Southeast Missouri (10-9, 4-2 OVC) at Eastern Illinois (11-9, 2-4 OVC)

Series Information
Dates: March 26-27, 2021
Schedule: Mar. 26 - 11:30 a.m., CT (DH); Mar. 27 - 1 p.m., CT
Location: Charleston, Ill.
Facility: Coaches Stadium (500)
Series: SEMO leads, 42-36 
Last Meeting: EIU 9, SEMO 6 (Apr. 1, 2019 | Charleston, Ill..)
Head Coaches: Andy Sawyers (185-132 overall; 98-105 at SEMO; 52-47 OVC). Jason Anderson (104-150 overall; 104-150 at EIU).

Follow the Redhawks
Radio: SEMO ESPN 93.5 FM & 1220 AM (Erik Sean, Friday; Tyler Camp, Saturday)
Watch: ESPN+ Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 
Twitter: @SEMObaseball
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri Notes (PDF)

Probable Starting Pitchers
Game 1 - Dylan Dodd, LHP (SEMO) / Ky Hampton, RHP (EIU)
Game 2 - Noah Niznik, LHP (SEMO) / Trevor Nicholson, LHP (EIU)
Game 3 - TBA (SEMO) / TBA (EIU)

Redhawks Resume OVC Play 
Ohio Valley Conference co-leader Southeast Missouri (10-9, 4-2) resumes Ohio Valley Conference play with a three-game series at Eastern Illinois (11-9, 2-4) this weekend. The Redhawks and Panthers play a 11:30 a.m. doubleheader Friday and a single game at 1 p.m., CT Saturday.

Follow the Redhawks
Fans can listen to this weekend's series at SEMO ESPN 93.5 FM and 1220 AM. Erik Sean will call the action. Video is available online at ESPN+. Live stats can be accessed at EIUPanthers.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMObaseball.

Series History
Friday's series opener marks the 79th meeting between Southeast Missouri and Eastern Illinois. SEMO holds a 42-36 lead in the all-time series. The Redhawks went 11-5 in their previous 16 matcups against the Panthers. SEMO claimed series victories over EIU in five of the last six years. Two of those series wins were in Charleston (2015, 2017). SEMO has swept the Panthers a total of four times in 1997 (4-0), 2005 (3-0), 2011 (3-0) and 2016 (3-0). All of those series sweeps were in Cape Girardeau. 

Last Meeting
Southeast Missouri and Eastern Illinois didn't get the opportunity to face each other in 2020 after COVID-19 shortened the baseball season. SEMO and EIU last met on Mar. 31-Apr. 1, 2019 in Charleston. The Panthers won the series, 2-1, after winning the final two games by scores of 1-0 and 9-6. 

First in the OVC
The Redhawks enter the weekend in a three-way tie for first in the Ohio Valley Conference. Southeast Missouri, Tennessee Tech and Murray State top the standings with identical 4-2 OVC records. SEMO had a season-long five-game winning streak end in a close 12-11 loss to Austin Peay in 12 innings.

Heating Up
The Redhawks have won eight of their last 12 games and are 8-4 in March. Southeast Missouri went 3-1 last week with a come-from-behind 8-6 win at Saint Louis (Mar. 16) and a 2-1 home Ohio Valley Conference series victory over Austin Peay (Mar. 19-20). The 6-5 extra inning win over the Governors on Mar. 20 marked SEMO's 10th victory of the season. SEMO then dropped its midweek matchup with #22 Southern Illinois Wednesday.

Sawyers in March
Southeast Missouri is presently 8-4 this month, its best record in March with Andy Sawyers. Two more victories will give Andy Sawyers his most wins in March during his tenure as SEMO's head coach. Sawyers' 2018 and 2019 clubs each won nine games during the month of March. 

Closing in on 100
Andy Sawyers is just two wins away from reaching 100 victories as Southeast Missouri's head coach. Sawyers, in his fifth year at the helm, is 98-105 overall at SEMO.

Extra, Extra
The Redhawks concluded their series against Austin Peay by splitting a pair of extra inning games at Capaha Field on Mar. 20. Southeast Missouri trailed, 5-1, in the bottom of the ninth inning when it scored four runs on four hits to send game one to extra innings. Connor Basler delivered a two-RBI single with two outs to tie the game. With runners on first and second and one out in the bottom of the 11th, Jevon Mason delivered a walk off single to left and Peyton Leeper scored the winning run. In game two, the Redhawks battled back from an 11-5 deficit by scoring three runs in the eighth and ninth innings. Basler again came up big, this time with a two-out three-RBI double to tie the game. APSU, however, scored one run in the top of the 12th to edge the Redhawks. SEMO has played six extra-inning games and is 4-2 in those contests this year. 

Series Wins
Southeast Missouri recorded four series wins so far this season. The Redhawks beat South Alabama (2-1), Illinois State (3-1), SIU Edwardsville
(2-1) and Austin Peay (2-1) for those victories. If SEMO comes away with a series win at Eastern Illinois this weekend, it would mark the first time the Redhawks won three-straight conference series since 2018. SEMO claimed a total of seven series wins against league foes that year.

Walk Off Wins
Southeast Missouri earned its second walk off win of the season when it rallied to beat Austin Peay, 6-5, in 11 innings on Mar. 20. Jevon Mason became the second Redhawk to walk off with a game-winning hit when he drove in Peyton Leeper on a one-out single to left. Leeper, a freshman, hit a sinking line drive base hit in the bottom of the 10th inning to give SEMO its other walk off win, a 4-3 victory over Illinois State on Mar. 5. The walk off hits are career firsts for Mason and Leeper.

