Missouri State (7-8) vs. Southeast Missouri (11-11)

Date: Tuesday, March 30, 2021
First Pitch: 1 p.m., CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Facility: Capaha Field (2,000)
Series: MSU leads, 66-40
Head Coaches: Andy Sawyers (186-134 overall; 99-107 at SEMO; 53-49 OVC). Keith Guttin (1,287-818 overall; 1,287-818 at MSU).
Radio: SEMO ESPN 93.5 FM & 1220 AM (Erik Sean)
Live Stats: GoSoutheast.com

Redhawks Host Missouri State
Southeast Missouri (11-11) hosts Missouri State (7-8) in midweek action Tuesday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m., CT at Capaha Field.

Follow the Redhawks
Fans can listen to Tuesday's game at SEMO ESPN 93.5 FM and 1220 AM. Erik Sean will call the action. Live stats can be accessed at GoSoutheast.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMObaseball.

Series History
Tuesday marks the 107th meeting between in-state schools Southeast Missouri and Missouri State. MSU leads the all-time series, 66-40, and has won six of the last eight meetings between these teams. The Redhawks and Bears are also scheduled to play a four-game series in Springfield on Apr. 23-25.

Closing in on 100
Andy Sawyers is just one win away from reaching 100 victories as Southeast Missouri's head coach. Sawyers, in his fifth year at the helm, is 99-107 overall at SEMO.

Third MVC Foe
Missouri State is the third Missouri Valley Conference opponent Southeast Missouri faces this season. The Redhawks are currently 3-2 against such teams thus far. SEMO beat Illinois State in a four-game series (3-1) on Mar. 5-7 and fell to #22 Southern Illinois on Mar. 23. All five of those games were played at Capaha Field. 

Against the Missouri Valley
Southeast Missouri has faced all eight Missouri Valley Conference baseball schools in its program history. The Redhawks are 52-81 all-time against MVC teams in their NCAA Division I era. SEMO has winning records vs.Bradley (2-0) and Valparaiso (3-0).

Last Time Out
The Redhawks dropped two of three at Eastern Illinois (Mar. 26-27) in their first Ohio Valley Conference series loss of the season. Southeast Missouri opened the weekend with a 3-2 victory over the Panthers. Tyler Wilber smacked a home run with two outs in the top of the eighth inning to tie the game and Austin Blazevic scored the winning run on a double moments later to secure the win. EIU, however, regrouped to win both games of a doubleheader, 9-2, 8-4, to take the series.

Midweek Games
The Redhawks are 1-1 in midweek games this season with an 8-6 win at Saint Louis (Mar. 16) and a 21-4 loss to #22 Southern Illinois (Mar. 24). Southeast Missouri is 14-24 all-time in midweek action under Head Coach Andy Sawyers.

Getting on Base
Andrew Keck has reached base safely in 11 consecutive games. Keck also hit safely in 10 of those contests. His reached base streak is the second-longest of any Redhawk this season behind Peyton Leeper's 13-game stretch (Feb. 19-Mar. 13). 

Mason Steps Up 
Jevon Mason hit safely in each of his last six 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). Most recently, Mason hit .467 with seven hits, a run scored, double and one RBI to lead the Redhawks in their series at Eastern Illinois (Mar. 26-27). He is hitting .368 in 13 games and 10 starts this year. 

Where They Stand
Southeast Missouri is tied for third in the Ohio Valley Conference standings entering the week. The Redhawks and SIU Edwardsville share that spot with identical 5-4 league records. Murray State (4-2) and Jacksonville State (4-2) are at the top of the standings. Morehead State (2-1) is also ahead of SEMO.

Redhawks Wrap Up March
The Redhawks welcome Missouri State for their final game of March Tuesday. Southeast Missouri is 9-6 with three series wins this month. SEMO also won three extra inning games in March.

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.

NCAA Top-20 Rankings
As a team, Southeast Missouri ranks 20th in the nation in stolen bases (34). Individually, Peyton Leeper is third nationally in triples (3) and 16th in walks (20). Connor Basler ranks eighth in sacrifice bunts (5) and both Dylan Dodd (6) and Alex Niznik (6) are second in games started.

Atop the OVC
Southeast Missouri leads the Ohio Valley Conference in stolen bases (34) and sacrifice bunts (14). Individually, Peyton Leeper is first in both triples (3) and walks (20), Connor Basler is tied for first in sacrifice bunts (4), Andrew Keck leads the league in stolen bases (10) and Dylan Dodd is first in strikeouts (52) and innings pitched (38.2). Dodd has also allowed only three walks, fewest in the OVC.

Wilber 11th in the OVC in Batting Average
Shortstop Tyler Wilber ranks 11th in the Ohio Valley Conference with a .337 batting average. Wilber is also fourth among league leaders in hits (28). He hit safely in eight of his last 10 games. 

Over 150 Starts
Two Redhawks have made over 150 starts in their careers. Second baseman Connor Basler tallied a team-high 195 career starts and mainstay center fielder Danny Wright has accumulated 183. Both Basler and Wright are fifth-year seniors after joining Southeast Missouri's baseball program in 2017.