SATURDAY'S SCORES
Southeast Missouri 21, @Eastern Illinois 4
@Western Illinois 7, UT Martin 6
Lindenwood 14, @SIUE 6
@Little Rock 10, Morehead State 7
@Southern Indiana 7, Tennessee Tech 5
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 21, EASTERN ILLINOIS 4
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Southeast Missouri Baseball (11-13, 2-0 OVC) picked up its third straight victory on Saturday afternoon to the tune of a 21-4 drubbing of Eastern Illinois (5-15, 0-2 OVC) headlined by first baseman Cole Warehime.
Warehime, coming into the contest with no home runs in his career, crushed two grand slams in the same game and had an RBI single, tying SEMO's all-time single-game RBI record of nine (Dan Shy, 1989). He finished 5-for-6 at the plate with two bombs.
The Redhawks have now scored 41 runs in the first two OVC games of the season after scoring 20 on Friday afternoon. The offensive pounded out 20 hits as five different Redhawks had multi-hit days. Right fielder Josh Cameron finished 5-for-6 at the plate with three RBI singles in the contest and three runs scored.
LHP Haden Dow made the start for the Redhawks as the pitching staff held EIU in check for most of the day. The lefty pitched 4.0 innings, allowing just two earned runs on three hits. He punched out six Panthers in the outing. RHP Tommy Windt (3-2) earned the victory with a near-flawless 3.0 innings. He allowed just one run on three hits and struck out two.
SEMO wasted no time picking up where they left off from a day ago as a three-run first inning gave the Redhawks an early lead. Second baseman Brooks Kettering, making his 24th consecutive start of the season, hit his first collegiate home run in his first at-bat.
The blast hit off the outfield wall and Kettering came around to score the inside-the-park home run for the first run of the game.
Ben Palmer singled in the next at-bat, and two batters later, left fielder Ty Stauss blasted a two-run home run off EIU's Bryce Riggs to give SEMO a 3-0 lead.
The Panthers scored a run in the home half with an RBI groundout from Kolten Poorman as the Redhawks led 3-1 after the first inning.
SEMO would score 11 runs over the third and fourth innings beginning with a six-run third inning.
A leadoff error by EIU allowed Kettering to reach safely. Ben Palmer followed with a single and another error one batter later allowed Mugan to reach, and the bases were loaded with no outs.
A wild pitch allowed Kettering to come into score from third base, and a walk to Stauss loaded the bases back up for Josh Cameron.
Cameron singled to the outfield to score Palmer from third base and the Redhawks led 5-2 with two outs in the inning.
First baseman Cole Warehime's first career home run came one batter later with the bases loaded as his grand slam made it 9-2 SEMO.
The fourth inning was a continuation of the third as the Redhawks plated five runs on five hits in the inning, headlined by three home runs including Nolan Ackerman's second home run of the season. Ackerman blasted a three-run shot scoring Warehime and Cameron.
Michael Mugan and Caleb Corbin each had solo blasts in the inning. For Mugan, the homer was his eighth of the season (team-high) and Corbin's marked his first home run in a Redhawks uniform.
Leading 14-3 in the fifth inning, Josh Cameron hit an RBI single through the right side to extend SEMO's lead to 12.
Warehime hit his second career home run, and his second grand slam of the game in the seventh inning after three straight Redhawks reached base. Warehime's second blast of the afternoon made the score 19-4 heading to the final two innings.
SEMO would plate two more runs in the eighth inning to cap off the scoring as Josh Cameron recorded his third and final RBI single along with Warehime driving in his ninth RBI to secure the 21-4 victory.
RHP Anthony Klein pitched the final inning for SEMO in his first appearance of 2024 with a four-batter inning, including a strikeout looking. He allowed just one hit and surrendered no walks.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 7, UT MARTIN 6
MACOMB, Ill. - With two outs in the eighth inning, Trevor Leon crept down the third baseline, looking for an opportunity to score. That opportunity came two pitches later on a wild pitch, as Leon scored what would be the game-winning run. Western Illinois took game three 7-6 against UT Martin. Western Illinois moves to 2-1 in OVC play and 6-15 overall.
Western Illinois had to battle from behind all day in the rubber match with UT Martin. The Skyhawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead after plating a pair of runs in the first inning. WIU clawed back in the second. With runners on the corners, Brock Lummus flared a ball into shallow right field. Adam Juran and Kyree Alexander, who reached via a hit by a pitch and an error earlier in the inning, were off on the crack of the bat. Juran scored easily, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Alexander rounded second and headed to third base, drawing a throw from the Skyhawk's right fielder. The ball would beat Alexander to third but skipped away from the third basemen, allowing Alexander to advance home and tie the game at 2-2.
Both teams stayed scoreless in the third inning but returned to the scoreboard in the fourth. After UT Martin scratched across a pair of runs in the top half, the Leathernecks responded in the bottom half. Back-to-back one-out walks by J.R. Heavilin and Brock Lummus put WIU with a runner in scoring position. Leon would single through the right side, loading the bases, and Chris Hege worked an RBI walk to bring WIU within one at 4-3.
