SEMO takes on Jacksonville State University

With two losses against Jacksonville State this past weekend, the Southeast baseball team has yet to pick up a series win in Ohio Valley Conference play.

Each game against JSU was decided by a single run, with Southeast picking up its lone victory Saturday, a 9-8 win.

The Redhawks were led by sophomore shortstop Tyler Wilber and senior third baseman Alex Nielsen in the April 6 win as they both had three hits. The team had 11 hits total on the day.

The game was tied 3-3 after two innings. Redhawks moved ahead for good in the third inning when Nielsen hit an RBI single. They added two more runs in the fourth inning, two in the sixth and one more in the seventh for a 9-3 lead. Nielsen and Wilber contributed four RBIs, two each, to aid the offense along with a sacrifice fly from senior right fielder Devon Wilson.

In the eighth inning, the Gamecocks hit back-to-back home runs from redshirt freshman outfielder Nash Adams and sophomore infielder Alex Strachan. The Gamecocks unrelenting offense, consisting of two doubles and a single, brought the score to 9-8 in the same inning.

Senior pitcher Logan Winder struck out the final two batters of the first game to preserve the Redhawks win,

On April 5, JSU won 4-3 in 10 innings. Southeast junior pitcher Dylan Dodd threw seven innings with seven strikeouts and JSU pitcher Garrett Farmer pitched eight innings with six strikeouts. The game was decided on an RBI single with bases loaded in the top of the 10th inning, with JSU's sophomore shortstop Isaac Alexander driving in the winning run.

Southeast scored all three of its runs in the sixth inning, with RBIs going to Wilber, Nielsen and freshman Turner Fritts. The outburst gave the Redhawks a 3-2 lead as Wilber and Nielsen both had RBIs. Freshman first baseman Turner Fritts also hit an RBI in the sixth, taking a 3-2 lead.

JSU's junior right fielder Chase Robinson tied the game on a solo home run in the top of the eighth.

The final game of the series was once again decided by a single run, with the Gamecocks toppling Southeast 9-8 to win both the game and the series.

Neither offense got rolling until the fourth inning, where both sides traded blows. Home runs from junior Alex Webb and Chase Robinson of Jacksonville State and RBIs from Nielsen and Wilber of Southeast all played parts in tying the game up at 4-4 through five innings.

In the sixth inning, the Gamecocks gained a two-run advantage when freshman Carson Crowe sent a hit over the right-field wall and sophomore Cole Frederick scored on a wild pitch from junior pitcher Nathan Bock.

Wilber recorded his fifth RBI of the series in the seventh inning to pull the Redhawks to within one run 6-5. However, Webb put the Gamecocks ahead 8-5 with a two-run double in the ninth inning.

The Redhawks scored two runs in the ninth inning before falling short.

The Redhawks (15-17 overall, 5-10 OVC) look to take on conference rival Murray State (13-16 overall, 8-4 OVC) in a three-game series beginning at 5 p.m. on April 12.