No. 4 Southeast Missouri (39-19) vs. No. 1/6 Mississippi State (41-16-1)
NCAA Starkville Regional Information
Dates: Friday-Monday, June 3-6, 2016
First Pitch: Friday, 1:30 p.m.
Location: Starkville, Mississippi
Host: Mississippi State University
Stadium: Dudy Noble Field
 
Media Information
Regional Website: HailState.com
TV/Streaming Video: ESPN3 / Doug Sherman, John Gregory | Watch
Radio: SEMO ESPN 92.9 SM / Erik Sean | Listen Live
Live Stats: HailState.com
Twitter Updates: @SEMObaseball
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri | Mississippi State | Cal State Fullerton
Brackets: Regional | NCAA Tournament
Steve Bieser Regional Press Conference: Video | Quotes
 
Participating Teams
No. 4 Southeast Missouri Redhawks
Overall Record: 39-19
Ohio Valley Record / Finish: 22-8 / First
Head Coach: Steve Bieser (138-95, Fourth Season)
NCAA Tournament Record / Appearance: 1-4 / Third
Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2002, Tuscaloosa Regional
 
No. 1 Mississippi State Bulldogs
No. 6 overall seed in NCAA Tournament
Overall Record: 41-16-1
Southeastern Conference Record / Finish: 21-9 / First-West
Website: HailState.com
Twitter: @HailStateBB
Head Coach: John Cohen (240-186, Seventh Season at MSU)
NCAA Tournament Record / Appearance: 94-76 / 35^th
Last Appearance: 2014
 
No. 2 Cal State Fullerton Titans
Overall Record: 35-21
Big West Record / Finish: 17-7 / First
Website: FullertonTitans.com
Twitter: @BaseballTitans
Head Coach: Rick Vanderhook (193-100, Fifth Season)
NCAA Tournament Record / Appearance: 151-81 / 38^th
Last Appearance: 2015
 
No. 3 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
Overall Record: 40-18
Conference USA Record / Finish: 19-11 / Fifth
Website: LATechSports.com
Twitter: @LATechBSB
Head Coach: Greg Goff (65-45, Second Season at LA Tech)
NCAA Tournament Record / Appearance: 9-14 / Eighth
Last Appearance: 1987
 
NCAA Starkville Regional Schedule
Friday, June 3
Game One, 1:30 p.m. • #1 Mississippi State [6] vs. #4 Southeast Missouri
Game Two, 6:30 p.m. • #2 Cal State Fullerton vs. #3 Louisiana Tech
 
Saturday, June 4
Game Three, 1:30 p.m. • Loser Game #1 vs. Loser Game #2
Game Four, 6:30 p.m. • Winner Game #1 vs. Winner Game #2
 
Sunday, June 5
Game Five, 1:30 p.m. • Winner Game #3 vs. Loser Game #4
**Game Six, 6:30 p.m. • Winner Game #4 vs. Winner Game #5
 
Monday, June 6
**Game Seven, 6:30 p.m. • Winner Game #6 vs. Loser Game #6 (if necessary)
 
Southeast Fan Gathering – Fan Gathering Map
The Southeast Missouri Department of Athletics will host a pre-game gathering for Redhawk fans beginning at Noon on Friday, June 3. The fan gathering will be located just south of Humphrey Coliseum, next to Howell Building. Fans should look for the Redhawk tents and flag. Fans are responsible for providing their own food & drinks.
 
Redhawks Rundown
Southeast Missouri State baseball will open NCAA Tournament play in the Starkville Regional Friday afternoon against regional host and No. 6 overall seed Mississippi State at 1:30 p.m.
 
Follow the Redhawks
• Southeast Missouri's appearance at the 2016 NCAA Starkville Regional will be broadcast live on ESPN3. Fans with a valid cable subscription can watch online and on the Watch ESPN app.
• SEMO ESPN 92.9 FM will carry every broadcast of the regional tournament. Erik Sean will provide play-by-play on the radio broadcast. Fans can download the SEMO ESPN app to listen to live broadcasts of Redhawks baseball.
• Live stats will be available on HailState.com and GoSoutheast.com.
• Live Twitter updates are available on the official Twitter page of Southeast Missouri baseball, @SEMObaseball. NCAA Baseball will also feature coverage on their official Twitter page, @NCAACWS.
• All information regarding the Starkville Regional can be accessed at HailState.com/NCAAbaseball.
 
