#4 Austin Peay (22-31) vs. #1 Southeast Missouri (27-19)

2021 OVC Baseball Tournament
Date: May 27, 2021
First Pitch: 2 p.m., CT
Location: Jackson, Tenn.
Facility: The Ballpark at Jackson (6,000)
Series: SEMO leads, 59-42
Last Meeting: SEMO 16, APSU 3 (7) (Apr. 28, 2021 | Clarksville, Tenn.)
Head Coaches: Andy Sawyers (202-142 overall; 115-115 at SEMO; 65-55 OVC). Travis Janssen (58-63 overall; 58-63 at APSU).

Follow the Redhawks
Video: ESPN+
Radio: Real Rock 99.3 FM (Erik Sean)
Live Stats: OVCSports.com
Twitter: @SEMObaseball
Notes: Southeast Missouri
OVC Tournament Bracket | OVC Tournament Website

Probable Starting Pitchers
Game 1 - Dylan Dodd, LHP (SEMO) / Luke Brown, RHP (APSU)
Game 2 - Bryce Grossius, RHP 
Games 3 & 4 - TBA

OVC Tournament Time
Top-seeded Southeast Missouri (27-19) faces fourth-seeded Austin Peay (22-31) in the first game of the 2021 Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Tournament Thursday. First pitch is set for 2 p.m., CT at The Ballpark in Jackson, Tennessee.

Follow the Redhawks
Fans can listen to all of Southeast Missouri's games at the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament at Real Rock 99.3 FM. Erik Sean will call the action. Video is available at ESPN+. Live stats can be accessed at OVCSports.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMObaseball.

The Ballpark at Jackson
The 2021 OVC Baseball Championship will be held May 27-29 at The Ballpark at Jackson in Jackson, Tennessee. It marks the return to the venue that previously hosted the OVC Championship from 2010-16. The Ballpark at Jackson opened in 1998 and has a seating capacity of 6,000. The venue hosted the 1999 and 2011 Southern League All-Star Games. In 2017 and 2018, The Ballpark at Jackson won back-to-back Sports Field of the Year honors from the Tennessee Turfgrass Association. The back-to-back victories marked the first time that any facility in the Volunteer State won the award in consecutive seasons. Jackson is located in the heart of West Tennessee halfway between Memphis and Nashville conveniently on Interstate 40. The event has been held at four neutral site locations after moving from the campus of the regular season champions in 2001. The event has been held in Paducah, Kentucky (2001-09), Jackson, Tennessee (2010-16), Oxford, Alabama (2017-18) and Marion, Illinois (2019) before returning to Jackson.

Ticket and Parking Information
Tickets will be $10 per adult per day and $5 per day for children (12 and under) and college students with valid ID and can be only purchased in-person at The Ballpark at Jackson. Parking is $5 per vehicle.

Tournament Field
No. 1 Southeast Missouri (27-19), No. 2 Murray State (30-23), No. 3 Morehead State (24-21) and No. 4 Austin Peay (22-31) make up this year's four-team Ohio Valley Conference Tournament field. This year marks SEMO's fifth appearance as the tournament's top seed. 

Series History
Thursday marks the 102nd meeting between Southeast Missouri and Austin Peay. SEMO went 3-1 against APSU this year, although one of those matchups did not count toward the conference standings. The Redhawks last faced the Governors in postseason play during the 2016 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament (Jackson, Tenn.). SEMO eliminated APSU with a 10-4 victory that year.

OVC Champions
The Redhawks clinched the 2021 Ohio Valley Conference regular season title with their series win over UT Martin (May 20-21). Southeast Missouri claimed its fifth regular season championship in program history. The Redhawks won OVC regular season crowns in 2002, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2021.

OVC Tournament History
Southeast Missouri makes its 26th Ohio Valley Conference Tournament appearance in 2021. SEMO saw its streak of 24-straight OVC Tournament appearances come to an end in 2019, but bounced back to win this year's OVC regular season title after being picked to finish fifth in the league's preseason poll. The Redhawks are 42-46 all-time in OVC Tournament play and have won the league's postseason event three times (1998, 2002, 2016). SEMO last made the OVC Tournament in 2018.

Against the Field
The Redhawks are a combined 15-14 against the rest of this year's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament field. Southeast Missouri is 9-4 vs. Austin Peay, 2-5 vs. Murray State and 4-5 vs. Morehead State in postseason play. Morehead State is the only team headed to this year's conference tournament that the Redhawks didn't play during the regular season.

As the No. 1 Seed
Southeast Missouri won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament twice as the No. 1 seed. Prior to this year, the Redhawks were the top seed in the 2002, 2014, 2015 and 2016 tournaments. Overall, SEMO has a record of 12-6 as the No. 1 seed in the OVC Tournament.