Western Illinois's defense worked around a pair of Skyhawk baserunners in the top of the fifth, and then the offense got back rolling. A pair of one-out singles started the Leatherneck rally, as Juran advanced to third. Juran scored on a wild pitch that advanced Alexander to second base. Lummus put the Leathernecks in front with a single to right field, and WIU held a 5-4 lead after five.
UT Martin did not trail long as they tied the game in the top half of the sixth inning. Both teams stayed deadlocked at 5-5 until the bottom of the eighth inning. Lummus started everything off with a leadoff double down the left field line. He came around to score as Leon singled a ball right back up the middle, giving Western Illinois a 6-5 lead. The Leathernecks offense was not done as Max Slavens laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Leon. Leon advanced to third on a ground out and came around for a Leatherneck insurance run on a passed ball. UT Martin found a solo home run in the ninth inning, but Caden Kratz shut the door en route to his sixth save of the season.
Brock Lummus went 3-3 out of the seven-hole for WIU, delivering two RBIs and scoring a run. Adam Juran and Trevor Leon both had multi-hit days, going 2-3 and 2-4. Max Slavens and Kyree Alexander had the other hits, and the WIU offense totaled nine.
Jacob Greenan, Colton Kachinsky, Mason Telford, and Caden Kratz were dominant out of the bullpen on Saturday afternoon. The Leatherneck bullpen allowed only two hits, striking out four over 3.0 innings of work.
LINDENWOOD 14, SIUE 6
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Lindenwood baseball exploded with a 14-6 victory over the SIUE Cougars. The Lions finished with 14 runs on nine hits and four errors, while holding SIUE to six runs on 12 hits and three errors.
The first, fifth and sixth innings were scoreless for both teams. In the second inning, the Lions took a decisive four run lead and never looked back. The Cougars scored two runs in the bottom of the second, however, Lindenwood responded with six in the top of the third. SIUE scored another two in the bottom of the inning. In the fourth, both teams scored two additional runs. The Lions wrapped up scoring with one run in the seventh and eighth innings.
Preston Salazar took the win for the Lions on the mound. Jett James nailed two hits and two hits, while Dawson Hokuf finished with two runs on one hit and one RBI. Anthony Stellato and Jack Meyer tallied two runs, two hits, and one RBI and two runs, one hit and one RBI, respectively. Colin Shea recorded one run on three hits and four RBIs to spearhead Lindenwood's offensive attack. Kam Edwards and Chase Honeycutt, each added one run and three RBIs. Mitch Cummins and Evan Funkhouser each scored one run to aid the Lions offense.
LITTLE ROCK 10, MOREHEAD STATE 7
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - ittle Rock takes game two against Morehead to clinch the series in the first weekend of conference play. Trojans improve to 13-10 on the year and 2-0 in OVC play.
Little Rock opened the game with a 6-run inning with RBIs from Tyler Williams, Skyler Trevino, Ben Harmon, Noah Brewer, and a 2-run home run from Jake Wright
Morehead responded with 3 runs including back-to-back home runs in the fourth and a single run in the sixth
The Trojans scored two 2-run innings in the 7th and 8th while Morehead rallied for a 4-run inning in the ninth.
Nico Baumbach went 5-for-5 with 3 doubles and a RBI for Little Rock.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 7, TENNESSEE TECH 5
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana freshman rightfielder Cameron Boyd (Villa Hills, Kentucky) hit a three-run bomb in the bottom of the ninth to rally the Screaming Eagles by Tennessee Tech University, 7-5, Saturday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. USI is 10-12 overall and 1-1 in the OVC, while TTU goes to 13-10, 1-1 OVC.
The Screaming Eagles fell behind early after the Golden Eagles scored five times in the third and held the lead until the final frame. USI started its comeback in the eighth when Boyd scored on a sacrifice fly by senior third baseman Ricardo Van Grieken (Venezuela) to make the score, 5-1.
The USI rally continued into the ninth when it scored six runs for the 7-6 victory. The Screaming Eagles began the ninth with a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases. USI cut the deficit with its first run of the ninth when sophomore shortstop Caleb Niehaus (Newburgh, Indiana) scored on a RBI-single by junior catcher Logan Mock (Livermore, California) to shrink the deficit to 5-2.
Following a TTU pitching change and a walk to senior pinch hitter Trent Robinson (Louisville, Kentucky) to load the bases again, junior second baseman Lane Crowden (Jackson, Missouri) moved the runners up with a two-run single to close the gap to 5-4 and set the stage for Boyd. Boyd sent the Screaming Eagles out with a win by smacking a 1-0 pitch over the center field fence for a three-run walk off winner.
On the mound, junior right-hander Gavin Seebold (Jeffersonville, Indiana) picked up the win for the Screaming Eagles in relief. Seebold (3-2) blanked the Golden Eagles for the final six innings on three hits and striking out a career-high tying six TTU batters.