Semoball

Southeast Missouri State baseball opens Eastern Illinois series with a victory

Wayne McPherson ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian

Southeast Missouri State pitcher Clay Chandler watches a pitch sail toward the plate during a 7-3 victory over Eastern Illinois in Ohio Valley Conference play on Friday in Charleston, Illinois. Chandler picked up the victory on the mound.

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team compiled 11 hits, got a strong outing from starting pitcher Clay Chandler and defeated Eastern Illinois 7-3 on the road Friday to open a three-game series against the Ohio Valley Conference opponent.

Dan Holst paced Southeast (16-12 overall, 7-6 OVC) with a 3-for-5 day.

Chandler (6-2) threw six innings, allowing just one run while scattering seven hits, striking out eight and walking one. His eight Ks was one short of a season high.

Carlos Vega picked up a save for a second straight game. It was his fourth of the year.

EIU (5-24, 2-8) got four innings from starting pitcher Jake Haberer (0-2), as the Redhawks victimized him for six runs on eight hits. He struck out four but walked three and allowed a run to score on a wild pitch.

Tristen Gagan was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, a double and an RBI for the Redhawks, while Brian Lees was 2-for-4 with a home run and three runs knocked in.

Wayne McPherson ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian

Southeast Missouri State's Tristen Gagan hits a double during the seventh inning of a 7-3 victory over Eastern Illinois in Ohio Valley Conference play on Friday in Charleston, Illinois. Gagan later scored on a sacrifice fly.

Chris Osborne wnet 2-for-5 with a solo homer.

Jimmy Govern and Matt Albert each went 2-for-4 for the Panthers.

Jared Waldhoff threw two innings of relief for SEMO, giving up one run on one hit. Matthew Wade followed and allowed one run on one hit in 1/3 of an inning before Vega shut the door with the game's final two outs.

Southeast opened the scoring in the top of the third inning when EIU failed to convert a fielder's choice on a Gagan ground ball, allowing a run to score for a 1-0 advantage.

SEMO tacked on another in the top of the fourth when a wild pitch by Haberer allowed Danny Wright to score from third base.

Osborne led off the fifth with a blast to right-center field before Holst and Gagan had back-to-back singles, setting the table for Lees to hit his fourth home run of the season and push the lead to 6-0.

The Panthers got on the board in the bottom of the sixth thanks to consecutive doubles from Dougie Parks and Albert.

A sacrifice fly from Wright scored Gagan in the top of the seventh, making the score 7-1.

EIU pushed a run home on a ground out in the eighth inning and then got another on a Justin Smith solo home run in the ninth.

The hosts loaded the bases with one out against Wade before Vega got a double play to end the game.

Game 2 of the series is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday.

— From staff report

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