Wilber Wins OVC Regular Season Batting Title
Redhawk shortstop Tyler Wilber won the second Ohio Valley Conference regular season batting title of his career. Wilber finished the regular season hitting .400 ahead of Morehead State's Jackson Feltner (.397). He ranks 20th in the nation in batting average. Wilber also finished first in the OVC with a .383 batting average in 2019.

Sawyers Wins First OVC Title
Southeast Missouri's Andy Sawyers won his first Ohio Valley Conference title as a head coach in 2021. Sawyers, who is in his fifth year at the helm, also picked up his 200th career win (8-4, at Lipscomb, May 15) as a collegiate head coach and 100th win (6-5, vs. Jacksonville State, Apr. 2) as SEMO's head coach this season. He is 115-115 all-time as the Redhawks skipper and 202-142 between head coaching stints at Hutchinson Community College (87-27) and SEMO (115-115). Sawyers is the the third head coach in program history to win a OVC regular season title joining Mark Hogan (2002) and Steve Bieser (2014, 2015, 2016).

Series Wins
Southeast Missouri recorded 11 series wins this season, eight of which came in Ohio Valley Conference play. The Redhawks beat South Alabama (2-1), Illinois State (3-1), Lipscomb (2-1), SIU Edwardsville (2-1), Austin Peay (2-1), Jacksonville State (2-1), Murray State (2-1),  Tennessee Tech (2-1), Belmont (2-1), Eastern Kentucky (2-1) and UT Martin (2-1) for those victories. The 11 series wins are the most in a season under Head Coach Andy Sawyers.

Redhawk Momentum
The Redhawks are in pursuit of their fourth Ohio Valley Conference Tournament crown. Southeast Missouri won eight of its nine series in league play this year (its series with Morehead State was canceled due to COVID protocols). The Redhawks won 15 of their last 21 games and have not lost back-to-back contests since late March.

OVC Tournament Experience
Two Southeast Missouri players on this year's roster have been to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament before. Danny Wright and Connor Basler each played in the 2017 and 2018 OVC Tournaments. Both the 2017 and 2018 OVC Tournaments were played in Oxford, Alabama.

Grossius Notches Career-High
Bryce Grossius registered a career-high seven strikeouts in 5.2 innings in his recent victory over UT Martin (May 21). Grossius (4-2) allowed just one run and no walks en route to picking up his fourth win of the season.

Dodd is Rolling
Dylan Dodd threw seven shutout innings in three of his last four starts. Dodd leads the Ohio Valley Conference in earned run average (2.36), innings pitched (84), strikeouts (102) and wins (8), and ranks second in opposing batting average (.208). He has struck out seven or more in 12 of his 13 starts, including a season-high 10 at Arkansas (Feb. 25) and SIU Edwardsville (Mar. 12). Nationally, Dodd ranks 18th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.29), 26th in wins and 28th in strikeouts. He will make his first career OVC Tournament start against Austin Peay Thursday.

Over 100 Strikeouts
Dylan Dodd went over 100 strikeouts in a season for the first time in his career. Dodd has 102 strikeouts as the only pitcher in the Ohio Valley Conference with over 100 Ks this year. He is the first Southeast Missouri pitcher to get over 100 strikeouts in a season since Joey Lucchesi finished with a SEMO single-season record 149 in 2016.

Wilber Among Semifinalists for Brooks Wallace Award
Southeast Missouri's Tyler Wilber is among 30 semifinalists for the 2021 Brooks Wallace Award. 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, a slick-fielding shortstop who played for the Red Raiders to from 1977 to 1980. Wallace died of leukemia at the age of 27. Wilber is one of three OVC players among this year's Brook Wallace Award semifinalists. Tennessee Tech's Ed Johnson and Eastern Illinois' Trey Sweeney are the others. For more information on the Wallace Award or the Night of Champions event, visit www.collegebaseballhall.org.

Baseball Gives SEMO Fourth OVC Title This Spring
The Redhawk baseball team gave Southeast Missouri Athletics its fourth Ohio Valley Conference title this spring. SEMO's softball, women's tennis and women's outdoor track and field programs also hoisted championship trophies in 2020-21. Since the start of the 2019 calendar year, the Redhawks have won 10 conference championships, most in the OVC.

What a Year!
While competing in the middle of a COVID-19 pandemic Southeast Missouri's baseball team helped lead the Redhawks to their highest Ohio Valley Conference regular season winning percentage in school history. Combined, SEMO's teams went 93-42-1 (.688) in conference regular season play. That mark included a 17-10 record from baseball. The winning percentage surpassed the previous record of .673 during the 1998-99 campaign. Additionally, SEMO is the only OVC school that has qualified for every conference championship event in 2020-21.

