Date: Friday-Sunday, February 22-24, 2019
Time: Fri. 1 p.m., CT, Sat. 1 p.m., CT, Sun. 1 p.m., CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Ballpark: Capaha Field (2,000)
Series: SEMO leads, 6-0
Last Meeting: SEMO 5, WIU 1 (Feb. 26, 2017 / Cape Girardeau, Mo.)
Head Coaches:
Andy Sawyers (147-83 overall; 60-56 at SEMO; 36-24 OVC)
Ryan Brownlee (89-173; Fifth season)
Media:
Radio: SEMO ESPN 1220 AM (Rusty Hendricks, Erik Sean & Jess Bolen)
Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Series History
Southeast Missouri leads its all-time series against Western Illinois, 6-0. The last time the two teams met was in head coach Andy Sawyers' first year at the helm of the SEMO baseball program. It was Sawyers' first series sweep as a head coach as the Redhawks won three games from Feb. 24-26, 2017. In game one of the series in 2017, SEMO defeated the Leathernecks 22-2. The next two games went 5-4 and 5-1, respectively. SEMO also swept WIU in 1996 winning by scores of 3-1, 8-5 and 18-3.
Follow the Redhawks
Fans can listen this weekend's game on the radio at SEMO ESPN 1220 AM. Glen Johnson and Erik Sean will call the action alongside Jess Bolen. Live stats are available at GoSoutheast.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMObaseball.
Season-Opening Sweep
Southeast Missouri recorded a sweep of Mid-American Conference member Western Michigan on opening weekend. SEMO won 5-1 in a postponed game one, 8-4 in game two and 9-8 in the series finale. A total of eight newcomers made their starting debuts, with two getting a start on the mound. Left-handed pitchers Noah Niznik and Dylan Dodd along with returnee Daniel Bergtholdt were the starting pitchers. Brett Gonzalez went 5-for-11 with three RBI, a triple and four base hits on the weekend. Alex Nielsen got the first hit of the 2019 season and Peyton Faulkner recorded the first home run.
The 2019 Campaign
The Redhawks are scheduled to play a total of 32 games at Capaha Field this 2019 season. Sixteen of Southeast Missouri's first 17 games, including the first seven of the season will be played in Cape Girardeau. The Redhawks face two Southeastern Conference foes in Vanderbilt and Missouri and one Big Ten opponent in Purdue. Southeast will face rivals Southern Illinois and Saint Louis twice this season. While Capaha Field is undergoing renovations, game times could be adjusted.
Leading the OVC
Southeast is dominating the Ohio Valley Conference in hitting statistics early on. SEMO is first in batting average (.336), slugging percentage (.563), on-base percentage (.477), RBI (35), and hit by pitches (10). In pitching, SEMO leads the league with just eight walks allowed. Individually, Alex Nielsen ranks first in the OVC in runs scored (5) and is tied with Keegan Meyn and Peyton Faulkner in times hit by pitch (2). Noah Niznik is tied for first with several others with a 0.00 ERA.