Back on the #RoadtoOmaha
Southeast Missouri baseball is making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 14 years. Southeast last made an appearance in 2002 in the Tuscaloosa Regional. Southeast shocked college baseball when it defeated the University of Alabama in the opening round by a score of 7-4. Southeast went on to drop a 12-6 decision against Florida Atlantic then was eliminated by the Crimson Tide, 7-4. Southeast's first ever NCAA appearance came in 1998 at the Midwest Regional in Wichita, Kansas.
 
Punching the Ticket
After losing its second game in the 2016 OVC Baseball Tournament to Jacksonville State, top-seeded Southeast Missouri won three-straight elimination games to win its third OVC Tournament Championship and first since 2002.  The Redhawks also won the OVC Tournament title in 1998. Southeast Missouri was the No. 1 seed for the OVC Tournament for the third-straight season; they are only the fourth No. 1 seed over the past 13 years to win the OVC Tournament. Overall, Southeast appeared in its 22nd-straight OVC Tournament, which is the OVC's all-time record.
 
Recent OVC Success in NCAA Play
Despite not winning an NCAA Regional, OVC teams have been competitive in NCAA Regional play, winning at least one game in five of the last nine years, including reaching the Regional Championship Round in two of the past four years.
 
A New Wins Record
With Southeast Missouri's two wins in the championship round of the OVC Tournament, the Redhawks established a new program wins record of 39, breaking the old record of 37. Southeast's 37-wins record was set in 2000 and tied in 2002 then again in 2014. With one more victory the Redhawks would become the fourth different OVC team to reach 40 victories in the last four years.
 
Lucchesi Collects First Team Louisville Slugger All-American
Left-handed pitcher Joey Lucchesi has been named one of Louisville Slugger's First Team All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball newspaper. Lucchesi is one of 17 on the first-team roster that includes 13 conference players and pitchers of the year. He is one of five starting pitchers to appear on the first team. Lucchesi is the first Louisville Slugger First Team All-American in Southeast baseball history. 
 
Lucchesi Picks Up OVC Tournament MVP
OVC Pitcher of the Year Joey Lucchesi was named the MVP of the 2016 OVC Tournament after throwing a complete game shutout in the team's first game of the tournament against Morehead State and pitching the final three innings and picking up a save in the Championship Game versus Jacksonville State. In his two appearances Lucchesi pitched 12 innings of shutout baseball and allowed eight hits while striking out nine and walking only three while pinning opponents to a .195 batting average.
 
Southeast in Starkville
Southeast is winless in five all-time meetings with the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Most recently, Southeast visited Dudy Noble Field on March 25, 2014, dropping a slim 3-2 decision in a midweek matchup. Previously, Southeast played in the BankFirst Baseball Challenge held in Starkville, March 5-7, 2010. Southeast went 0-4 in two games against the hosts as well as two games against Michigan State. The Redhawks and Bulldogs first met in 1997. The Redhawks dropped both games of a two-game series. In all, Southeast is 0-7 in Starkville.
 
Pleasure to Make Your Acquaintance
Southeast Missouri has never played either Cal State Fullerton or Louisiana Tech in its baseball history. In his four-year career, Steve Bieser has never faced a team from Conference USA or the Big West Conference.
 
Bieser Against the SEC
Steve Bieser has guided his Redhawks to four wins against Southeastern Conference teams in his four-year career. Three of the four wins have come against in-state rival Missouri. The fourth came in 2015 at the University of Arkansas. In the last four years, Southeast has faced off against Arkansas, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, and Vanderbilt. The Redhawks are 4-7 in 11 SEC games including two losses at Ole Miss in 2016.
 
Coaching Connection
Louisiana Tech Head Coach Greg Goff has roots in the Southeast Missouri baseball program. Goff served as both the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for Southeast Missouri State from 1997 to 1999. He served on Mark Hogan's coaching staff during Southeast's first NCAA Regional appearance in 1998. Goff mentored former All-American pitcher Ryan Spille.
 
Run, Trevor. Run!
Sophomore infielder Trevor Ezell officially broke Southeast's single-season runs record after touching home three times in the Redhawks' Tournament Championship game Sunday. Ezell, who has 69 runs scored this season, broke the previous record of 67 held by Kenton Parmley (2010). Ezell finished his rookie campaign with 66, narrowly falling short of tying the record a season ago. Ezell's 69 total runs and his 1.21 runs per game rank third nationally.
 
