Southeast Missouri (2-6) vs Ohio (3-4)
Date: Fri., Feb. 28; Sat., Feb. 29 (DH); Sun., Mar. 1, 2020
Time: Fri. 3 p.m.; Sat. 12 p.m. (DH); Sun. 1 p.m., CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Ballpark: Capaha Field (2,000)
Series: First Meeting
Head Coaches:
Andy Sawyers (168-121 overall; 81-94 at SEMO; 46-44 OVC)
Rob Smith (159-227; Eighth Season)
Media:
Radio: SEMO ESPN 93.5 FM &1220 AM (TBA)
Live Stats: Friday | Saturday 1 | Saturday 2 | Sunday
Series History
This weekend marks the first meeting between Southeast Missouri and Mid-American Conference member Ohio. Ohio is the second-straight MAC opponent SEMO faces after Northern Illinois came to Cape Girardeau a week ago.
Scouting the Bobcats
Ohio is currently 3-4 after dropping a series to Saint Louis last weekend. The Bobcats have been successful on the road, winning three of their four games over North Alabama. As a team, the Bobcats are hitting just .189 with 13 stolen bases. Sophomore Eamon Horwedel has two starts, 13 strikeouts and seven runs in 8.2 innings of work on the mound. Junior outfielder Isaiah Peterson has five hits and a .471 slugging percentage for the Bobcats.
Follow the Redhawks
Fans can listen this weekend's game on the radio at SEMO ESPN 93.5 FM and 1220 AM. Live stats are available at GoSoutheast.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMObaseball.
Hot Hitting
Justin Dirden has five home runs this young season. Dirden went yard four times against Northern Illinois, including two in the series finale. The redshirt-senior from O'Fallon, Missouri now has 21 home runs in his career with the Redhawks. Dirden is heading into the weekend on a seven-game hitting streak and has had three multiple RBI games this year. He was named Ohio Valley Conference Co-Player of the Week following his big effort against NIU.
Niznik & Wilber Earn Preseason All-OVC Honors
Southeast Missouri shortstop Tyler Wilber and pitcher Noah Niznik earned Preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference honors for the upcoming 2020 campaign. Both Wilber and Niznik earned All-OVC honors at the conclusion of the 2019 season. Wilber led the OVC in both batting average (.383) and on-base percentage (.480), while accumulating 80 hits, 19 doubles and 40 RBI. Niznik sported a 3.63 ERA which ranked him fourth in the OVC in that category last season. EKU senior Nick Howie was selected as the OVC Preseason Player of the Year and Belmont sophomore Joshua South was tabbed Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
Wilber Named Collegiate Baseball Preseason All-American
Southeast Missouri junior shortstop Tyler Wilber was named a Third-Team Preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball. Last season, Wilber led the Redhawks in batting average (.383), hits (80), doubles (19), triples (3), RBI (40), slugging percentage (.531) and on-base percentage (.480). He was one of two players who started every game in 2019. Wilber posted 27 multiple-hit games, most on the team. Wilber was selected as First-Team All-Ohio Valley Conference at the conclusion of the 2019 campaign. The Rossmoor, California native was one of the league-high 153 SEMO student-athletes selected for the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll.
The 2020 Campaign
The Redhawks are scheduled to play a total of 32 games at Capaha Field this upcoming 2020 season. SEMO will play the first four games on the road before returning to Cape Girardeau for back-to-back four-game series against Northern Illinois (Feb. 21-23) and Ohio (Feb. 28-Mar.1).The Redhawks face two Southeastern Conference foes in Kentucky and Missouri.
Southeast Returnees
The Redhawks have 15 returnees on their 2020 squad. Included in that total are eight seniors, six sophomores and one junior. The seniors include Connor Basler, Keegan Meyn, Peyton Faulkner, Danny Wright, Austin Blazevic, Justin Dirden, Dylan Dodd and Nathan Bock. Basler and Wright have spent their entire college careers in a Redhawk uniform.
Redhawks Seventh in OVC Preseason Poll
SEMO, which begins its fourth year under head coach Andy Sawyers, was picked seventh in this year's OVC Predicted Order of Finish. The Redhawks tallied 94 points in the overall voting by OVC Head Coaches and Sports Information Directors. Jacksonville State is this year's preseason-favorite after receiving 19 of 21 first-place votes. Eastern Kentucky, Austin Peay, Belmont, Morehead State and Murray State were also picked ahead of SEMO. Eastern Illinois, Tennessee Tech, UT Martin and SIU Edwardsville completed this year's poll..
Redhawk Baseball
The 2020 campaign is Southeast's 61st season overall and 29th at the NCAA Division I level. SEMO won three Ohio Valley Conference regular-season titles, one OVC Tournament crown and appeared in one NCAA Tournament in the last six years. The Redhawks made the OVC Tournament a league-record 25 years in a row before that streak ended in 2019.
