May 24, 2007

Box Score

PADUCAH, Ky. - (Thursday, May 24, 2007) In round two of the 2007 O'Reilly OVC Baseball Championship, the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks were defeated 15-2 by No. 2 Jacksonville State. Southeast falls into the loser's bracket in the tournament and will play Friday at 2:30 p.m. The opponent is to be determined.

The Redhawks could not muster much offense against Jacksonville Start left-handed starting pitcher Tony Drinkard. Drinkard, who pitched seven innings for the Gamecocks, gave up just four hits to the Redhawks.

Sophomore Daniel Schuh (Jacksonville, Fla./Bishop Kinney HS) put Southeast ahead 1-0 in the second inning with an RBI double into the left-center gap.

The left-handed Drinkard, though, proceeded to quiet the Southeast bats and retired 13 of the next 14 batters he faced.

Behind the solid pitching of Drinkard, the Gamecocks would not be held down long, plating two runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a one-run lead.

Southeast starting pitcher Asif Shah (Cincinnati, Ohio/Wabash Valley CC) allowed three more runs in the fourth inning. All three runs scored with two outs after the senior left-hander issued a two-out walk and the Gamecocks recorded three consecutive base hits. Nick Cleckler highlighted the frame with a two-RBI double that left fielder Matt Wulfers (Cape Girardeau, Mo./Missouri) could not come up with when attempting to make a sliding catch.

Shah exited the game after issuing a leadoff walk in the fifth inning, concluding his shortest outing of the season at four innings pitched. He allowed five runs, all earned, in the outing.

After junior reliever Lance Rhodes (Sikeston, Mo./Saint Louis) closed out the fifth inning without allowing a run, the Gamecocks poured it on in the sixth inning, scoring six runs before an out was ever recorded. Jacksonville State sent 14 batters to the plate in the inning on the way to scoring 10 runs; it was the most runs scored in an inning by JSU this season. All-OVC first team third baseman Jake Ball, who owns the career hits record at Jacksonville State, drove in four RBIs in the sixth inning alone.

Ball ended the game 3-for-5 at the plate with the four RBIs and one run scored. All-OVC first team second baseman Bert Smith also recorded three hits for the Gamecocks.

Southeast scored another run in the seventh inning. Sophomore Matt Wagner (Wahoo, Neb./Nebraska) and senior Phillip Riley (Memphis, Tenn./Jackson State CC) led off the inning with back-to-back single. Junior Zachary Blemker (Vincennes, Ind./Vincennes), who pinch-ran for Wagner, scored the run when senior Daryl Graham (Fort Scott, Kan./Cowley County CC) grounded into a fielder's choice.

Southeast recorded just five hits Thursday, and no Redhawks batter had a multiple hit game.

Clark Jinks and Josh Miller closed out the game for Jacksonville State, each pitching an inning on the mound. Drinkard (7-3) got the win for the Gamecocks.

Shah fell to 7-3 on the season.

Sophomore left-hander James Leigh (Bryant, Ark./Texarkana) was the only Southeast pitcher to throw a complete inning without allowing a run. Leigh has not allowed a run in his last three outings spanning five and two-thirds innings pitched.

The Redhawks will play Friday at 2:30 p.m., but their opponent is to be determined. They will play the winner of the 11 a.m. Thursday contest, which will match Eastern Kentucky against either Samford or Austin Peay; Samford and Austin Peay play at 6:30 p.m. this evening.