A 10-Game Winner
With Friday's complete game shutout of Morehead State, Joey Lucchesi picked up his 10th victory of the season. He is the first pitcher to win 10 games in a season since Tim Alvarez won 14, the Southeast record, in 2003.
 
Left-Handed Pitcher Joey LuKKhesi
On May 19 against Belmont, Southeast Missouri senior pitcher Joey Lucchesi established a new OVC single-season strikeout record with his 134th strikeout of the season. He broke the previous record of 133 set by Tennessee Tech's Todd Kemp in 1986. Lucchesi also broke the Southeast Missouri record of 130 held by Ryan Spille in 1998. Lucchesi now has 145 strikeouts entering this weekend's regional, a figure that leads all of Division I baseball. Lucchesi, who has 238 strikeouts, is only two strikeouts away from establishing a new career strikeout record. The current record of 239 was set by Southeast Hall-of-Famer Trae Hastings (1975-78). Lucchesi's 12.35 strikeouts per nine innings ranks fourth in the country.
 
Redhawks Runnin' for Another Record
The 2016 Redhawks are on pace to set a new single-season runs record. Entering the regional, Southeast has scored 465 runs this season. The record, set by last year's squad, is 473 runs, shattering the previous record of 452 set in 2010. Southeast needs just nine runs to set a new record. The Redhawks' 465 runs ranks fifth among Division I teams while their scoring (8.0 runs per game) ranks eighth.
 
The Team Slugger
Outfielder Chris Osborne is currently sporting a .766 slugging percentage this season. His slugging clip ranks second in Division I baseball. Osborne is the team-leader with 15 home runs. His 15 jacks is the most by a Redhawk since Matt Tellor blasted 15 in 2014.
 
Redhawks Three-Peat
Southeast Missouri finished the conference season with a 22-8 record to win its third-straight and fourth overall OVC Championship. Southeast has won the title in 2002, 2014, 2015, and now in 2016. They are the first team to win three-straight regular season titles since 1995-97 (Middle Tennessee). MTSU and Southeast are the only OVC teams to win three-straight regular season titles since division play ended in 1989 but Southeast is the only one to do it with three outright (MTSU shared the 1996 and 1997 titles).
 
Lucchesi Named OVC Pitcher of the Year
For the second year in a row, left-handed pitcher Joey Lucchesi was named the OVC Pitcher of the Year. Lucchesi becomes the first to win the award in back-to-back seasons in conference history. 2016 is the third consecutive season a Southeast Missouri pitcher has taken home the award (Travis Hayes, 2014). Southeast had a similar stretch from 2001-03 when Todd Pennington, Brad Purcell, and Tim Alvarez won the award in consecutive seasons. This is the eighth time a Southeast Missouri pitcher has won Pitcher of the Year.
 
Bieser Named OVC Coach of the Year
For the second time in three years, fourth-year head coach Steve Bieser was awarded the OVC Coach of the Year. Bieser helped Southeast Missouri to its third-straight outright OVC regular-season championship in 2016, becoming the first coach in league history to accomplish that feat. In the past three seasons, the Redhawks have combined to go 67-23 in OVC play and win at least 36 overall games in each of those years. At one point of this season Southeast Missouri won 11-straight and 15 of 16 games. After a pair of losses the team then won nine of its next 10 games and garnered votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) poll. Southeast Missouri started Conference play 12-0, the best start to league play in school history. Bieser becomes one of just 15 coaches in OVC history to win multiple Coach of the Year awards. He is the second Southeast Missouri coach to earn the honor.
 
Five Redhawks Earn First Team All-OVC Honors
Southeast Missouri had five players pick up First Team All-OVC honors. Shortstop Branden Boggetto, outfielder Chris Osborne, designated hitter Garrett Gandolfo, and starting pitchers Joey Lucchesi and Robert Beltran all earned the honor. The 2000 season also saw five Southeast Missouri players on the first team, a program record.
 
Redhawks Land Two on Second Team All-OVC
Sophomore second baseman Trevor Ezell and starting pitcher Clay Chandler earned Second Team All-OVC accolades following the 2016 season. Ezell earned All-Freshman Team honors a season ago.