Breds Walk off With Wild 5-4 Victory

Saturday, May 4

Murray, Ky.

2 p.m.

Murray State

20-27, 8-15

Southeast Missouri

21-27, 12-14

Southeast Missouri

Murray State

Photo by: Samantha Mohr

5/4/2013 5:44:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

| PHOTO GALLERY

A wild ending to a great baseball game saw a throwing error score the winning run as Murray State scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to walk off with a 5-4 victory over Southeast Missouri Saturday afternoon at Reagan Field.

The Breds (20-27, 8-15 OVC) entered the inning trailing by one after SEMO scored a run in the top of the ninth on a wild pitch. Dylan Wheeler drew a leadoff walk and went to second on a Noah Zipko sacrifice bunt. Paul Ritzheimer then plated Wheeler from second with a line drive single to center field.

Ty Stetson continued the inning by drawing a walk, and Brandon Elliott was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. Brandon Eggenschwiler followed with a fielder's choice to first that retired Ritzheimer at the plate. But, a hustling Ritzheimer slid hard into the catcher and forced his throw to first base sail into right field and allow Stetson to score the winning run.

Wheeler seemed to be in the middle of the action all game long. He finished the day by going 3-for-3 with a double, a walk, an RBI and two runs scored. He gave the Breds a 2-1 lead in the second inning as he singled and stole second, before scoring on a Ritzheimer single through the right side.

Wheeler then tied the game in the seventh as he followed Rick Linton's leadoff double to right center with an RBI double to same spot of his own.

MSU manufactured the first run of the game in the first inning as Stetson was hit by his first of three pitches on the day to leadoff the game. An Elliott sacrifice bunt moved him to second and Eggenschwiler delivered an RBI single through the right side.

The Redhawks (21-27, 12-14 OVC) tied the game in the second, but they could have broken the game wide open. A single was followed by a walk and a hit by pitch to load the bases with no outs. Starter Tim Vonder Haar struck out the next hitter, but the ball got away from the catcher and allowed a run to score. Vonder Haar got out of the inning without allowing any more runs by getting another strikeout and a pop up.

SEMO pushed across two more runs in the fourth inning with the aid of the sun. The loaded the bases with two outs for the top of their lineup. Vonder Haar got what looked like a routine fly ball to right field to end the inning, only to have the sun come out from behind the clouds and have the ball get lost in the sun.

Vonder Haar did not figure into the decision after he allowed three runs on five hits and three strikeouts over four innings. Cody Maerz came out of the bullpen and limited the Redhawks to just one run on five hits and three strikeouts over 4.1 innings. Sheldon Baxter (2-4) was credited with the win after he threw two-thirds of an inning.

Bobby Hurst (3-3) suffered the loss for SEMO as he allowed two runs, one earned, on one hit, two walks and a hit batter in one inning of work.

Ritzheimer had a solid day at the plate as he went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. Stetson was officially 0-for-1 on the day, but did draw a walk and was hit by three pitches, and scored a pair of runs.

The two teams close out the three-game series Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.