May 13, 2006

Box Score

By Nathan Saverino, Redhawks Sports Information

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (Saturday, May 13, 2006) - Southeast squandered two critical conference match-ups with the Morehead State Eagles on Saturday. A seventh-inning rally by the Eagles sealed the fate for the Redhawks in game one, as Southeast fell 7-4. Meanwhile, the bats were silent in a game two shutout.

Jordan Payne kick started the Southeast (17-30, 8-15 OVC) offense in game one with a solo home run in the third. In his next at-bat in the fifth inning he hit another shot over the fence in left center, a two-run blast that put the Redhawks ahead, 3-1.

On the other side of the ball, starter Anthony Maupin was brilliant on the hill through six innings. Maupin held the Eagles (17-31, 8-14 OVC) hitless through the first six innings. Two errors in the third inning, however, led to the first Eagles run of the game.

Morehead finally figured out Maupin in the bottom of the seventh. After he caught the first batter of the inning looking at strike three, he gave up two singles and a walk to load the bases. After a second out, Dustin Miles and Nick Nail hit back-to-back two run doubles to give the Eagles a 5-3 lead.

Josh Parham came on to close out the inning with the next batter, but Morehead State plated two more (one unearned) in the bottom of the eighth to make it a 7-4 ballgame after the Redhawks scored one in the top half of the inning with the help of an error.

Game two starter Henry Mabee came on in the top of the eighth to close out the game for the Eagles, picking up his first save of the season.

Mabee's 1.2 scoreless innings in game one proved to be a sign of what was to come for the Redhawks offense. The junior right-hander out of Canada went on to shutout Southeast in game two, and recorded his league-leading eighth complete game in the meantime. Mabee ended his day with a save and a win in 8.2 shutout innings, allowing only nine hits, and he also struck out nine.

Southeast stranded six runners on base in the second game, including four in scoring position. Omar Padilla led off the game with a double and moved to third of Chris Gibson's groundout to the right side, but neither Payne nor Andrew Graham could bring him in to score. In the sixth inning, Graham was thrown out in a pickle between third and home. After walking with one out, he advanced to third on Dustin Pritchett's double, but was caught too far off third base.

Asif Shah, getting the nod in game two four Southeast, struggled out of the box. He gave a two-run blast in the first inning, and was yanked with no outs in the second after a lead-off double. The runner eventually scored from second under reliever Jamie McAlister's watch, and the Eagles went on to score one more in the sixth.

Payne went 2-3 in game one with two homers and three RBIs.

In game two, Padilla led the team with two hits, including his 16th double of the season. Levi Olson doubled in the first game of the doubleheader, and the two remain tied for the team lead at 16.

The two losses send Southeast back to a three-way tie now for last place in the OVC. Meanwhile, the sweep for Morehead state propelled them to a lone-position in seventh place. However, Tennessee Tech, Tennessee-Martin, and Murray State were also all swept in doubleheaders today, which is good news for the Redhawks. Along with Murray State and UT-Martin, Southeast remains only 2.0 games behind Tennessee Tech for sixth place, while Morehead trails Tech by 1.5 games. For complete standings, go to the official website of the Ohio Valley Conference at www.ovcsports.com.

Southeast will try to avoid the sweep tomorrow against the Eagles. First pitch in Morehead, Ky. is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. (CST). Every pitch can be heard live on 1220 KGIR or via the internet at www.kgir.com.