Mason Steps Up 
Jevon Mason hit safely in each of his last three games. Mason delivered the game-winning walk off single in the bottom of the 11th inning in Southeast Missouri's 6-5 win over Austin Peay (Mar. 20). He then followed that up with a season-high three hits against the Governors and another single vs. Southern Illinois (Mar. 24). Mason is hitting .304 with seven hits in his 23 at-bats this year.

Basler is Clutch
Nine-hole hitter Connor Basler sent both games of Southeast Missouri's doubleheader against Austin Peay (Mar. 20) to extra innings. Basler had a two-out, two-RBI single to cap a four-run ninth inning during game one and then ripped a two-out, three-RBI double in the bottom of the ninth inning of game two. He had at least one RBI in each of his last five starts.

Back-to-Back Saves for Williams
Austin Williams picked up back-to-back saves in three of his relief appearances last week. Williams entered the game at Saint Louis (Mar. 16) in the eighth inning and recorded the final six outs to secure his first career save. Three days later, he finished with a career-high four strikeouts in two scoreless innings to preserve a 6-3 series-opening win over Austin Peay (Mar. 19).

Career Stolen Base Record in Reach 
Connor Basler is second on the team with six stolen bases this season. Basler ranks tied for third all-time among Southeast Missouri's all-time career stolen base leaders with 48. He needs five more to break the school's all-time career record. Denver Stuckey (2000-03) currently holds the record with 52 stolen bases.

Hitting Streak at Eight Games for Keck
Andrew Keck, who leads the Ohio Valley Conference with nine stolen bases, is on an eight-game hitting streak. Keck is second among Southeast Missouri's everyday starters with a .289 batting average. He posted multiple hits three times during his current hitting streak. Keck also opened the 2021 campaign on an eight-game hitting streak from Feb. 19-Mar. 5. He holds the longest hitting streak of any Redhawk through 19 games.

Atop the OVC
Southeast Missouri leads the Ohio Valley Conference in stolen bases (31) and sacrifice bunts (12). SEMO is one of four OVC schools with 10 or more wins this season. Eastern Illinois (11), Murray State (10) and Morehead State (10) are the others.

About Eastern Illinois
At 11-9 overall and 2-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play, Eastern Illinois has the most overall wins of any league team. The Panthers, who dropped their first two conference series to Murray State (2-1) and Tennessee Tech (2-1), are coming off a 9-7 midweek victory at Illinois State (Mar. 24). Two Panthers are hitting over .400 this season. Presently, Logan Eickhoff is hitting .432 and Trey Sweeney follows with a .413 batting average as the top two hitters in the OVC. Eickhoff also leads the league in hits (38), while Sweeney is first in slugging percentage (.516), RBI (32) and runs scored (25).

Wilber Sixth in the OVC in Batting Average
Shortstop Tyler Wilber ranks sixth in the Ohio Valley Conference with a .347 batting average. Wilber also ranks fourth among league leaders in hits (25). He hit safely in six of his last seven games.

Dodd Clears 150 Strikeouts
Dylan Dodd surpassed 150 strikeouts in his career against Austin Peay (Mar. 19). Dodd did not allow an earned run and struck out eight in seven innings en route to getting his second win of the season. He struck out a least eight for the fifth time in 2021 and the seven innings matched his longest start of the year. He lowered his ERA by 68 points from 3.00 to a team-best 2.32 among Southeast Missouri starting pitchers. Dodd now has 157 strikeouts in 133.2 innings to date. He leads the Ohio Valley Conference with 44 strikeouts and 31 innings pitched through five starts. Dodd also ranks eighth in the nation in strikeouts.

Yard Work
Catcher Wade Stauss launched a three-run home run in back-to-back days during Southeast Missouri's series vs. Illinois State (Mar. 5-7). Stauss hit the first of those two bombs in the bottom of the third inning of game two. He then homered again in that same inning to grab SEMO the lead during the series finale. Stauss leads the Redhawks with four home runs. The Redhawks have 11 home runs as a team.

Triple Time
Peyton Leeper is tied second in the nation and leads the Ohio Valley Conference with three triples this season. Leeper also leads the OVC with 20 walks.

Double-Digit Hits 
Southeast Missouri registered 10 or more a total of six times this season. SEMO most recently collected a season-best 12 hits against Austin Peay (Mar. 20). The Redhawks are 4-2 in games where they put up double-digit hits.

Stauss Brothers 
Brothers Wade and Tyler Stauss were in Southeast Missouri's lineup together for the first time in the series finale at South Alabama (Feb. 21). Wade started at catcher and his younger brother, Ty, was in left field for that contest. They have been in the starting lineup together a total of 11 times this year.

Over 150 Starts
Two Redhawks have made over 150 starts in their careers. Second baseman Connor Basler tallied a team-high 192 career starts and mainstay center fielder Danny Wright has accumulated 180. Both Basler and Wright are fifth-year seniors after joining Southeast Missouri's baseball program in 2017.

Career Rankings
Tyler Wilber presently ranks sixth all-time among Southeast Missouri's career leaders with a .380 batting average. Danny Wright is third in hit by pitch (32) and Connor Basler rates seventh in hit by pitch (25) and tied for third in stolen bases (48). Dylan Dodd ranks fourth all-time in strikeouts/9 innings (10.6) and sixth in walks allowed/9 innings (2.4).