May 8, 2005

Box Score

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - (Saturday, May 7, 2005) The Redhawks were in flight in an afternoon doubleheader today against the Eagles of Morehead State. The Eagles themselves have been soaring high, leading the Ohio Valley Conference with a 13-4 league record coming into the doubleheader.

Southeast (17-28, 8-12 OVC) pulled out a first game win in exciting fashion, mounting a comeback over the course of the last five innings before finally closing the door in the bottom of the ninth. The Redhawks couldn't keep the momentum rolling into the second game however, as Morehead State (26-20, 14-5 OVC) shut down the SEMO offense 3-0 in a seven inning affair.

Game one started off on a sour for Southeast starter Joey Evans and the Redhawk defense. Evans plunked Morehead State outfielder Dustin Miles to lead off the game, who moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. He scored the first run of the game on Lance Seasor's single to center, and Seasor moved into second on an error by left fielder Chris Gibson. After an infield single, Kevin Bryant drove in two runs with a double to center, and managed to get to third base on another Southeast error. Bryant then scored on a wild pitch delivered by Evans, giving the Eagles an early four run lead.

Southeast didn't cut into their lead until the bottom of the fifth, after Morehead State extended the lead to five with a run in the top half of the inning. Brent Lawson led off with a single to right, after which Levi Olson fouled out to the first baseman. James Clayton, pinch-hitting for Gibson, hit another single to right field. Eagle starter Adrian Duran then walked Jordan Payne to load the bases. With two outs after a Bo Jenkins strike out, Eric Horstman extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a two RBI single to right center that scored Lawson and Clayton and made it a 5-2 ballgame.

Morehead State got one back in the top of the sixth, though, when Paul Rhodes hit a solo home run. The Redhawks answered back with two homers of their own in the bottom half of the frame. Freddy Lopez and Lawson hit back-to-back jacks to cut the deficit to two runs.

SEMO finally took hold of the lead in the bottom of the seventh. With reliever Reid Kittleson in the ballgame, Horstman reached base on an error and moved to third after an Ernie Bracamonte groundout and a wild pitch. Kittleson issued a free pass to Montiel. Lopez followed up with his second blast of the day, a three run shot that gave Southeast a 7-6 lead.

Morehead State surrendered the lead for only a short time, as they managed to tie it back up in the next half inning with Rhodes' second homer of the affair and his 14th of the season.

The score remained tied heading into the bottom of the ninth, and after fly outs by Olson and Bryan Kurt it appeared as though it would remain tied at the end of regulation. Demonstrating patience at the plate, Payne drew a two-out walk to get things going and moved to third on Jenkins' single up the middle. Horstman then picked up his third RBI of the game with a game winning single to center to plate Payne.

Ryan Forsyth (3-3), who came on in relief for the ninth inning, picked up the win for the Redhawks. Starting pitcher Evans threw eight innings, allowing seven runs on 10 hits. He struck out four Morehead State batters.

In the seven-inning game two, the Eagles mounted another early lead, but this time Southeast was unable to come back.

Morehead State scored two run in the second after Cheney led the inning off with a double. Ingram hit a one-out double of his own, and he would score on Zac Carr's single. Miles scored the Eagles' third run in the third inning on Seasor's RBI single.

The Redhawks couldn't string together enough hits to get a run across the plate. Morehead State starting pitcher Shane Lucci picked up the complete game shutout, allowing five hits in seven innings of work and striking out three. The Eagles played outstanding defense behind him, including a spectacular diving catch by left fielder Travis Rima for the last out of the ball game.

Jamie McAlister got the start in game two for Southeast. He went the whole way, surrendering three runs on seven hits and striking out five.

Horstman extended his hitting streak to 15 in the seventh inning of the game. With the team down to their last out, he lined a single to right. Along with the 15-game hitting streak, Horstman has also reached base safely in 37 consecutive games. With two hits in game one, he also now has 16 multiple hit games this season.

Lawson saw his hit streak come to an end in game two after he had extended it to seven with a 3-for-5 performance in game one that included a home run, a double, two runs scored, and an RBI.

Lopez had an impressive day at the plate, going a combined 3-for-8. He hit his first two homers of the season in the first game, and also drove in four runs.

Ernie Bracamonte saw his consecutive games started streak of 101 come to an end in the second game. It was the first game Bracamonte has ever missed in his Southeast career. Horstman has now started in 102 consecutive games.

The Redhawks will try to avoid consecutive losses tomorrow, as they will again face off against the OVC-leading Morehead State Eagles. First pitch will be at 1 p.m. at Capaha Field.

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