Saint Louis (1-3) vs. Southeast Missouri (5-1)

Series Information
Date: Tuesday, March 1, 2022
First Pitch: 3 p.m., CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Facility: Capaha Field (2,000)
Series: SEMO leads, 36-29 
Last Meeting: SEMO 8, SLU 6 (Mar. 16, 2021 | St. Louis, Mo.)
Head Coaches: Andy Sawyers (210-144 overall; 123-119 at SEMO; 65-55 OVC). Darin Hendrickson (908-507-1 overall; 418-333-1 at SLU).

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

Probable Starting Pitchers
TBA (Saint Louis) / TBA (SEMO)

Redhawks Welcome Saint Louis 
Southeast Missouri (5-1) welcomes Saint Louis (1-3) for its first midweek game of the season Tuesday. First pitch is set for 3 p.m., CT at Capaha Field.

Follow the Redhawks
Listen live on the radio at ESPN 93.5 FM and 1220 AM. Erik Sean will call the action. Live stats can be accessed online at SEMORedhawks.com. Twitter updates available @SEMOBaseball.

Series History
Southeast Missouri and Saint Louis hook up for the 66th time Tuesday. SEMO and SLU will play a home-and-home series this season with the other matchup scheduled at the end of the month on Mar. 29 in St. Louis. The Redhawks lead the all-time series, 36-29, and won the last two meetings between the teams.

Season-Long Homestand
The Redhawks continue their season-long seven-game homestand when Saint Louis comes to town this week. Southeast Missouri is 3-0 at Capaha Field thus far after sweeping Bellarmine (Feb. 26-27) in its home-opening series last weekend. SEMO concludes its homestand with a three-game series against Missouri Valley Conference member Bradley on Mar. 4-6. The Redhawks scored 30 runs for an average of 10 per game in their first three home contests of the season.

Get Out the Brooms!
In its first-ever meeting with Atlantic Sun Conference affiliate Bellarmine, Southeast Missouri completed a three-game sweep with 8-7, 10-2 and 12-8 victories. It was SEMO's first home-opening series sweep since the Redhawks won three against Western Michigan on Feb. 16-17, 2019. The series sweep also marked the Redhawks first since they won four games against Ohio on Feb. 28-Mar. 1, 2020. 

Great Start
The Redhawks concluded February with a 5-1 record and are one of four Ohio Valley Conference schools with one or no losses this young season. A win Tuesday will give Southeast Missouri its best start through its first seven games of a season in 27 years. SEMO began the 1995 campaign on a seven-game winning streak.

OVC Strong
Murray State (6-0), Tennessee Tech (6-0), Belmont (8-1) and Southeast Missouri (5-1) are a combined 25-2 through the first two weeks of the 2022 campaign. Austin Peay (5-2) and Eastern Illinois (3-2) also have winning records thus far.

First Grand Slam for Keck
Catcher Andrew Keck smashed his first career grand slam to help send Southeast Missouri to a 10-2 win over Bellarmine on Feb. 27. Keck's first home run of the season came in the bottom of the first inning. For the series, he hit .357 with three runs, a double, two home runs and seven RBI. He enters the week on a three-game hitting streak as the Redhawks third-leading hitter with a .310 batting average.

Nine Home Runs
Southeast Missouri hit nine home runs through its first six games and ranks second in the Ohio Valley Conference in that category. Six different Redhawks have homered, including Andrew Keck (2), Tyler Wilber (2), Lincoln Andrews (2), Peyton Leeper (1), Joel Vaske (1) and Ty Stauss (1). SEMO hit seven home runs in its series sweep of Bellarmine (Feb. 26-27). Nationally, the Redhawks are 17th in home runs per game (1.5).

Walk-Off Win
First baseman Lincoln Andrews snapped a 7-7 tie with a leadoff walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to give Southeast Missouri an 8-7 come-from-behind win in its series-opener vs. Bellarmine (Feb. 26). The walk-off hit is the first of Andrews' career. 

.300 or Better
Southeast Missouri has four players hitting over .300 through six games this season. Jevon Mason leads the team with a .333 clip, while Brett Graber (.318), Andrew Keck (.310) and Danny Sperling (.308) follow. Those four have also combined for 11 extra base hits.

Extra Innings
Half of Southeast Missouri's games this season have gone to extra innings. The Redhawks are 3-0 in such games after beating #22 Dallas Baptist, 7-6, in 12 innings (Feb. 18) and, 6-5, in 10 innings (Feb. 19), and Bellarmine, 8-7, in 11 innings (Feb. 26). SEMO played seven extra inning games in 2021 (4-3).

Walk This Way
Peyton Leeper and Jevon Mason have both walked an Ohio Valley Conference high nine times this season. Southeast Missouri leads the league and ranks 12th in the nation with 50 bases on balls.

Wilber on Four-Game Hitting Streak
Shortstop Tyler Wilber is on a four-game hitting streak following a big weekend vs. Bellarmine (Feb. 26-27). Wilber hit .417 (5-for-12) with a pair of three-run home runs, three runs scored, a double and eight RBI against the Knights. He also walked three times, boasted a 1.000 slugging percentage and a .563 on-base percentage. Wilber leads the team and ranks second in the Ohio Valley Conference with 11 RBI.

Niznik Goes Six
Left-hander Noah Niznik became the first Southeast Missouri starting pitcher to work six innings when he beat Bellarmine for his first win on Feb. 27. Niznik allowed just on run, scattered five hits, struck out two and walked one. It was his longest start since he pitched seven innings in a no-decision vs. Austin Peay on Mar. 20, 2021.

What a Weekend!
The Redhawks used a pair of extra inning victories to win their season-opening series on the road at #22 Dallas Baptist (Feb. 18-20). Southeast Missouri stunned the Patriots with 7-6 win in 12 innings on Feb. 18, a game that lasted four-and-a-half-hours. In less than 24 hours, the Redhawks turned around to come-from-behind and beat DBU, 6-5, in 10 innings during another one-run affair. SEMO claimed a series win against a ranked opponent for only the second time in program history. The Redhawks also took two of three at then-#16 Alabama to open the 2009 campaign.

Home-Openers
Southeast Missouri improved to 21-10 all-time in home-openers in its NCAA Division I era (since 1992). The Redhawks are now 4-2 in such games under Head Coach Andy Sawyers. Sawyers' home-opening wins came in 2022 (8-7, vs. Bellarmine),  2017 (22-2, vs. Western Illinois), 2019 (5-1, vs. Western Michigan) and 2021 (4-3, vs. Illinois State).

Home Games Ahead 
The Redhawks are home for 10 of 11 games. Southeast Missouri swept Bellarmine (Feb. 26-27) to open a seven-game homestand that also includes matchups with Saint Louis (Mar. 1) and Bradley (Mar. 4-6). SEMO plays host to Valparaiso (Apr. 11-13) during that stretch, as well.

130 and Counting
Tyler Wilber has never missed a start in his Southeast Missouri career. The shortstop has started 130 consecutive games as the most experienced player on the roster. Wilber committed only nine errors in 52 starts at short in 2021.