FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - #4 Southeast Missouri Baseball (35-26) took down #2 Louisiana Tech (45-19) in game number three of the 2024 NCAA Regional by a final score of 9-3 from Baum-Walker Stadium on Saturday afternoon. 
 
The Redhawks victory over the Bulldogs is the first NCAA Regional victory for SEMO Baseball since 2002 in a 7-4 win over Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala. On May 31, 2002. The victory also marks the first NCAA Regional victory for Head Coach Andy Sawyers in his tenure as the Redhawks head coach. 
 
Senior outfielder Josh Cameron broke the game wide open in the fourth inning with his 16^th home run of the season, a grand slam to left-center field. The slam was the Redhawks' sixth grand slam of the season and the first since March. 
 
RHP Brian Strange (5-2) had an incredible start in the contest. Strange, who recorded his longest outing of his career in a Redhawk uniform, pitched 6.2 innings and allowed just three runs on seven hits. The junior from Westfield, Mass. Struck out four Bulldogs in the outing. 
 
Senior RHP Payton Lawrence, who was an All-Ohio Valley Conference Tournament selection, had another stellar performance in relief after coming on with the bases loaded and nobody out in the eighth inning. Lawrence recorded a strikeout and two fly balls to keep Tech off the board. 
 
Left fielder Ian Riley, making his eighth start of the season, recorded SEMO's first four RBIs of the day beginning with a second inning, two-run home run to right field off RHP Reed Smith (7-5). 
 
After Louisiana Tech got on the board in the third inning with a solo home run from Karson Evans, the Redhawks exploded for seven runs in the fourth. 
 
The inning started with Michael Mugan reached base with a throwing error on Tech's short stop. A walk to Bryce Cannon one batter later put runners on first and second with no outs. 
 
Catcher Shea McGahan executed a sacrifice bunt to perfection to move the runners up 90-feet bringing in Riley. Riley went the other way as he drove a line drive into left field to score both Mugan and Cannon to give SEMO a 4-1 advantage. 
 
Riley stole second and one batter later, second baseman Brooks Kettering drove him in with his first triple of the year off Sam Broderson to make it 5-1 Redhawks. 
 
Back-to-back walks to Ben Palmer and Ty Stauss loaded the bases up for Cameron as the senior blasted it the opposite way for the grand slam. The Redhawks led 9-1 after the fourth inning. 
 
A two-RBI double to center field by Tech in the top of the fifth was all the Bulldogs could muster the rest of the way as Lawrence slammed the door to win the game, 9-3. 
 
SEMO Baseball will be back in action on Sunday, June 2, and will await the loser of tonight's #3 Kansas State (1-0) and #1 Arkansas (1-0) winner's bracket matchup. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m., CT. at Baum-Walker Stadium.