MARION, Ill. (Interstat) — Mason Pennington pitched seven scoreless innings and the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning to defeat the Lindenwood Lions 2-1 on Wednesday evening at Rent One Park in an Ohio Valley Conference matchup.

Pennington allowed three hits, walked none and struck out three while throwing 86 pitches. The right-hander retired the final 11 batters he faced and did not allow a runner to reach scoring position after the third inning. He improved to 7-3 on the season as Southeast Missouri State improved to 39-16.

Lindenwood starter Seth Benes matched Pennington through seven innings, striking out three and allowing only a walk and a hit batsman while facing the minimum through the first six frames. Benes did not allow a hit through 7 1/3 innings, but his command wavered in the eighth.

With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Brooks Kettering crushed a 2-1 fastball over the right-field wall for his fifth home run of the season, tying the game 1-1. Cal Sullivan followed with a solo shot to deep left field, his 15th homer, giving the Redhawks a 2-1 lead. Benes was replaced by Aaron Jungers, who struck out the final two batters of the inning.

Lindenwood, which fell to 29-27, had taken a 1-0 lead in the top of the ninth against Redhawks reliever Nathan Mertens. Consecutive singles by Mathew Graf and Michael Ralph put runners on first and second with one out. After a strikeout, Sam Driscoll singled to right field, scoring Ralph from second base. Pinch hitter Nathan Simpson struck out looking to end the game with the tying run on second.

Pennington’s performance continued a stretch of strong outings. He threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings against Arkansas-Little Rock on May 14 and allowed two runs in 4 1/3 innings against Southern Indiana on May 8. For Lindenwood, Benes took the loss despite allowing only two runs over 7 1/3 innings.

Mertens earned the save, working two innings while allowing one run on four hits with two strikeouts. Graf led the Lions with two hits, while Driscoll drove in the lone run. For Southeast Missouri State, Dakota Joggerst and Andrew Ramirez each had a hit, and Kettering and Sullivan provided the power.

The game was scoreless through seven innings despite both teams putting runners on base. Lindenwood stranded a runner in scoring position in the third on a double by Zach Edwards, but Pennington induced a groundout to end the threat. The Lions also had a runner picked off in the fifth after Graf singled and was caught leaning off first.

Southeast Missouri State’s best opportunity before the eighth came in the fifth, when Joggerst singled and later advanced to third on a Ramirez single, but Benes struck out Luke Sims and got a fielder’s choice to escape. The Redhawks also had a runner thrown out trying to steal second in the fourth.

The victory gave Southeast Missouri State a 2-1 lead in the season series after the teams split a three-game set in St. Charles, Missouri, earlier in April. The Redhawks won 8-0 on April 3 but lost 3-2 and 7-1 in the other two meetings.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Southeast Missouri State 7, Lindenwood 4, and the ELO system gave the Redhawks a 68.00 percent probability to win.