Southeast Missouri (25-24, 13-14) vs. Eastern Kentucky (24-29, 10-17)
Dates: Thursday, May 18-Saturday, May 20, 2017
First Pitch: 6 p.m. / 6 p.m. / 2 p.m.
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Stadium: Capaha Field
Head Coaches:
     Andy Sawyers (25-24, first season)
     Edwin Thompson (48-59, second season)
 
Media Information
Radio: SEMO ESPN 92.9 FM / Erik Sean, Jess Bolen | Listen Live
Live Stats: Game One | Game Two | Game Three
Twitter Updates: @SEMObaseball
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri
 
The Matchups
Thursday: RHP Justin Murphy (6-3) vs. LHP Casey Collins (2-1)
Friday: RHP Clay Chandler (7-3) vs. RHP Bryan Quillens (3-3)
Saturday: TBA vs. TBA
 
Leading Off
Southeast Missouri baseball (25-24, 13-14) will bring the regular season to a close this weekend when Eastern Kentucky (24-28, 10-17) comes to Cape for a three-game series. The series will begin Thursday evening at 6 p.m. Game two will be Friday, also st 6 p.m., with the finale Saturday at 2. 
 
Follow the Redhawks
• This weekend's series will be broadcast live on SEMO ESPN 92.9 FM. Erik Sean and Jess Bolen will be on the call. Fans can download the free SEMO ESPN app to listen to live broadcasts of Redhawks baseball all season long. 
• Live stats will be available on GoSoutheast.com. 
• @SEMObaseball, the official Twitter page of the Redhawks, will feature live in-game updates all season long. 
 
This Weekend's Events
Free Tailgates
Thursday: The Bank of Missouri and River Eagle Distributing
Friday: Wings Etc. and Kohlfeld Distributing
Bark in the Park
Thursday: sponsored by Mississippi Mutts
Capaha Field Ribbon Cutting
Saturday: A special ceremony will be held prior to first pitch with city and university personnel on hand
Senior Day
Saturday: Honoring 10 seniors student-athletes who will play their final game at Capaha
Free Academy Sports Youth Clinic
Academy Sports + Outdoors will host a free youth (1^st-8^th grade) clinic following Saturday's game
 
A Peek at What's Ahead
The 2017 OVC Baseball Tournament will be held next week in Oxford, Alabama. This will be the first year in which the tournament has expanded to eight teams and the first in Oxford. Tennessee Tech will hold the top seed in the tournament while Morehead State, Belmont, and Jacksonville are the only teams who have locked a spot going into the final weekend. 
 
Series History
The Redhawks narrowly lead the all-time series with EKU, 42-38. Southeast has won eight of the last nine games, including the last four regular season series with the Colonels. The last loss to the Colonels came at home in the series opener in 2015. 
 
Scouting the Colonels
Eastern Kentucky enters the weekend with a 24-29 overall record and a 10-17 OVC clip, currently ranking last in the league but still with a shot to make the OVC Tournament. EKU took the series opener against Tennessee Tech last Friday but dropped the next two games. Most recently, the Colonels fell 13-4 at Missouri. Last Wednesday, EKU gave Tennessee a run for its money, falling only by a run and leading going into the eighth inning. At home, EKU is 20-11; however, away from Richmond, it is 4-18 including going 2-10 in OVC road contests. At the plate, Ben Fisher is EKU's top hitter and is one of the nation's leaders with 23 home runs. His home run mark is the new EKU single-season record. He's knocked in and scored 67 runs each. As a team, the offense is pretty strong compared to the rest of the OVC despite hitting .295 as a team, ranking fourth in runs scored (373), hits (559), RBI (344), and sixth in doubles (107) and home runs (68). On the other hand, team pitching ranks 10th in ERA (7.57) and runs allowed (442), and ninth in opposing batting average (.307). 
 
Thanks You, Seniors! 
Southeast baseball will honor 10 senior student-athletes prior to Saturday's finale. Those honored will be Robert Beltran, Chris Caffrey, Clay Chandler, Clayton Evans, Dan Holst, Brian Lees, Justin Murphy, Chris Osborne, Kylar Robertson, and Jared Waldhoff. Student managers Matthew Milhouse and Andrew Berg will also be recognized for their dedication to the program over the years. 
 
Heating Up Down the Stretch
Justin Murphy will make his second-straight "Friday night" start this weekend. In his last seven starts, he has pitched past the seventh in six of them. In those starts, Murphy is 4-1 with a 2.92 ERA. The string also includes a complete-game shutout of Jacksonville State on Apr. 14 and most recently a near-complete game at Belmont. When Murphy takes the mound this season, Southeast is 9-4. He is holding OVC hitters to a .260 batting average. 
 
All the Wright Stuff
Freshman second baseman Danny Wright has put together a stellar rookie campaign. His .348 batting average ranks third on the team and 17th in the league. He's hit 11 doubles, a pair of triples, and three home runs to slug .503. His .446 on base percentage ranks second on the team. He's made 42 starts, 38 of which coming at second base. The rookie has 18 multi-hit games including five three-hit games. In OVC play, he's hitting a very respectable .385, which ranks 12th in the league while his .491 OVC on-base clip ranks fifth.
 
But Does He Get on Base?
Senior outfielder Dan Holst led the squad last season with a .475 on base percentage and currently leads this season with a .521 clip. His .496 career on base percentage ranks fourth among active Division I players. His .521 average ranks third nationally this season. He extended his on base streak to 37 games over the weekend at Belmont. His 37-game streak is a career long for the senior and is currently the longest active on-base streak in the OVC. His 46 walks this season has cracked the single-season top 10 for the second straight season and ranks eighth in the country. His career 101 walks ranks seventh all-time at SEMO.
 
There's No Place Like Home
In 22 games at Capaha Field this season, Southeast is 15-7 including a 7-2 OVC clip. The Redhawks are hitting .315 at Capaha and holding opponents to a .276 average while outscoring them, 179-120. Individually, Dan Holst is hitting .419 while Tristen Gagan has hit eight homers and driven in 33 runs.