April 29, 2006

Box Score

By Nathan Saverino, Redhawks Sports Information

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (Saturday, April 29, 2006) - Southeast Missouri was swept on the diamond in a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon by the Panthers of Eastern Illinois University. Anthony Maupin picked up his fifth complete game of the season in a 5-1 loss in game two, and a ninth inning rally fell short in game one as Southeast fell 7-6. With the loss, the Redhawks are now tied for last in the Ohio Valley Conference at 6-11 with Murray State.

The Redhawks (15-26, 6-11 OVC) trailed 7-5 in the top of ninth inning in game one, but swiftly loaded the bases with no outs after two walks and a single. After an infield fly for the first out, Levi Olson was it by a pitch to bring the Redhawks within one of Eastern Illinois (24-17, 10-7 OVC). However, with only one out and the bases still loaded, Daniel Schuh grounded into a game-ending double play.

Southeast was the first to score, plating two in the first inning. Jordan Payne led off the game with a walk and advanced to second with his fifth stolen base of the season. He then advanced to third base on a groundout to first base. Andrew Graham followed with another base on balls. With runners on the corners, Coach Mark Hogan attempted a double steal, but the Panthers foiled it as Payne was easily gunned down at the plate. The Redhawks weren't deterred, though, as Aaron Rave drove Graham across the plate with a single through the right side. Moving to second on Philip Riley's single, Rave scored as Olson doubled down the line in left.

Eastern Illinois tied the game up in the second with four consecutive singles off of starter Asif Shah. After retiring the first two batters in the inning, Shah gave up four two-out singles as the Panthers knotted the game at two. Shah was ousted in the fourth inning as the Panthers took a 4-2 lead.

The game was back-and-forth for the next three half-innings. Southeast tied it up at four in the top of the fifth, but the Panthers quickly recaptured the lead in the bottom half of the frame with one run. Then in the top of the sixth, Andrew Johnson snapped a 1-11 skid with a solo shot to right-center.

Jamie McAlister, who relieved Shah with one out in the fourth, gave up two more to the Panthers, one in the seventh and one in the eighth, as he picked up his second loss of the week. McAlister (4-9) showed unusual control problems as he walked three, hit a batter, and delivered a wild pitch while only striking out one batter.

The second game of the doubleheader saw only one lead change. After Southeast scored their only run in the first, EIU tallied three in the second inning and never looked back. Panthers starter Firlit threw a seven-inning complete game and allowed the Redhawks only six hits. Padilla's run in the first came unearned as he scored when Andrew Graham reached on a fielding error by the EIU third baseman.

Southeast starter Anthony Maupin had a complete game of his own, his fifth of the season, as he was tagged for a loss. Maupin (5-4) allowed just five runs (three earned), struck out three and walked only one. 

Schuh recorded multiple hit games in both sets today. The freshman outfielder was 2-5 in game one and 2-2 with a walk in the second.

Padilla and Olson continue to battle for the title of team doubles leader. Padilla was leading the season count 13-11 coming into today's game. After Olson knocked an RBI double in game one, Padilla matched it with a double to lead off the second game. Padilla came around to score unearned in the inning for the Redhawks' lone run.

The two teams will wrap-up the series tomorrow at 1 p.m. Every pitch can be heard live on 1220 KGIR or via the internet at www.kgir.com. The game is a pivotal one for Southeast, as they head toward the final leg of conference play. With ten games remaining against league opponents, SEMO is currently 2.0 games behind sixth place Tennessee Tech. The top six Ohio Valley teams advance to the OVC Baseball Tournament in Paducah, Ky.