Game 29
Southeast Missouri (14-14, 5-1 OVC) at Missouri State (10-15, 1-5 MVC)
 
Game Information
Date: Tuesday, April 2
Time: 2 p.m., CT. 
Location: Springfield, Mo.
Venue: Hammons Field
Series: MSU leads 60-31
 
Head Coaches: SEMO: Andy Sawyers (195-184, 100-74 OVC, Eighth Season); MSU: Keith Guttin (1,383-907, 42^nd season)
 
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Twitter: @SEMOBaseball
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: SEMO ESPN 93.5 FM or 1220 AM (Erik Sean)
 
Game Notes (PDF)
 
Redhawks Travel to Missouri State Tuesday
Southeast Missouri Baseball (14-14, 5-1 OVC) will head to Springfield, Mo. to take on in-state foe Missouri State (10-15, 1-5 MVC) on Tuesday, April 2. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m., CT. at Hammons Field. 
 
Series History
The Redhawks and Bears will meet for the 92nd time on Tuesday afternoon with MSU holding a 60-31 all-time series record. Last season, SEMO and MSU met twice, on back-to-back days, in Springfield and Cape Girardeau, respectively. The Bears won 11-1 in Springfield before returning to Cape and winning 7-3. 
 
Last Time Out
SEMO Baseball picked up a 2-out-of-3 series victory over Ohio Valley Conference member SIUE this past weekend beginning with Thursday's 15-4 victory over the Cougars. 
 
SEMO continued to rattle the bats after the past weekend at EIU with 15 hits, led by right fielder Josh Cameron who had a 3-for-5 day at the plate including a pair of RBIs. 
 
The Redhawks got a strong start on the mound from RHP Brian Strange who picked up his second win of the season (2-2) over 6.0 innings, allowing just one earned run on three hits. LHP Logan Katen picked up his first save of the season with a 3.0 inning relief outing to take game one. 
 
An offensive slugfest on Good Friday saw the Redhawks jump out to a 9-1 lead over SIUE beginning with a first inning home run by Ben Palmer. Palmer's blast started a four-run inning as his home run scored Brooks Kettering. A double by Caleb Corbin pushed across Michael Mugan two batters later and an RBI sacrifice fly by Cole Warehime made it 4-0 Redhawks after the first frame. 
 
Two more runs in the second inning, a Josh Cameron home run in the fourth inning, put the Redhawks up 8-0. SIUE would respond with a run in the sixth with an RBI double by Gage Franck, but Cameron's second home run of the day got the run back in the home half of the sixth and the Redhawks led 9-1. 
 
Two Cougars runs in the seventh inning started a late inning rally as SIUE used a nine-run eighth inning to take the lead, 12-9. SIUE took the game 13-9. 
 
Saturday's series finale saw the Redhawks score first in the third-straight game as center fielder Michael Mugan scored Brooks Kettering, after his leadoff double, via a sacrifice fly. Left fielder Ty Stauss hit his first-of-two home runs on the day in the first inning that would score Ben Palmer for a 3-0 lead. The first career triple for Bryce Cannon and a single to left field by Nolan Ackerman plated runs 4, 5, and 6 to give SEMO an early 6-0 lead. 
 
A great outing from RHP Sam Heyman kept SIUE in check at the plate as they only mustered a three-run seventh inning. Heyman (3-0) picked up his third win of the season in his career-long outing (6.0) while registering his career-high in strikeouts (5). 
 
On-Base Streak
Short stop Ben Palmer, who has played and started all 28 games at short stop for the Redhawks, has reached base safely in all 28 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. 
 
March Recap
The Redhawks, who started the month slowly, finished March by winning their final six-out-of-seven games for a 12-9 overall record in the month of March. SEMO also started off Ohio Valley Conference play with a bang, winning their first 5-of-6 in the league. At 5-1, SEMO is currently a game ahead in first place in the league table. 
 
Career-Outing Heyman
RHP Sam Heyman made the start in Sunday's series finale with SIUE. Heyman, who transferred from Chabot College this season, pitched 6.0 innings, and allowed just three runs on six hits. The right hander from Lafayette, Calif. punched out five batters in his outing. Both 6.0 innings pitched, and five strikeouts are SEMO career highs for the right hander. 

101 Runs
SEMO's offense has been on absolute first over the last seven games, beginning with an 8-7 victory over Austin Peay on March 19. Since then, including that game, the Redhawks have scored 101 runs and are 6-1 overall in that stretch. 
 
RBIs
This season, the Redhawks are driving in runs at an impressive rate to the tune of 214 RBIs as a team, led by first baseman Bryce Cannon. Cannon, who is playing his first season in a Redhawks uniform, comes into Tuesday's matchup with 29 RBIs on the season (team-high) and ranks sixth in the OVC in that category. SEMO has 52 more RBIs this season than their opponent, and five different Redhawks (including Cannon) have 20 or more RBIs on the year. 
 
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 43 hits, followed by Kettering with 34, and Palmer with 29. Mugan and Palmer lead the team with a .624 and .620 slugging percentage, respectively. Kettering and Mugan are tied for the team lead with 29 runs scored. 
 
Home Run Leader
Short stop Ben Palmer leads the Redhawks in home runs after hitting his ninth home run against SIUE over the weekend. The senior now ranks third in the OVC in home runs and 75th in the country. 
 
About MSU
Missouri State is led by 42nd year head coach Keith Guttin and come into Tuesday's matchup with a 10-15 overall record and a 1-5 record in the Missouri Valley Conference. Most recently, MSU dropped all three to Illinois State in Springfield over the weekend. Offensively, the Bears are led by outfielder Zack Stewart. Stewart leads the team in batting average (.361), slugging (.727), runs scored (20), hits (27), home runs (8), and is fourth on the team in RBIs (15). Jackson, Mo.-native Caden Bogenpohl is the RBI leader with 19 and is second on the team with six home runs. 
 
Looking Ahead
SEMO Baseball will return to Ohio Valley Conference action when they travel to Little Rock, Ark. To take on Little Rock for a three-game set. First pitch is slated for Friday, April 5 at 6 p.m. in the Arkansas capital.