Murray State
Southeast Missouri State
'Breds get SEMO in 11 innings, advance to play Austin Peay
5/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Murray State Thoroughbreds opened the 2005 O'Reilly's Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Tournament on an exciting note against Southeast Missouri, trailing 2-0 going into the bottom of the ninth inning, then tying the game in the ninth before winning it 4-3 in the 11th inning.
Murray State (28-29) advances to take on No. 2 seed Austin Peay (35-21) tomorrow (Saturday) at 2:30 p.m., while Southeast Missouri (24-31) faces Morehead State (28-27) in an elimination game tomorrow at 11 a.m. Eastern Kentucky (24-29), which beat Morehead State 6-4 today, will meet top-seeded Jacksonville State (32-23) tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. The double-elimination tournament is being held at Brooks Stadium in Paducah, Ky.
SEMO got on the scoreboard first this afternoon, as Eric Horstman hit a one-out single in the third inning, stole second, reached third on a flyout, then scored on a balk to give the Redhawks an early 1-0 lead.
SEMO scored again in the seventh, when Jordan Payne hit a solo home run to put Southeast Missouri ahead 2-0.
Going into the bottom of the ninth inning, Murray State had only five hits, but that total almost doubled in the ninth inning alone. Seth Hudson led off with a single, then went to second on a groundout. Alex Stewart doubled in Hudson, then Tyler Pittman singled in Stewart to tie the game at 2-2 and send it into extra innings.
In the top of the 11th inning, SEMO scored when Brent Lawson reached on an error, stole second, then scored on a double by Payne to put the Redhawks ahead 3-2.
In the bottom half of the inning, Clint Griggs reached on a one-out infield single. Stewart walked, then Pittman hit another decisive hit, a two-run double to right-center field to give the 'Breds the 4-3 win.
The game marked the third straight occasion where Murray State faced SEMO in the OVC Tournament and beat the Redhawks by the score of 4-3. The 'Breds had similar scores against Southeast Missouri in 2002 and 2003.
"This is what we've done all year long," said MSU head coach Rob McDonald. "We battle and compete and work hard, and very often, we win. I can't say enough about the character of this team, to have come back and tied it in the ninth, then win it like we did against a very good team."
Austin Swain led all hitters with three hits, while Pittman, Hudson and Stewart each had two hits. Stewart scored twice for the 'Breds, while Pittman had three runs batted in. Stewart and Pittman each doubled for MSU.
On defense, Griggs had eight putouts at first base, while starting pitcher Craig Kraus had a team-high four assists from the mound.
On the mound, Jon Ross Shelton (2-6) got the win in relief, allowing one unearned run on one hit, striking out one and walking none in three innings of work. Kraus started the game, allowing two runs on nine hits, striking out five and walking two in eight innings.
For SEMO, Horstman, Lawson, Payne and Bo Jenkins each had two hits. Payne had two RBIs for the Redhawks, while Lawson, Payne and Jenkins each had a double and Payne hit a home run.
On defense, Ernie Bracamonte had 14 putouts at first base, while Payne and Jenkins each had seven assists. As a team, SEMO had 20 assists in the field, turning four double plays.
On the mound, Jamie McAlister (4-7) took the loss, allowing two runs on four hits and walking one in two innings. Joey Evans started for SEMO, allowing two runs on seven hits, striking out three and walking two in 8-1/3 innings.
