CAPE GIRARDEU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri defeated SIUE 12-1 Sunday at Capaha Field to sweep the three-game Ohio Valley Conference baseball series.

The Cougars fell to 8-7 in OVC play and 10-19 overall. It is the first time the Cougars have been swept in a series since No. 34 Wichita State swept the season-opening series. Southeast Missouri has won seven straight games and is now 21-10 overall and a league-best 13-2 in OVC play.

"We need to step up to the challenge and deal with the adversity," SIUE Head Coach Tony Stoecklin said. "We need to learn from this weekend. We need to understand what toughness is. We need to be able to compete in tough situations and get the job done."

SIUE took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Nick Lombardo walked to lead off the game and then stole second base. He advanced to third on a groundout by Denton Reed and scored on a wild pitch to put SIUE on top.

Jake Stauffenberg started and held the Redhawks scoreless through the first two innings. Southeast Missouri tied the game in the third on a sacrifice fly by Matt Tellor. Branden Boggetto hit a two-run home run in the fourth to put SEMO up 3-1.

Derek Gibson and Andy Lennington had RBIs in the fifth to push the lead to 5-1. Jason Blum added a sacrifice squeeze bunt in the sixth inning to make it 6-1.

Stauffenberg allowed six runs on nine hits over six innings of work. He fell to 1-4 with the loss.

"He started off sharp and then he lost command of his breaking pitch," Stoecklin said of the senior starter. "He got behind and they took good swings once he got behind."

Zach Malach tossed the seventh inning allowing a run on two hits. P.J. Schuster allowed five runs on four hits, including a grand slam by Gibson, in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Gibson 2 for 5 with five RBIs.

Southeast Missouri starter Travis Hayes threw his first career complete game, limited the Cougars to just eight hits He struck out five and walked two.

Alec Saikal led SIUE at the plate. He was 3 for 4 with a double. In the series Saikal was  7 for 11 (.636) with two doubles and three RBIs.

"Alec has swung the bat well for a while, not just this weekend," Stoecklin added. "He has been swinging it well for a couple of weeks. He had a nice weekend."

Keaton Wright was 2 for 4 in the loss.

The Cougars play a pair of mid-week games before returning to OVC play next weekend. SIUE will play at Saint Louis Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at the Billiken Sports Complex.