Morehead State (6-6) vs. Southeast Missouri (3-10)
 
Dates: Friday-Sunday, March 9-11, 2018
Series Schedule: Fri. - 4 p.m.; Sat. - 2 p.m.; Sun. - 1 p.m., CT
Site: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Facility: Capaha Field (2,000)
Series: SEMO leads, 47-38
Last Meeting: MSU 3, SEMO 2 (Mar. 10, 2017 / Morehead, Ky.)
Head Coaches: Andy Sawyers (119-63 overall; 32-36 at SEMO; 16-14 OVC). Mike McGuire (299-235 overall; 157-146 at MSU). 

Southeast Missouri Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday - Logan Spalt, RHP
Saturday - Christian Vick, RHP
Sunday - TBA

Morehead State Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday - David Calderon, RHP
Saturday - Dalton Stambaugh, LHP
Jake Ziegelmeyer, RHP

Media Coverage
Radio: ESPN 92.9 FM (Erik Sean, Jess Bolen)
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Southeast Missouri Notes
 
Redhawks Open OVC Play
Southeast Missouri (3-10) opens Ohio Valley Conference play with a three-game home series against Morehead State (6-6) this weekend. The Redhawks and Eagles start their series with a 4 p.m., CT, first pitch Friday at Capaha Field.

Free Tailgate
Friday is the second free tailgate of the season at Capaha Field. Food and beverages will be provided courtesy of Jimmy John's and River Eagle.

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. Live stats are available at GoSoutheast.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMObaseball.

Series History
Southeast and Morehead State have met every year since the Redhawks officially joined the Ohio Valley Conference in 1992. The Redhawks hold a 47-38 record in the all-time series. MSU swept Southeast when these teams met to open league play in Morehead, Kentucky last season.

OVC Openers
The Redhawks are 15-11 all-time in Ohio Valley Conference openers. Southeast has recorded a win in three of its last five games to open the league campaign. The Redhawks have a total of 16 series victories during the opening weekend of OVC play.

First-Inning Deficits
Southeast fell behind in the first inning during seven of its eight home games this season. The Redhawks rallied to win three of those contests in the seventh inning or later. Opponents have scored 16 runs in the first inning against Southeast this year.

Tall Order Ahead 
The Redhawks open Ohio Valley Conference play against Morehead State for the second-straight year in 2018. MSU was voted second in this year's OVC Preseason Poll behind defending OVC champion Tennessee Tech. Outfielder Niko Hulsizer was tabbed this year's OVC Preseason Player of the Year for MSU. Hulsizer was also named to USA Baseball's 55-player Preseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List. 

Strong Stretch
Left-hander Aaron Stretch gave Southeast more good work out of the bullpen in his latest appearance against Southern Illinois (Mar. 6). Stretch tossed 3.1 scoreless innings with a season-high five strikeouts. He also allowed two hits and walked one. It was Stretch's second-longest outing in relief this year.

Weekend Rotation
Sophomore right-hander Logan Spalt moves to the front of Southeast's pitching rotation for his first career Friday start this weekend. Spalt is 0-1 with a 3.77 ERA in three Saturday starts this year. He ranks second on the team with 17 strikeouts in 14.1 innings. Right-hander Christian Vick will start Saturday. Vick holds a 1-1 record and leads the Redhawks with 19 strikeouts in 14 innings. He allowed only two walks, fewest among Southeast starting pitchers this year. Sunday's starter is to be announced.

Redhawks Drop Midweek Tilt to SIU
The Redhawks dropped to 0-3 in midweek games when it fell, 5-0, to regional rival Southern Illinois Tuesday. Southeast was shutout on just one hit, an infield single by Peyton Faulkner. After Faulkner's hit, the Redhawks went 0-for-28 at the plate the rest of the game. It was the second time Southeast was shutout this season.

Mr. Clutch 
Trevor Ezell has delivered in the clutch several times this 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).

OVC Leader
Trevor Ezell leads the Ohio Valley Conference with a .481 batting average. Ezell is the only player in the conference hitting over .480. He also ranks among the OVC's top five leaders in hits (1st, 25), RBI (3rd, 16), total bases (fourth, 35), at-bats (t2nd, 52) and steal attempts (3rd, 6).

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 189 hits and 94 RBI since joining the Redhawks in 2015.

Hitting Streak Ends at 12 Games
Second baseman Trevor Ezell saw his 12-game hitting streak end against Southern Illinois (Mar. 6). Ezell went 0-for-3 in that game. He has collected multiple hits in nine of his 13 starts this season. The longest hitting streak of Ezell's career is 18 games from Apr. 9-May 13, 2016.

Other Streaks
Peyton Faulkner enters the weekend on a four-game hitting streak. Tristen Gagan has started 62-consecutive games.