Mason Homers
Jevon Mason hit the first home run of his career at Lipscomb on May 15. Mason hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning against the Bisons. He went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, two RBI, a walk, one home run and a double in that game. Mason became the eighth Redhawk to hit a home run this season.

Dodd Reaches 200 Career Strikeouts
Dylan Dodd reached 200 career strikeouts against Eastern Kentucky (May 7). Dodd threw seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts on his way to that milestone. He has 215 strikeouts in 186.2 innings over 31 career starts on the mound. Dodd struck out eight or more in 11 of his 13 starts this year. He ranks tied for third among the school's all-time career strikeout leaders and is fifth in strikeouts per nine innings (10.4).

Leeper Triples Again 
Peyton Leeper hit his team-high fourth triple of the season against Eastern Kentucky (May 8). Leeper ranks second in the Ohio Valley Conference in that category.

NCAA Top-25 Rankings
Tyler Wilber ranks 20th in the nation in batting average (.400) and 21st in hits per game (1.6). Peyton Leeper rates 15th in sacrifice bunts (9) and 20th in sacrifice bunts per game ( 0.21). Dylan Dodd is also 18th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.29).

OVC Top-Three
Southeast Missouri is tied for first in the Ohio Valley Conference in fielding percentage (.973), ranks second in earned run average (5.06), first in sacrifice bunts (29), third in opposing batting average (.271), second in wins (27) and first in saves (13). Individually, Tyler Wilber leads the league in batting average (.400) and hits (72), and ranks third in on-base percentage (.462). Peyton Leeper is second in triples (4) and first in sacrifice bunts (9), Wade Stauss is second in hit by pitch (13) and Dylan Dodd ranks first in ERA (2.36), strikeouts (102), innings pitched (84) and wins (8), and second in opposing bating average (.208).

Career Stolen Bases Record in Sight 
Connor Basler is third on the team with eight stolen bases this season. Basler ranks tied for second 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.

Top Threats
Tyler Wilber and Jevon Mason lead Southeast Missouri in batting average hitting .400 and .356, respectively. Mason leads the team in doubles (11) and runs (31), and ranks second in slugging percentage (.459) and on-base percentage (.453), while Wilber tops the team in hits (72), doubles (11), RBI (45), slugging percentage (.583) and on-base percentage (.462). 

Wilber Logs 100th Career Start
Tyler Wilber made his 100th career start in game two of Southeast Missouri's doubleheader at Murray State (Apr. 9). Wilber, who has 118 starts as a Redhawk, is the third active player with over 100 starts joining Connor Basler (219) and Danny Wright (206).

200th Career Start
Second baseman Connor Basler made his 200th career start at Murray State (Apr. 9). Basler has played and started more games than any Redhawk on this year's roster. He currently leads the team with 224 games and 219 starts since joining the program in 2017.

.400 Hitter
Tyler Wilber is the only Ohio Valley Conference player hitting .400 this season. Wilber boasts a league-best .400 batting average. Morehead State's Jackson Feltner (.397) and Eastern Illinois' Trey Sweeney (.382) round out the top three hitters in the league.

21 and Counting
Tyler Wilber leads Southeast Missouri and is second in the Ohio Valley Conference with 21 multiple-hit games this season. Wilber collected multiple hits a total of 57 times during his SEMO career.

Over 150 Starts
Two Redhawks have made over 150 starts in their careers. Second baseman Connor Basler tallied a team-high 219 career starts and mainstay center fielder Danny Wright has accumulated 206. Both Basler and Wright are fifth-year seniors after joining Southeast Missouri's baseball program in 2017.

Double-Digit Hits 
Southeast Missouri registered 10 or more hits a total of 20 times this season. SEMO collected a season-best 19 hits against Austin Peay (Apr. 28). The Redhawks are 14-6 in games where they put up double-digit hits. 

Eight With Home Runs 
Eight different Southeast Missouri players have homered this season. Wade Stauss leads the way with 11 home runs, while Tyler Wilber and Andrew Keck follow with six and five, respectively. Danny Wright has three home runs, Lincoln Andrews and Connor Basler have two apiece and Austin Blazevic and Jevon Mason each have one.

Career Rankings
Tyler Wilber presently ranks third all-time among Southeast Missouri's career leaders with a .393 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 (30) and tied for second in stolen bases (50). Dylan Dodd ranks third all-time in strikeouts (215) and strikeouts/9 innings (10.4).