Southeast Missouri (20-20) at Southern Illinois (20-20)

Date: Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Time: 5 p.m., CT
Site: Carbondale, Ill.
Facility: Richard "Itchy" Jones Stadium
Series: SIU leads 31-55-1
Last Meeting: SIU 5, SEMO 0 (Mar. 6, 2018 / Cape Girardeau, Mo.)
Coaches: Andy Sawyers (136-73 overall; 49-46 at SEMO; 30-21 OVC). Ken Henderson (207-255-1 overall; same at SIU).

Media Coverage:
Radio: SEMO ESPN 92.9 FM (Glen Johnson)
Live Stats: SIUSalukis.com
Game Notes

Probable Starting Pitcher: Ashton Holyfield, RHP

Series History
Southeast Missouri trails its all-time series against Southern Illinois, 31-55-1. The last meeting between these teams was earlier this year when the Salukis shutout the Redhawks, 5-0, on Mar. 6. The two teams have split two of the last three midweek series. SEMO dropped five-straight in its series against SIU.

Follow the Redhawks
Fans can listen to this Tuesday's game on the radio at ESPN 92.9 FM. Glen Johnson will call the action. Live stats are available at SIUSalukis.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMObaseball. 

Redhawks OVC Series
Southeast is currently 14-7 in the Ohio Valley Conference and has won five of its seven conference series this season. The Redhawks presently stand tied for second in the league standings behind Tennessee Tech (17-1). Southeast has swept two teams this season, including SIU Edwardsville and Murray State.

Midweek Play
Southeast snapped a six-game losing streak in midweek games when it beat Saint Louis, 4-2, on Apr. 4. It was the Redhawks first midweek win of the season. Chase Urhahn had one RBI on three hits, including two doubles. Nathan Bock recorded his first career win on the mound. Southeast continued the trend with a 15-0 win over McKendree (Apr. 10) and 10-8 victory over Saint Louis (Apr. 17) at Capaha Field. SEMO defeated SLU for the second time this year.

Redhawks Sweep Racers
Southeast swept Murray State this past weekend at Capaha Field. The Redhawks totaled 35 hits in the three games. Connor Basler, Trevor Ezell and Tristen Gagan were all involved with a double play in each of the games in the series against Murray State. Justin Dirden, Trevor Ezell and Danny Wright all hit a homerun in the series. Ezell fell a triple short of the cycle in game one. Aaron Stretch came in to the game to close two times this past weekend. He ended with five strikeouts in 3.2 innings pitched. The Redhawks are 3-6 in midweek games this year.

Hot Bats
The Redhawks have 400 hits and 250 RBI in 2018. Southeast averages over 6.5 runs a game on 10 hits. Trevor Ezell leads the team with 62 hits, which ties for third in the Ohio Valley Conference.  Justin Dirden leads the Redhawks with 50 RBI this season. Southeast has 81 doubles and 36 home runs, as well.

Ranked in the OVC
Southeast ranks second in the Ohio Valley Conference in hit by pitch (50). The Redhawks are second with a 4.76 ERA, just behind Jacksonville State (4.45). SEMO leads the OVC with a league-low 29 home runs allowed and sits in second with a .973 fielding percentage. 

Individuals: Justin Dirden has the third highest slugging percentage (.699) in the Ohio Valley Conference. Dirden is tied for fifth with 11 round-trippers. Trevor Ezell is tied for third with 62 hits and tied for first in triples (3). Chase Urhahn is in a tie for second with 18 doubles. Peyton Faulkner has been hit by a pitch 12 times which ties him for first in the conference. Carlos Vega leads the OVC with a 1.82 ERA and an opposing batting average (.213). He has also allowed the fewest runs with only 15 runs, just 11 of which were earned. Vega has allowed only one homerun this season which ties him for first. Aaron Stretch has now appeared in 18 games in relief to put him in fifth. 

Home Run Count
Southeast has 36 home runs and ranks sixth in the Ohio Valley Conference this season. The Redhawks hit a home run in 22 games this year. Justin Dirden leads the team with 11 round-trippers. The Redhawks had a season-high four home runs at Austin Peay (Mar. 31).  

On Deck
The Redhawks will remain on the road to face #21 Tennessee Tech in a three-game series beginning Friday. TTU has won an Ohio Valley Conference record 25 games in a row. The Golden Eagles play Tennessee during the midweek before hosting Southeast.