Southeast Missouri (18-15) at Austin Peay (14-23)

Game Information
Date: April 28, 2021
First Pitch: 3 p.m., CT
Location: Clarksville, Tenn.
Facility: Raymond C. Hand Park
Series: SEMO leads, 58-42
Last Meeting: APSU 12, SEMO 11 (12 innings) (Mar. 20, 2021 | Cape Girardeau, Mo.)
Head Coaches: Andy Sawyers (193-138 overall; 106-111 at SEMO; 59-52 OVC). Travis Janssen (51-55 overall; 51-55 at APSU).

Follow the Redhawks
Radio: SEMO ESPN 93.5 FM & 1220 AM (Erik Sean)
Live Stats: LetsGoPeay.com
Twitter: @SEMObaseball
Notes: Southeast Missouri

Probable Starting Pitchers
Bryce Grossius, RHP (SEMO) / TBA (APSU)

Redhawks Face Austin Peay in Final Midweek Game
Southeast Missouri (18-15) will face Austin Peay (14-23) in its final midweek matchup of the season Wednesday. First pitch is set for 3 p.m., CT at Raymond C. Hand Park.

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

Series History
Wednesday marks the 101st meeting between Ohio Valley Conference members Southeast Missouri and Austin Peay, although that matchup will not count toward the conference standings. SEMO took two of three from the Governors earlier this year on Mar. 19-20 in Cape Girardeau. The Redhawks won game one, 6-3, before splitting a pair of extra inning games to clinch the series victory. SEMO came away with a series win each of the last three times it faced APSU.

Series Wins
Southeast Missouri recorded seven series wins this season, five of which came in Ohio Valley Conference play. The Redhawks beat South Alabama (2-1), Illinois State (3-1), SIU Edwardsville (2-1), Austin Peay (2-1), Jacksonville State (2-1), Murray State (2-1) and Tennessee Tech (2-1) for those victories. SIUE, JSU and MSU were ahead of SEMO in the OVC standings when the Redhawks faced them. 

Eleven OVC Wins 
Southeast Missouri (11-7) is tied for second with Murray State (11-7) in the Ohio Valley Conference standings. Morehead State (10-5) currently holds the top spot. SEMO (11-7), Murray State, Belmont (11-10) and Austin Peay (11-10) are all tied for first in the OVC in conference wins. The Redhawks already played three teams in the top six spots of the conference standings, including SIUE (sixth), Murray State (tied for second) and Austin Peay (tied for third). 

Career Stolen Bases Record in Sight 
Connor Basler is second on the team with eight stolen bases this season. Basler ranks third all-time among Southeast Missouri's all-time career stolen base leaders with 50. He needs three more to break the school's all-time career record. Denver Stuckey (2000-03) currently holds the record with 52 stolen bases.

Missouri State Series Canceled 
Southeast Missouri's final non-conference series at Missouri State (Apr. 23-25) was canceled due to positive COVID-19 test results within MSU's Tier 1 personnel, which consists of student-athletes, coaches, managers and staff. Subsequent testing confirmed the positive test results that canceled the Bears' Apr. 20 game with Missouri and contact tracing revealed that Missouri State did not have the minimum number of medically cleared student-athletes to play the four-game series with SEMO scheduled at Hammons Field. 

Redhawks Take Care of Tennessee Tech 
Southeast Missouri won games one and three to take a 2-1 series win over Tennessee Tech (Apr. 16-17) last weekend in Cape Girardeau. Dylan Dodd struck out eight in another strong outing and Tyler Wilber and Andrew Keck each added two hits to key SEMO's 7-3 game one win. Danny Wright had four hits and Collin Wilma keyed the Redhawks 7-2 series finale victory. 

About Austin Peay 
Austin Peay is tied for third with Belmont in the Ohio Valley Conference standings. The Governors are 14-23 overall and 11-10 in OVC play. APSU won two of three at home against SIU Edwardsville (Apr. 23-24) last weekend. The Governors lead the OVC with 48 stolen bases, just one ahead of Southeast Missouri's 47. Garrett Spain and Malcolm Tipler are hitting .328 and .300, respectively, for the Governors this year.

First to 10 OVC Wins
With its 7-3 victory over Tennessee Tech on Apr. 16, Southeast Missouri became the first to 10 Ohio Valley Conference wins this season. The Redhawks are 11-7 in league play. Austin Peay follows close behind with nine OVC wins, while Morehead State, SIU Edwardsville, Murray State, Jacksonville State and Eastern Illinois all have eight.

Wright Gets Career-High in Hits
Danny Wright notched a career-high four hits when he went 4-for-5 with two runs scored, a double and one RBI vs. Tennessee Tech (Apr. 17). Wright previously had three hits a total of 25 times in his career before establishing his new career mark. 

Road Stretch
The Redhawks hit the road for four games this week. After heading to Austin Peay Wednesday, Southeast Missouri will visit Belmont for a three-game series on Apr. 30-May 1. SEMO is 9-9 on the road this season.

Countdown to 200
Andy Sawyers is seven wins away from reaching 200 in his career as a collegiate head coach. Sawyers is 193-138 between head coaching stints at Hutchinson Community College (87-27) and Southeast Missouri (106-111).

Double-Digit Game Hitting Streaks 
Tyler Wilber is on an 11-game hitting streak and Andrew Keck has hit safely in 10-straight contests, marking the first time this season where two Redhawks have double-digit game hitting streaks intact. The 11-game stretch is the second-longest of Wilber's career, while the 10-game streak is the longest of Keck's career.

