FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – #4 Southeast Missouri Baseball (34-26) fell in the opening game of the 2024 NCAA Baseball Regional to #1 Arkansas (44-14) by a final score of 17-9 at Baum-Walker Stadium on Friday afternoon.
The Redhawks scored 10 runs and had nine hits, including three-run homers by seniors Ben Palmer and Josh Cameron. Palmer’s explosion gave SEMO its first runs of the game in the third inning, while Cameron’s tied the game at eight in the fifth inning. Palmer finished 2-for-5 with three RBIs, while Cameron went 1-for-4 with four RBIs.
Freshman Brooks Kettering tied the all-time record for walks in a game in Friday’s contest. The Springfield, Missouri, native walked five times, tying the previous record set by Clemente Bonilla on May 19, 2000. He finished the day 0-1 with five walks.
Second baseman Brooks Kettering led off the game against LHP Mason Molina with his first walk for the Redhawks and the first base runner of the contest.
The Razorbacks responded at home first with a solo home run by Hudson White to give Arkansas a 1-0 lead after the first.
After a quiet top half of the second inning for the Redhawks, Arkansas used a seven-run second inning to take an 8-0 lead.
SEMO would respond quickly. First baseman Bryce Cannon led off the third inning with a walk. Kettering’s second walk of the day put runners on first and second with just one out.
Shortstop Ben Palmer hit his team-leading 18th home run of the season off Molina to cut the deficit to just five. The home run was the first hit of the ball game for the Redhawks.
Ty Stauss drew Molina’s third walk of the inning, and a double by center fielder Michael Mugan grounded into the wall to put the Redhawks on second and third.
A sacrifice fly by Josh Cameron led to the fourth run of the inning as the Redhawks trailed 8-4 after the top of the third.
RHP Collin Wilma continued his strong postseason run by calming the game, keeping the Razorbacks off the board in the fourth and fifth innings. Wilma pitched 3.0 innings, allowing just three runs on three hits with two strikeouts.
After a scoreless fourth inning, Kettering led off the fifth inning with his third walk in three plate appearances. A single through the left side by Ben Palmer and an infield single by Stauss loaded the bases for the Redhawks with no outs in the inning.
Mugan would drive in the first run of the inning with a groundout, fielder’s choice to make the score 8-5 with one out in the inning.
Cameron would record his fourth RBI of the ball game with a swing of the bat, one batter later as he drove a 1-2 breaking ball over the right field fence off RHP Will McEntire tying the game at eight. For Cameron, the long ball was his 15th of the season and was SEMO’s second three-run homer of the contest.
The fifth inning was the second four-run inning for the Redhawks in the ball game.
The Redhawks would add another run in the seventh inning after a one-out double by Chance Resetich put the runner in scoring position. First baseman Bryce Cannon doubled into the right-center field gap to score Resetich and make the score 10-9.
Arkansas would score four runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth to defeat the Redhawks, 17-9.
SEMO Baseball will return to action to take on the loser of the second game between No. 3 Kansas State and No. 2 Louisiana Tech (Friday, 7 p.m.) on Saturday, June 1. First pitch is scheduled for 2 pm in Fayetteville.
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