the first, third, fifth and eighth innings -- and issued six walks.

Southeast center fielder Andy Lennington evened the game at 1-1 with a leadoff home run to left in the bottom of the second.

The Redhawks scored the go-ahead run in the third inning. Left fielder Peter Williams led off with a single and scored on a sacrifice fly by designated hitter Garrett Gandolfo to make it 2-1.

Tennessee Tech got a pair of runners on in each the third, fourth and fifth innings, but Lucchesi got out of the mini jams, striking out the side in the third and fifth innings.

"Joey's got great stuff and tonight was just another example of what he does every time he comes out," catcher Scott Mitchell said. "He was a little shaky the first couple innings but he really settled in and found his groove and from there I think it just kind of spoke for itself what he did. That's just how he is. He's a guy that when he has a feel he's really hard to hit and when he's on it's pretty hard to beat him."

Lucchesi and the Southeast defense did not allow a baserunner in the sixth or seventh innings. First baseman Ryan Rippee made a diving catch toward the first-base line to rob TTU's Trevor Putzig of a hit in the sixth.

Lucchesi allowed one single in the his final inning of work but recorded three more strikeouts in the eighth.

Ryan Lenaburg allowed two hits and struck out one in a scoreless ninth.

"I know we're facing a lot of good teams -- there's a lot of good teams in this conference -- so I just want to make sure I'm ready for every game and make sure they don't hit me," Lucchesi said. "I honestly don't like getting hit, so I make sure I practice hard."

Southeast took a 3-1 lead in the fifth on an RBI double to left off the bat of Lennington.

The Redhawks knocked TTU starter Chris Chism out of the game in the sixth.

Mitchell led off with a base hit to left followed by a double to right from shortstop Branden Boggetto, who extended his hitting streak to 10 games, before the Golden Eagles brought in reliever Trevor Maloney.

Third baseman Trevor Ezell was hit by a pitch to load the bases before second baseman Jason Blum flied out to right, allowing Mitchell to tag and score on a throw home that was cut off and then thrown away by the first baseman. Ezell advanced to second on the throw.

Gandolfo followed with a single up the middle to plate Boggetto and Ezell and give the Redhawks a 6-1 cushion. Gandolfo has recorded a hit in each of the last 13 games.

"Once we got him a little bit later he was wearing down a bit and he made a couple of mistakes and we were able to capitalize but that's the thing -- our lineup, I think it wears on pitchers," Southeast coach Steve Bieser said of Chism, who dropped to 6-3 on the season with the loss. He allowed five earned runs on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts. "If we're really doing it the way we're supposed to be doing it our lineup wears on pitchers and that allows us to eventually put together a big inning."

Southeast put up three more in the seventh. Right fielder Dalton Hewitt drew a one-out walk and advanced to third on a single by Rippee. He scored and Rippee moved up a base on a wild pitch.

Mitchell sent a ball down the first-base line and into the corner for an RBI triple to make it 8-1 and scored the final run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Boggetto.

"Play loose. You've got to play loose," Lennington said. "Early in the season we tensed up a little bit in tense situations, tight games. That game was pretty close until the sixth. We started playing loose. ... Everything's just coming together. Guys are confident in themselves, nobody's really doubting anybody. We're just kind of playing as a team."

Southeast's win was its fifth consecutive overall and eighth conference win in a row. The Redhawks, who are playing their final home series of the season, have won nine straight at Capaha Field.

"I think this was a really good win because you look at the final score and it looks like we may have just breezed through this game if you weren't here to watch it," Bieser said. "But more than half of the game we had to battle through there and really grind out some really good at-bats and we had to make some big pitches.

"That's what you need. You need to have a lot of opportunities like that to where guys -- I don't want to say feel pressure, but it can't just be a cakewalk every time because we know it's not going to be a cakewalk when we get in the conference tournament and as we try to move on there are going to be some really tight games."