OVC Active Hitting Streaks 
Tyler Wilber (11 games) and Andrew Keck (10 game) are among six Ohio Valley Conference players with active 10 or more game hitting streaks. Jackson Feltner (16 games, Morehead State), Brett Roberts (14 games, Tennessee Tech), Logan Eickhoff (11 games, Eastern Illinois) and Bryce Hensor (10 games, Morehead State) are the others.

Getting on Base
Andrew Keck has also reached base in 22-consecutive games for the longest such streak of any Redhawk this season. Jevon Mason, Wade Stauss and Tyler Wilber reached base safely in their last 17, 12 and 11 games, respectively.

Second Half
The Redhawks began the second half of their Ohio Valley Conference season with a 2-1 series win over Tennessee Tech (Apr. 16-17). Southeast Missouri will play road series at Belmont (Apr. 30-May 1) and Morehead State (May 14-15), and host Eastern Kentucky (May 7-8) and UT Martin (May 20-21) in its final two home sets to close out its 30-game conference slate.

Midweek vs. OVC
Southeast Missouri played its first of two midweek games against Ohio Valley Conference foes when it beat UT Martin, 8-1, at Skyhawk Field on Apr. 13. SEMO sent 12 men to the plate in a 25-minute top of the second inning where it scored six runs. The Redhawks notched three singles, two doubles, a triple and one home run during that early surge. SEMO is also scheduled to face Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tennessee on Apr. 28. Neither of those matchups count as OVC games.

Top Threats
Tyler Wilber and Jevon Mason lead Southeast Missouri in batting average hitting .392 and .365, respectively. Mason also tops the Redhawks with a .471 on-base percentage, while Wilber is also first on the team in hits (51), RBI (32) and slugging percentage (.577). 

Wilber Named to Brooks Wallace Award Watch List
Southeast Missouri shortstop Tyler Wilber was named to the 2021 Brooks Wallace Award watch list on Apr. 13. A group of 100 of the most talented athletes in Division I college baseball headline the 2021 Brooks Wallace Award watch list, announced by the College Baseball Foundation. The watch list features some of the most recognizable names in college baseball who either have paced perennial powers or led some relative newcomers to new heights. The award, sponsored by Mizuno, honors the nation's top shortstop and will be presented this summer by the College Baseball Foundation. It is named for former Texas Tech shortstop Brooks Wallace, who played for the Red Raiders from 1977 to 1980. Wallace died of leukemia at the age of 27. The award rewards outstanding defensive play as much as it does production at the plate, which opens the watch list to all kinds of players at the position. Wilber is one of five Ohio Valley Conference players on the list joining Trey Sweeney (Eastern Illinois), Casey Harford (UT Martin), Ed Johnson (Tennessee Tech) and Cole Frederick (Jacksonville State).

NCAA Top-25 Rankings
Peyton Leeper ranks 16th in the nation in sacrifice bunts (7) and 24th in sacrifice bunts per game (0.22). 

Among OVC Leaders
Southeast Missouri leads the Ohio Valley Conference in sacrifice bunts (21) and ranks second in stolen bases (47). Individually, Peyton Leeper is tied for second in triples (3), Dylan Dodd is second in strikeouts (71) and earned run average (3.20), and fifth in innings pitched (56.1). Wade Stauss is tied for first in fielding percentage (1.000) and Andrew Keck is tied for third in stolen bases (14). Additionally, Tyler Wilber is tied for third among league foes in hits (51).

Wilber Third in the OVC in Batting Average
Shortstop Tyler Wilber ranks third in the Ohio Valley Conference with a .392 batting average. Wilber is also tied for third among league leaders in hits (51), seventh in slugging percentage (.577) and seventh in on-base percentage (.461).

15 and Counting
Tyler Wilber leads Southeast Missouri and ranks second in the Ohio Valley Conference with 15 multiple-hit games this season. Wilber collected multiple hits a total of 51 times during his SEMO career.

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 has struck out at least eight in eight of his nine starts with a season-high 10 at Arkansas (Feb. 25) and SIU Edwardsville (Mar. 12). Dodd now has 184 strikeouts in 159 innings to date. He ranks second in the Ohio Valley Conference with 71 strikeouts and fifth with 56.1 innings pitched through nine starts. 

Double-Digit Hits 
Southeast Missouri registered 10 or more hits a total of 14 times this season. SEMO collected a season-best 13 hits against Missouri State (Mar. 30) and Murray State (Apr. 9). The Redhawks are 8-6 in games where they put up double-digit hits. SEMO finished with over 10 hits in eight of its last 13 contests.

Seven With Home Runs 
Seven different Southeast Missouri players have homered this season. Wade Stauss leads the way with nine home runs, while Tyler Wilber and Andrew Keck follow with four and three, respectively. Austin Blazevic, Lincoln Andrews, Connor Basler and Danny Wright also homered.

Career Rankings
Tyler Wilber presently ranks third all-time among Southeast Missouri's career leaders with a .390 batting average. Wilber has the highest career batting average of any player during SEMO's NCAA Division I era (since 1992). Danny Wright is third in hit by pitch (35) and Connor Basler rates fourth in hit by pitch (29) and tied for second in stolen bases (50). Dylan Dodd ranks fifth all-time in strikeouts/9 innings (10.4) and sixth in walks allowed/9 innings (2.3).

On Deck
Southeast Missouri closes out the week with a trip to Belmont. The Redhawks and Bruins play a three-game series on Apr. 30-May 1.