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MOREHEAD, Ky. – Sophomore centerfielder Ryan Kent reached base eight times, while senior catcher Chris Robinson recorded five RBI as the Morehead State baseball team split an Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader with Southeast Missouri at Allen Field Sunday.
Four SEMO pitchers walked 10 batters and hit three more in game one, but MSU left 13 runners on base in dropping the contest, 8-6. The hosts scored in five of their first six at-bats, including multi-run outbursts in the first, third and sixth to win game two, 11-7.
Morehead State is now 10-5 overall and 3-2 in the league, while the Redhawks sit at 8-8 overall and 3-2 in the conference. MSU has won two of three from SEMO each of the past three seasons.
"Game one was tough for us," Head Coach Mike McGuire said. "Southeast Missouri is a very good offensive club, and they showed that today. We are a good offensive ball team too, but we had some situational hitting that was not efficient in that game. We struck out seven times, but several of those were with a runner at third base and less than two outs. I was happy with game two. I felt like sooner or later, we have guys who can hit and drive in runs, and we did a much better job in the second game."
In game two, MSU jumped on last season's OVC Co-Pitcher of the Year, Travis Hayes, for three runs in the first. Kent led off with his first career home run, and Robinson followed with a jet-streamer over the left field fence. SEMO gained a 4-3 advantage in the third, but the Eagles answered with a four-spot in their half of the third.
Senior right fielder Brandon Rawe had an RBI double to kick off the third frame and scored via an error. Sophomore designated hitter Jimmy Wright and Kent drove in the other runs with sacrifice flies.
Kent, senior first baseman Kane Sweeney, senior left fielder Nick Newell and freshman third baseman Evan Warden collected two hits apiece as the Eagles had 13 in the game. Sweeney, who upped his hitting streak to 10 games, scored three times and has now reached base in all 15 contests. Newell extended his hitting string to eight games and now has a team-best seven multi-hit efforts.
SEMO shortstop Branden Boggetto went 2-for-4 with a home run and a double.
Sophomore pitcher Luke Humphreys was credited with the win to improve to 2-0. He fanned four hitters in the first five innings before giving way to freshman David Calderon, who picked up his first career save in a four-inning assignment. Calderon struck out five. Hayes surrendered seven runs in just 2.1 innings to fall to 3-2.
Redhawk first baseman Ryan Rippee belted two home runs and went 4-for-5 to power his team in the opener. Left fielder Trevor Ezell and second baseman Jason Blum combined for five hits at the top of the batting order, and the Redhawks nailed four home runs off four Eagle pitchers.
SEMO grabbed a 6-3 lead after six at-bats before the Eagles played one in the sixth and two in the seventh to even it up. Center fielder Clayton Evans launched a solo homer off freshman lefty Aaron Leasher in the eighth and Rippee added the insurance tally with a solo bomb in the ninth.
Matthew Wade, the last of four Redhawk pitchers, was credited with the victory to move to 1-0. Leasher was saddled with the loss to slip to 1-1.
The teams will conclude the series Monday at Noon ET at Allen Field. Michael Gustin will call the game on MSUEagles.com and the Eagle Empire app. Live stats will also be available on MSUEagles.com.
