SEMO Baseball drops series finale to Toledo

SEMO infielder Brooks Kettering fields a ground ball during the Redhawks' 10-9 loss to Toledo on Sunday, March 3, at Capaha Field.

Clay Herrell ~ cherrell@semoball.com

If you like offense, then hopefully you were at Capaha Field on Sunday afternoon.

After the Redhawks won the first three games of the series, a Sunday slugfest that saw 19 runs and 27 hits swung in favor of the Toledo Rockets as they downed the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks 10-9.

“We were 4-1 this week and had a chance to go 5-0,” Redhawks coach Andy Sawyers said. “We just couldn’t quite finish it off. We fell behind early and (Toledo) had a big fourth inning that had us chasing six (runs) but I thought our guys did a nice job and battled back and gave us a chance to win.”

Getting the start for the Redhawks was sophomore right-hander Sam Heyman.

Heyman tossed 3 innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits while striking out 3.

After a scoreless first inning on both sides, the Rockets struck first with a solo home run off the bat of Caden Konczak.

Credit to Heyman, he settled in following the home run and allowed just one run on a single in the third as the Redhawks trailed 2-0.

“We used Sam as an opener,” Sawyers said. “He started on Tuesday and got the win at the University of Missouri and we’ve been wanting to get him to the weekend and we had an opportunity with the four-game weekend series.”

It was in the bottom of the third when the Redhawks’ offense got going as they got Heyman off the hook.

Following a leadoff single from Ty Stauss and another single from Peyton Leeper, Brooks Kettering ripped a 2-out, 2-run double into the left-center gap to tie the game at 2.

The ensuing at-bat saw Michael Mugan give the Redhawks a 3-2 lead courtesy of an RBI single.

“I thought our guys were pretty competitive with two outs and two strikes this weekend,” Sawyers said. “I thought we were really gritty and competitive.”

The 3-run inning also meant Heyman left the game with the lead after his three-inning outing.

“He did his job,” Sawyers said. “You’ll probably see him start during the weekend next weekend.”

The lead was short-lived however as things began to unravel in the top of the 4th.

Toledo’s Owen Jackson launched a 3-run home run to quickly erase the Redhawks lead and give the Rockets a 5-3 lead.

After a passed ball made it 6-3, Brayden White hit the second 3-run home run of the inning to blow the game open and make it 9-3 Rockets.

Despite trailing 9-3, the Redhawks continued to chip away as they cut the lead to 9-4 when Mugan singled home another run in the bottom of the fifth.

“He’s just a really good player,” Sawyers said of Mugan.

Southeast’s Tommy Windt tossed a scoreless sixth inning and got the Redhawks bats back to work.

Josh Cameron ripped a 1-out double in the bottom of the sixth and went on to score courtesy of a single from Ty Stauss.

With momentum building, Gavin Baldwin drilled a 2-run shot that hit the batter's eye in center field to make it 4 unanswered runs and cut the lead to 9-7.

“I think they’re tough,” Sawyers said of his team’s rallying ability when trailing. “They have the ability to overcome adversity and respond to it. So far this year, they’ve shown that mentality.”

Searching for a shutdown inning, the Redhawks turned to Peyton Lawrence who ended up loading the bases with 1-out, before proceeding to strikeout the next two batters to keep the score at 9-7 entering the bottom of the seventh.

In the bottom half of the seventh, Josh Cameron picked up his third hit of the day with an RBI single to get the Redhawks to within one.

Entering the top of the eighth, it felt as if Toledo was just treading water to keep the lead, but they finally got some momentum back with a solo home run to extend its lead to 10-8.

The Redhawks would scratch across a run in the bottom of the ninth thanks to a sacrifice fly from Bryce Cannon, but the eighth-inning home run by the Rockets held up as the game-winner in the 10-9 victory.

Southeast (6-7) returns to action at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5, when the Redhawks host Middle Tennessee.