South Dakota State (0-7) vs. Southeast Missouri (2-7)
 
Dates: Friday-Sunday, March 2-4, 2018
Series Schedule: Fri. - 3 p.m., CT; Sat. - 2 p.m., CT; Sun. - 1 p.m., CT
Site: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Facility: Capaha Field (2,000)
Series: SEMO leads, 5-2
Last Meeting: SEMO 7, SDSU 4 (Feb. 25, 2007 / Cape Girardeau, Mo.)
Head Coaches: Andy Sawyers (118-60 overall; 31-33 at SEMO; 16-14 OVC). Rob Bishop (549-329-1 overall; 26-31 at SDSU).

Probable Starting Pitchers
South Dakota State
Friday - Brady Moxham, RHP
Saturday - Tyler Olmstead, RHP
Sunday - Brady Stover, LHP

Southeast Missouri
Friday - Joey Burris, RHP
Saturday - Logan Spalt, RHP
Sunday - TBA
 
Media Coverage
Radio: ESPN 92.9 FM (Erik Sean, Jess Bolen)
Video: OVC Digital Network | Friday | Saturday | Sunday
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Southeast Missouri Notes
 
Redhawks Return to Cape Girardeau
Southeast Missouri (2-7) plays host to Summit League member South Dakota State (0-7) this weekend. The Redhawks and Jackrabbits open a three-game series on Friday at 3 p.m., CT.

Follow the Redhawks
Fans can listen to this weekend's games on the radio at ESPN 92.9 FM. Erik Sean and Jess Bolen will call the action. Video can be accessed online at the OVC Digital Network. Live stats are available at GoSoutheast.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMObaseball.

Series History
Southeast is 5-2 all-time against South Dakota State. The Redhawks and Jackrabbits meet for the first time in 11 years.  Southeast posted series wins against SDSU in 2006 (2-1) and 2007 (2-1). All seven games were played at Capaha Field.

Life on the Road
South Dakota State comes to Cape Girardeau winless at 0-7 this season. The Jackrabbits are on the road for their first 24 games of the 2018 compaign. SDSU does not play at home until Apr. 4.

Seven-Game Home Stand
The Redhawks start a seven-game home stand against South Dakota State. Following this weekend's series, Southeast plays host to regional rival Southern Illinois on Mar. 6 and opens Ohio Valley Conference play with a three-game home series against Morehead State (Mar. 9-11). It is the Redhawks longest home stand of the season.

Mr. Clutch 
Trevor Ezell has delivered in the clutch this young 2018 season. Ezell drove in multiple runs in either the eighth or ninth inning on three occasions. At Arkansas State (Feb. 20), he tied the game with a two-out, two-RBI double in the top of the ninth inning. Ezell then tied the Redhawks series finale against Bowling Green (Feb. 25) with a one-out, two-RBI triple in the bottom of the eighth, a game which Southeast came back to win, 9-7. Most recently, Ezell hit a two-out, two-RBI single to grab the Redhawks a 2-1 advantage in the top of the eighth inning at Memphis (Feb. 27).

Holyfield Pitches Well
In his second midweek start of the season, right-handed pitcher Ashton Holyfield gave Southeast a strong outing at Memphis (Feb. 27). Holyfield became the first starting pitcher to go at least six innings this season. He allowed just three hits and a run in six innings. Holyfield shutout the Tigers for five frames, matched a season-high four strikeouts and walked two, as well. It was his second no-decision of the year. 

Nine-Game Hitting Streak
Second baseman Trevor Ezell ran his hitting streak to nine games when he gave Southeast a 2-1 edge on a two-out, two-RBI single in the top of the eighth inning at Memphis (Feb. 27). Ezell has collected multiple hits in seven of his nine starts this season. The longest hitting streak of Ezell's career to date is 18 games from Apr. 9-May 13, 2016.

Other Streaks
Danny Wright enters the weekend on a seven-game hitting streak and Justin Dirden has hit safely in five-straight games. Tristen Gagan has started 58-consecutive games and Wright owns a streak of 52-straight starts.

Pulling Rank
Trevor Ezell is presently second in the Ohio Valley Conference in hitting with a .514 batting average. Ezell is one of three players in the league hitting .500 or better. Tennessee Tech's Trevor Putzig (.542) and Alex Junior (.500) are the others. He also ranks among the OVC's top five leaders in slugging percentage (4th, .771), on-base percentage (5th, .550), hits (1st, 18), RBI (t2nd, 13), total bases (t2nd, 27), total plate appearances (t1st, 40), at-bats (t1st, 35) and steal attempts (1st, 5). 

How About Nationally?
Trevor Ezell rates among the top 25 NCAA Division I leaders in hits (3rd, 18), total bases (19th, 27), batting average (25th, .514) and hits per game (16th, 2.0). Danny Wright ranks 24th in hit by pitch (4) and Christian Vick is 17th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (13.0). Vick leads the Redhawks with 13 strikeouts to only one walk this season.

Weekend Rotation
Right-handers Joey Burris and Logan Spalt are scheduled to make their third starts of the season against South Dakota State this weekend. Burris (0-1) will pitch Friday and Spalt (0-1) will pitch Saturday. Sunday's starter is to be determined.

Milestones in Reach
Trevor Ezell, who went over 100 career walks this season, is approaching 200 hits and 100 RBI in his career. Ezell currently stands with 182 hits and 91 RBI since joining the Redhawks in 2015.

Double-Digit Hits
Southeast registered double-digit hits twice this season. The Redhawks had 11 hits for their first double-digit hit game against Bowling Green (Feb. 23). A day later, Southeast tallied a season-high 13 hits against the Falcons. The Redhawks outhit BGSU, 42-35, in the four-game set.

Home Run Count
Southeast has six home runs and ranks tied for third in the Ohio Valley Conference in that category this season. The Redhawks hit a home run in four of their last six games. Trevor Ezell, Tristen Gagan and Wade Stauss lead the team with two apiece.

Hit Batsmen
Southeast is second in the Ohio Valley Conference in hit by pitch. Redhawk hitters have been hit by a pitch a total of 12 times this season. Danny Wright has been hit by a pitch a team-high four times this year.

Dirden On a Roll
Junior right fielder Justin Dirden is on a five-game hitting streak and has hit safely in eight of his first nine games this season. Dirden had two hits in three of his previous five contests. He had at least two RBI in back-to-back games to open last week's series against Bowling Green (Feb. 23-24). Dirden ranks third on the team in batting average (.324), first in doubles (4) and second in RBI (8).

Ezell Career Capsule
Junior Trevor Ezell has started 134 games, more than any player on Southeast's 2018 roster. Ezell owns a .330 batting average with 148 runs scored, 182 hits, 30 doubles, 10 triples, 12 home runs, 91 runs batted in, 101 walks and 39 stolen bases in his career. He ranks among the school's all-time career leaders in triples (t5th, 10), walks (8th, 101) and stolen bases (8th, 39). Ezell collected multiple hits a total of 32 times and drove in multiple runs on 16 occasions in his career.