Game 45
Evansville Purple Aces (24-19) vs. Southeast Missouri (22-22)
 
Game Information: 
Date: Tuesday, April 30
Time: 6 P.M. 
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo. 
Venue: Capaha Field
Series: SEMO leads 16-12
 
Head Coaches: SEMO: Andy Sawyers (203-192, Eighth Season); UE: Wes Carroll (413-427, 16^th season)
 
Follow the Redhawks:
X: @SEMOBaseball
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: SEMO ESPN 93.5 FM or 1220 AM (Erik Sean)
Tickets: SEMO Tickets
 
Game Notes (PDF)
 
Homestand Wraps Up Tuesday Versus Evansville
Southeast Missouri Baseball (22-22, 10-8 OVC) will wrap-up a five game homestand on Tuesday, April 30, as they host Missouri Valley Conference-member, Evansville (24-19, 12-6 MVC) in the second-to-last midweek contest of the season. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m., CT. at Capaha Field. 
 
Series History
The Redhawks and Aces will meet for the second time in 2024 as SEMO visited the Hoosier State earlier this season. Evansville won on a walk-off single to take a 6-5 victory on March 13. SEMO leads the all-time series by a 16-12 mark. 
 
St. Louis Browns
This Tuesday will mark the 'St. Louis Browns Tribute' Night, sponsored by Window World. SEMO will wear special edition uniforms inspired by the 1944 Browns who held spring training at Capaha Field in 1943 & 1944. For more information, click here.
 
Last Time Out
SEMO Baseball dropped two-out-of-three over the weekend to OVC rival, Morehead State in Cape Girardeau. The Redhawks got out to a big series-opening win after a tension-filled, 13-11, victory on Friday night. 
 
MSU got out to a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning with a two-run home run by Nick Gooden. A sacrifice fly by Caleb Corbin in the home half would get SEMO to within a run of the Eagles after the game's first frame. 
 
A six run second inning by SEMO put the Redhawks up 7-2 as an RBI groundout by Brooks Kettering, an infield single by Ben Palmer, an RBI single by Michael Mugan, a Ty Stauss two RBI double, and a Josh Cameron RBI single gave the Redhawks a five-run advantage. 
 
Catcher Shea McGahan hit one-of-his-two home runs in the fifth inning, a two-run shot to give SEMO a 9-4 advantage. 
 
Tied at 11 in the eighth inning, McGahan blasted his second two-run homer of the game as his blast proved to be the difference to give SEMO a 13-11 victory on Friday night. 
 
The Redhawks jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Saturday afternoon via Bryce Cannon's RBI double to right-center field. MSU would respond with a three run fourth inning to take a 3-1 lead into the fifth inning. 
 
SEMO would tie it with one swing of the bat as left fielder Ty Stauss belted a two-run home run to right field to tie it at three. An RBI groundout by Josh Cameron in the seventh inning was the fourth and final run for the Redhawks as MSU held on for a 13-4 victory.  
 
The rubber-match in the series was a battle to the end but MSU would take the series. The Eagles got out to a 2-0 lead with a two-run home run by Gooden off RHP Brian Strange. SEMO would quickly respond, however, with a three-run bottom half with an RBI single by Kettering and a ground-rule-double by Cannon that drove in a pair of runs to give SEMO the first inning lead. 
 
A big five-run third inning for the Redhawks headlined by a two-RBI double by Cannon and Cole Warehime's third home run of the season, a two-run blast, would give SEMO four in the inning. Ben Palmer hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score the fifth and final run of the inning. 
 
That run would prove to be the final run of the day for SEMO, as MSU would score eight unanswered runs to win the game, 11-8. 
 
Team Offense
The Redhawks are currently in second place in the Ohio Valley Conference with a .290 team batting average. Through 44 games, SEMO has pounded out 441 hits, 71 home runs, 74 doubles, 13 triples, and have registered 310 RBIs. SEMO trails only Morehead State in offensive categories. 
 
Team Defense
SEMO comes into this week with one of the conference's top fielding percentages in the league. The Redhawks are tied for second with SIUE with a .969 fielding percentage, registering just 49 errors on the season. As a defense, the Redhawks have turned 30 double plays on the season which is tied for the most in the OVC. 
 
Caught Stealing
Behind the plate, catchers Shea McGahan and Nolan Ackerman have done a great job at gunning down attempted base stealers. On 39 opponent attempts, SEMO's catchers have thrown out 16 of them for a .709 stolen-base-percentage. McGahan and Ackerman are fielding .986 and .984, respectively, on the season behind the plate. 
 
On the Mound
SEMO currently has the fifth-best ERA in the conference coming into Tuesday's matchup. The staff has accumulated a 5.98 team ERA over 44 games. In 377.2 innings, SEMO pitching has allowed 251 runs on 424 hits as teams are hitting .283 against SEMO pitching. Overall, SEMO has punched out 321 hitters and has recorded nine saves on the season. SEMO pitching has surrendered just 173 walks with ranks them third in that category in the OVC. 
 
Hits
Center fielder Michael Mugan leads the club in hits with 60 on the season, after a 3-for-5 day on Sunday afternoon. Second baseman Brooks Kettering and outfielder Ty Stauss are tied for second with 49, and Ben Palmer is in third with 47. Right fielder Josh Cameron has 45 hits to round out the top five for SEMO. 
 
Miscellaneous
This season, the Redhawks are 18-4 when they outhit their opponent and are 16-1 when leading after the sixth inning. Conversely, when SEMO is outhit by their opponent the Redhawks are just 3-17. 
 
Home Runs
Short stop Ben Palmer continues to lead the club with his 12 home runs. Michael Mugan joins Palmer in the double-digit category as he recorded his 10th home run of the season in Friday night's win over Morehead State. Outfielder Josh Cameron and first baseman Bryce Cannon round out the top three, tied with nine home runs each. 
 
About Evansville
Evansville comes into the Tuesday midweek with a 24-19 record overall and a 12-6 mark in conference play. Most recently, UE took two-out-of-three from Missouri State over the weekend in Missouri Valley Conference play. Mark Shallenberger is the Aces top hitter with a .389 batting average. Shallenberger is first on the team in batting average, slugging-percentage (.720), runs scored (47), hits (61), RBIs (45), walks (32), and home runs (11). LHP Kevin Reed will make the start on Tuesday for the Purple Aces. Reed is 3-1 on the season with a 8.10 ERA. In 36.2 innings pitched, Reed has allowed 33 runs on 48 hits and has struck out 27 opposing hitters.