SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Southeast Missouri baseball (14-4) split its series-opening doubleheader against Missouri State (9-8) Saturday at Hammons Field. SEMO grabbed the first game, 6-3, after a five-run third inning before falling late afternoon cap, 9-3.
 
Game 1 – SEMO 6, Missouri State 3
 
SEMO took game one of Saturday's doubleheader versus Missouri State at a sun-soaked Hammons Field by a final score of 6-3.
 
Righthanded pitcher Jason Rackers made the second start of his Redhawk career. Rackers pitched six innings, recording four strikeouts, four walks and three runs allowed for his second win of the 2022 campaign.
 
Tyler Wilber reached second base via a throwing error from Missouri State third baseman Grant Wood and the Redhawks were threatening in the second inning with no outs. Back-to-back strikeouts and a groundout from SEMO ended the scoring threat.
 
Missouri State struck first in the bottom of the second inning with a one-out double to left field off the bat of Cam Cratic. Cratic's double scored Mason Hull. Bears center fielder Will Duff then singled through the left side to score Cratic and increase the MSU lead to 2-0.  
 
SEMO responded in the third. A ground ball single into right by catcher Ty Stauss led off the inning before Jevon Mason reached on a throwing error. A walk to Ben Palmer loaded the bases for the Redhawks.
 
Peyton Leeper then roped a single into right to plate the pair of Redhawks and even the game at 2-2.
 
Tyler Wilber knocked a double into the left field corner to score Graber who earned a walk.
 
Lincoln Andrews then perfected the safety squeeze to score Leeper and SEMO's lead grew to two.
 
Joel Vaske then brought home Wilber on a dropped fly ball to right to conclude a five-run third inning (5-2 SEMO).
 
Rackers then shut the door on the Bears in the bottom of the third with a pair of strikeouts after a flyout.  
 
Wilber then reached base via error to leadoff the fifth inning. Andrews then picked up a walk before the pair moved up 90 feet on a sacrifice bunt from Vaske.
 
SEMO added to its lead with an RBI groundout off the bat of designated hitter Spencer Parker, pushing the score to 6-2 in the fifth.
 
Missouri State got a run back in the bottom of the sixth with a solo shot to right center from right fielder Dakota Kotowski.
 
The Redhawks would threaten again in the eighth. With two outs in the top half, SEMO had runners on first and second with centerfielder Brett Graber up to bat. Graber flew out to center to conclude the top of the eighth.
 
Missouri State then loaded the bases in its half of the eighth inning with a walk and two singles. Righthanded pitcher Kyle Miller pitched out of the jam popping up Mason Hull before catching Cratic swinging for the strikeout.
 
Miller then registered the final three outs of the game to seal the victory for the Redhawks. He picked up the save in 1.2 innings of work, scattering two hits with two strikeouts.
 
Starter Adam Link was handed the loss, going five innings, allowing six runs on six hits with five strikeouts.
 
Mason, Graber and Stauss each had two hits. Leeper led the Redhawks with two RBI.
 
Game 2 – SEMO 3, Missouri State 9
 
SEMO dropped game two of the Saturday doubleheader to Missouri State, 9-3.
 
Lefthanded pitcher Noah Niznik made his fifth start of the season versus the Bears. The St. Louis, Missouri, native, worked four innings, surrendering seven hits for three earned runs while registering three strikeouts.
 
Jevon Mason hit a ground-rule-double that bounced over the left field wall to set the Redhawks up for the first run of the game in the top of the third inning. Next up was Brett Graber, who grounded a ball between second and first to plate Mason, giving the Redhawks an early 1-0 lead.
 
Niznik let up a leadoff walk to Grant Wood in the bottom of the third went before Anthony Socci grounded into an unassisted double play from Tyler Wilber.
 
Spencer Nivens doubled to left center before an RBI single from Will Duff evened the game at 1-1.
 
A leadoff single from Wilber in the fourth followed by a throwing had Redhawks on first and second with two outs. A flyout to left field ended the threat, keeping the score knotted at one.
 
Second baseman Ben Palmer led off the fifth inning with a solo shot that just cleared the right field fence to put the Redhawks up 2-1.  
 
A walk to Jevon Mason followed by a single to center from Brett Graber put the Redhawks runners on first and second with no outs. A sacrifice bunt from Peyton Leeper advanced the runners to second and third with Tyler Wilber coming to the plate.
 
A wild pitch from the Bears plated Mason and Graber moved to third. Wilber then flew out to right field for the final two outs with Graber thrown out at home on the play, looking to advance on the fly.
 
The Bears opened the home half of the fifth with three consecutive singles to load the bases.
 
With the bases loaded, head coach Andy Sawyers went to the bullpen, bringing in reliever Blake Cisneros.
 
A ground ball to first scored one for Missouri State to cut the advantage to 3-2.  
 
A passed ball plated the third run for the Bears and the game was tied at 3-3 heading to the sixth.
 
Hunter Ralls made his sixth appearance of the 2022 season. Ralls worked two innings of relief, facing 10 batters. He allowed four hits and one run while being assessed the loss.
 
An RBI single into left field by Cam Cratic broke the tie in the sixth (4-3 MSU).
 
Cratic then drove in the fifth run of the day for the Bears with a single into left field, a carbon copy of his RBI single in the sixth. An RBI double for Grant Wood plated two more Bears, increasing the margin to 7-3 in the eighth inning.
 
Missouri State would add two more runs in the frame to increase its lead to 9-3 heading into the final frame.
 
Trey Ziegenbein was awarded the win, coming on in relief for the Bears. He closed out the game, throwing five strikeouts while allowing just two hits.
 
Mason was 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs. Graber and Wilber each added two hits each.
 
SEMO wraps up the series with Missouri State Sunday at 1 p.m., CT.