Southeast Missouri (29-15, 19-5 OVC)
vs. Murray State (18-24, 10-11 OVC)
Friday, May 2 - Sunday, May 4
5, 2, 1 p.m.
Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Capaha Field
Head Coaches
Steve Bieser: 55-48, second season
Rob McDonald: 11th season
Radio: Friday, Sunday: 1220 AM; Saturday: 92.9 FM
Play-by-Play: Erik Sean
Audio Webcast: SEMOESPN.com
Live Stats: Game One | Game Two | Game Three
Twitter Updates: @SEMObaseball, @GoSoutheast
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri | Murray State
 
The Home Stretch
Southeast Missouri will host the Murray State Thoroughbreds in the final weekend home series of the 2014 season this weekend. The first-place Redhawks are one Ohio Valley Conference win away from clinching an OVC Tournament berth to their 20th tournament appearance in a row, a league record.  If the Redhawks sweep Murray, they will guarantee at least a portion of the OVC regular season title. Friday and Sunday's games can be heard on ESPN 1220 AM while Saturday will be aired on 92.9 FM.
 
Final Home Weekend Events
Friday and Saturday's games will both feature a FREE tailgate. Friday's game will be sponsored by Cape Air, who will be giving away free rally towels to fans. The tailgate will be provided by Kohlfeld Distributing and the Bank of Missouri. Saturday's game will be sponsored by Wood & Huston Bank with the tailgate provided by River Eagle Distributing. The Redhawks will celebrate five seniors on Sunday prior to first pitch. There will also be a free concert at the Capaha Park Band Shell featuring Natalie Stovall and the Drive following the game sponsored by the Southeast Missouri Student Activities Council.
 
Looking Back
Southeast Missouri maintained its hold on first place in the OVC last week, winning two of three games at Jacksonville State (after losing a non-conference game to Southern Illinois). The Redhawks now have a three-game lead over second place Tennessee Tech with two series left to play (Southeast has an OVC bye the final weekend of the regular season). Travis Hayes was named OVC Pitcher of the Week after tossing a three-hit complete game shutout against JSU on Saturday. The junior did not allow a hit until the fourth inning and retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced to improve to 6-1 on the season. Hayes has a 6-1 record in 13 appearances (7 starts) on the season. Alex Winkelman picked up the win in the first game of the series and is now 4-2 on the year with a 3.13 E.R.A. (fifth in the OVC). As a team Southeast Missouri has a 4.20 E.R.A. which ranks third in the league. Matt Tellor hit .600 (9-for-15) with seven RBI during the week; on the season he is hitting .382 (sixth-best in the OVC) with an OVC-best 55 RBI. Tellor was 4-for-5 with three RBI in Friday night's game with JSU. Derek Gibson, who leads the team and ranks fourth in the OVC in batting (.405), currently has a 20-game hitting streak, which is the longest in the OVC this season.
 
OVC Pitcher of the Week
Hayes tossed a three-hit complete game shutout in a 1-0 victory at Jacksonville State on Saturday. The junior did not allow a hit until the fourth inning (allowing two in the frame) and allowed a final hit in the sixth inning before retiring 10 of the final 11 batters he faced (with the lone runner reached on an error). Hayes struck out six and walked only one batter (in the second inning). It marked his second shutout of the season (he combined for the first one) and improved his record to 6-1 on the year.
 
Sacrificial Lambs
The Redhawks rank second in the country in sacrifice flies with 33. Derek Gibson and Matt Tellor each have eight sacrifice flies to their names, both tied for most in the conference and fourth in the nation. The only run scored in Saturday's 1-0 win over Jacksonville was on a sac fly.
 
Double Vision
Southeast Missouri is the second-most double play turning team in the nation with 54 double plays turned this season. They also rank second in double plays per game with 1.23.
 
Hurts So Good
Jason Blum is quickly catching up to Trenton Moses for being hit by a pitch in the span of a career. The record, held by Moses, is 49, while Blum, a junior, has been clunked 45 times, second in the career standings. Cole Bieser is also rising the in the ranks of earning a bruise as he is now ranked fifth with 26. Blum and Bieser are tied for the team lead with 13 this season.
 
Speed Racers
The Redhawks have made their presence on the base paths known this season. Southeast leads the OVC in stolen bases as a team with 79. 15 more than Austin Peay, who has the second most. The Redhawks' 79 stolen bags is the ninth-best in the nation. Jason Blum ranks second in the league with 19 while Cole Bieser ranks seventh with 11.
 
Team Statistical Rankings
As of Thursday, May 1, the Redhawks' .308 team batting average ranks 13th in the nation. Southeast is the tenth-highest run producing team in the country with 318 runs while Southeast ranks tenth in scoring (7.2 runs/game). The team .422 slugging percentage is ranked 19th.
 
Individual Statistical Rankings
Derek Gibson's .408 batting average is good enough for 10th-best in the country. Matt Tellor is seventh in home runs with 12. Jason Blum is the 11th-highest run scorer with 48 while Tellor is 12th with 47. Tellor and Gibson, the league's top RBI producers, are the third and fourth highest in the nation.
 
What's on Tap?
The Redhawks will the midweek off to prepare for their final OVC series of the season at Tennessee Tech next weekend. The series at Tech will kick off a seven-game road trip for the Redhawks that includes a trip to nationally ranked Vanderbilt as well as another three-game series at IPFW to close the regular season.