GAME ONE: BOX SCORE I PLAY-BY-PLAY
GAME TWO: BOX SCORE I PLAY-BY-PLAY

RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University baseball team was swept in an Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader with Southeast Missouri on Saturday afternoon at Turkey Hughes Field, losing game one, 7-6, before falling in game two, 13-6.

With the losses, EKU falls to 7-20 (1-4 OVC) on the year, while the wins improve SEMO to 15-11 (3-1 OVC).

In game one, EKU trailed by two in the bottom of the eighth when freshman Bryan Soloman hit a two-out, two-run home run, fighting off several pitches before lifting a 2-2 pitch into the day’s strong wind and over the wall in right center to tie the score, 6-6.

Sophomore right-hander Anthony Bazzani, however, walked Brett Russell to lead off the top of the ninth, and after pinch-runner Brennan Malham went to second on a bunt by Trenton Moses, Louie Haseltine drove him in with a base hit to left field. That run proved to be the game-winner as the Colonels went down in order in the bottom of the ninth.

Bazzani (0-6) picked up the loss as he surrendered the decisive run in the top of the ninth. Junior right-hander Matt Fyffe started for EKU and was effective, going 7.1 innings and allowing just four earned runs.

Left-hander Logan Mahon (3-3) surrendered the game-tying two-run shot to Soloman in the bottom of the eighth; however, he rebounded in the ninth to earn his third win of the season.

Soloman finished the game 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI and a run scored. Sophomore Matt Phipps, meanwhile, batted 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.

Michael Adamson took advantage of the strong wind, hitting two home runs for SEMO in game one and finishing the game 3-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored.

After SEMO took a 3-0 lead, Phipps brought the Colonels back to within one in the bottom of the third as he laced a two-run single through the left side of the infield, scoring junior Michael Garcia and sophomore Austin Grisham.

The Redhawks added another run in the top of the fifth, but EKU tied it in the home half of that inning when junior Richie Rodriguez scored senior Bryce Labhart with an RBI groundout and junior Jacob Daniel scored Phipps with a base hit through the right side that made it 4-4.

A two-run homer by Adamson in the top of the seventh again gave SEMO the lead, before Soloman’s home run in the bottom of the eighth tied the game for the second time.

SEMO blew game two open early as the Redhawks scored one in the first and then exploded for four in the second as Taylor Heon and Casey Jones both provided two-run hits. The Redhawks then scored three in the third and another in the fourth to take an 9-0 lead midway through the fourth.

In the bottom of the fourth, however, Soloman struck again, this time blasting his first career grand slam – scoring Rodriguez, Daniel and senior Ryan Faidley – to nearly cut the Redhawks’ lead in half.

The SEMO offense just kept on rolling, though, as the Redhawks piled on four more runs in the top of the sixth to again blow the game open. Freshman Steve Ferraro crushed his first career home run, a two-run shot to left in the bottom of the sixth, but it was not enough as the Colonels dropped their fifth straight game.

Freshman lefty Kyle McGrath (2-2) got the loss in game two, going just 2.1 innings and allowing six runs on eight hits. Right-hander Jordan Underwood (2-0) earned the win for SEMO, pitching six innings and surrendering six runs on eight hits.

EKU returns to action tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. in the finale of this weekend’s series at Turkey Hughes Field.