Games 27-29
SIUE Cougars (8-17, 2-1 OVC) at Southeast Missouri (12-13, 3-0 OVC)
 
Game Information
Date: Thursday, March 28 – Saturday, March 30
Time: Thursday: 6 p.m. | Friday: 6 p.m. | Saturday: 2 p.m.
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo. 
Venue: Capaha Field
Series: SEMO leads 38-26
 
Head Coach: SEMO: Andy Sawyers (193-183, 98-73 OVC, Eighth Season); SIUE: Sean Lyons (149-205, Eighth Season)
 
Follow the Redhawks:
Twitter: @SEMOBaseball
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Watch (ESPN+): Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Listen: SEMO ESPN 93.5 FM or 1220 AM (Erik Sean)
 
Game Notes (PDF)
 
Redhawks Host SIUE for OVC Home Opener
Southeast Missouri Baseball (12-13, 3-0 OVC) will host SIUE (8-17, 2-1 OVC) for the first Ohio Valley Conference home series of 2024. The series will be moved up a day for the Easter Holiday. Thursday and Friday are slated to begin at 6 p.m. with Saturday's finale slated for 2 p.m., CT. at Capaha Field.
 
Fill the Hill Friday
Friday's game marks the first 'Fill the Hill Friday' at Capaha Field. Every Friday home game during conference play, fans 21+ will receive FREE adult beverages courtesy of Kohlfeld Distributing. For more information, click here.
 
Series History
The Redhawks and Cougars will meet for the 65th, 66th, & 67th time over the weekend with the Redhawks holding a 38-26 all-time series lead over SIUE. Last season, SEMO took two-out-of-three from the Cougars in Edwardsville.
 
Follow the Redhawks
Listen live on the radio at ESPN 1220 AM and 93.5 FM. Erik Sean will call the action. Live stats are available at SEMORedhawks.com. Twitter updates will be provided @SEMObaseball. For tickets, call (573) 651-2113 or purchase online at SEMORedhawks.com/Tickets.
 
Last Time Out
SEMO Baseball started the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference season last weekend with a three-game sweep of Eastern Illinois in Charleston, Ill. and used an offensive explosion to dominate the series. As a team, SEMO recorded 56 runs on 54 hits over the three-game set and beat EIU 20-13, 21-4, and 15-4 (Seven Innings). 
 
The Redhawks jumped out of the gate early in game one with an RBI base hit by center fielder Michael Mugan to score Kettering. The Redhawks scored two more runs in the first inning on their way to a 20-run game one win over EIU. Left fielder Ty Stauss finished the game going 4-for-6 at the plate with a pair of doubles and his first triple of the season. Stauss was one of three Redhawks to finish with four RBIs in the contest. 
 
Game two was much of the same led by first baseman Cole Warehime. Warehime entered Saturday's contest with just two hits on the season and finished 5-for-6 at the plate with a pair of grand slams and an RBI single. Warehime finished with nine RBIs to tie the single-game RBI record in SEMO program history (Dan Shy, 1989) and picked up OVC Co-Player of the Week Honors. 
 
The Redhawks took game two by a final score of 21-4 including the first career home run(s) for Brooks Kettering, Caleb Corbin, and Warehime. 
 
The Redhawks wrapped up the series finale in seven innings with a 15-4 victory as Bryce Cannon hit his sixth home run of the season. SEMO pounded out 17 hits as five different Redhawks finished with a multi-hit day and four Redhawks finished with multi-RBI days to conclude the series. 
 
RHP Sam Heyman made the start and picked up his second win of the season (2-0). The sophomore pitched 5.0 innings and allowed no runs and just three hits. He surrendered just one walk and punched out a hitter in the outing. 
 
Palmer Reaches Base
Short stop Ben Palmer, who has played and started all 25 games at short stop for the Redhawks, has reached base safely in all 25 games this season. Palmer is second on the team with a .457 on-base percentage. Outfielder Michael Mugan leads the team with a .472 OBP. 
 
Warehime Ties Record
First baseman Cole Warehime tied the SEMO single-game RBI record in Saturday's 21-4 win against Eastern Illinois. A pair of grand slams and an RBI single totaled nine RBIs for the sophomore, tying Dan Shay's record set in 1989. Warehime is the fourth Redhawk to register a grand slam and the first two record two in the same game this season. 
 
First Round Tripper
Three Redhawks registered their first SEMO career home run in the series against EIU. Second baseman Brooks Kettering led off Saturday's game with an inside-the-park-home run to get the scoring started for SEMO. Innings later, third baseman Caleb Corbin crushed a ball over the fence for his first SEMO blast. Cole Warehime registered his first home run(s) in the contest as well as the Redhawks totaled seven home runs in the game. 
 
OVC Player of the Week
Sophomore Cole Warehime was tabbed OVC Player of the Week for the first time in his career, the league announced Monday afternoon. Warehime entered last Tuesday's contest without a hit on the season, he finished the game 2-for-3 against Austin Peay in Clarksville prior to his monstrous Saturday afternoon.  
 
The sophomore from Downers Grove, Ill. entered the weekend series at Eastern Illinois without a home run in his SEMO career. During Saturday's 21-4 victory over the Panthers, Warehime crushed a pair of grand slams in the same game and recorded an RBI single later in the game for nine RBIs in the same game. 
 
He finished the game with a 5-for-6 day at the plate and tied former Redhawk Dan Shy's (1989) single-game RBI record as well. His week included a 7-for-9 performance at the plate, a .778 on-base percentage, and a staggering 1.444 slugging percentage. He scored four runs on the week as well. 
 
The first baseman now has two home runs on the season and for his career. The award marks the first honor Warehime has received in his career. 
 
RBI
The Redhawks exploded for 54 RBIs over the weekend and now have 177 on the season, led by center fielder Michael Mugan and Bryce Cannon with 24 RBIs each. Eight different Redhawks have registered double-digit RBIs on the season. 
 
Top of the Batting Order
Freshman Brooks Kettering, senior Ben Palmer, and junior Michael Mugan have been an outstanding first three hitters in the SEMO batting order all season. Mugan leads the team with 38 hits, followed by Kettering with 33, and Palmer with 25. Mugan and Palmer lead the team with a .635 and .598 slugging percentage, respectively. Kettering leads the team with 25 runs scored, just one more than Mugan (24). 
 
Home Run Leader
Center fielder MIchael Mugan hit his eighth home run of the season in Saturday's 21-4 win over EIU. Mugan leads the team with eight bombs on the season, followed by Ben Palmer (7), and Bryce Cannon (6). 
 
About SIUE
The Cougars are led by eighth year head coach Sean Lyons and enter the series with an 8-17 record overall with a 2-1 mark in conference play. SIUE is on a two-game winning streak after beating Lindenwood in the series finale (9-3) on Sunday and beating Missouri Valley Conference member Evansville (14-6) on Tuesday of this week. SIUE is led offensively by Lucas Spence. Spence is first in batting average (.415), slugging-percentage (.596), runs (20), hits (39), triples (3), and total bases (56). Zack Floyd and Ryan Niedzwiedz provide power and RBIs for the Cougars as Floyd leads the team with three home runs and Niedzwiedz has a team-high 22 RBIs.