Games 26-28
Southeast Missouri (18-7, 3-0 OVC) at Western Illinois (5-18, 1-2 OVC) 
 
Games Information: 
Dates: Friday, March 27 – Sunday, March 29 
Times: 2 p.m. | 1 p.m. | 1 p.m.
Location: Macomb, Illinois
Venue: Alfred D. Boyer Stadium
Sawyers vs. WIU: 12-3
 
Head Coaches: 
SEMO: Andy Sawyers (353-256 overall; 265-229 at SEMO; 10^th Season)
WIU: Terry Davis (36-84 overall; Third Season)
 
Follow the Redhawks: 
X: @SEMOBaseball 
Live Stats: Friday | Saturday | Sunday
Watch: ESPN+ (Fri) | ESPN+ (Sat) | ESPN+ (Sun)
Listen: SEMO ESPN 93.5 FM or 1220 AM (Erik Sean)
 
Game Notes (PDF)
Media Guide (PDF)
 
Redhawks Head to Western Illinois for First OVC Road Series 
Southeast Missouri Baseball (18-7, 3-0 OVC) will head to Ohio Valley Conference foe Western Illinois (5-18, 1-2 OVC) for the first conference series on the road this season. The series will begin on Friday, March 27 and conclude on Sunday, March 29 from Alfred D. Boyer Stadium in Macomb, Illinois. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday in Macomb. 
 
Sawyers vs. WIU
The Redhawks and Leathernecks will meet for the 16^th, 17^th, and 18^th time(s) this weekend under 10^th year Head Coach Andy Sawyers. SEMO holds a 12-3 overall record in the series against WIU under Sawyers including a season sweep in 2025. The Redhawks took all three from WIU in Cape Girardeau last year with a 27-11 run differential from Capaha Field. 
 
OVC Opening Sweep
SEMO Baseball began its 2026 Ohio Valley Conference campaign with a sweep of UT Martin at Capaha Field last Friday-Sunday. The Redhawks took all three games from the Skyhawks by final scores of 8-6, 11-4, and 7-5 pounding out 38 hits en route to the 13^th-straight win as a club this season. RHP Mason Pennington improved to 5-0 on the season with a Friday night, 5.1 IP performance allowing just two earned runs on five hits. RHP Andrew Carroll (4-1) picked up his fourth win of the season as he pitched 5.2 innings and struck out a season-high five opposing hitters. Sunday saw LHP Ben Snider and RHP John-Paul Sauer combine for a great performance to close the series as the duo pitched 8.0 innings and punched out nine combined Skyhawks. LHP Jackson Kranawetter bookended the series with his third save and fourth save on the season on Friday and Sunday, respectively. 
 
Second in the Nation
Following the Redhawks' sweep of UT Martin, SEMO extended its winning streak to 13 games and are a perfect 13-0 in the month of March. 13 games in a row marks the nation's second longest winning streak behind UCLA who was won 16 games in a row. With another win on Friday, SEMO would tie the program's longest winning streak (14) set by the 2003 squad in a win at Eastern Kentucky. SEMO has tied the program's second longest winning streak set by the 1973 squad who won its 13^th game in a row against Lincoln. 
 
Dak On
Infielder Dakota Joggerst of SEMO Baseball was named Ohio Valley Conference 'Co-Player of the Week' this week, the league announced on Monday afternoon. Joggerst, who is in his first season in Cape Girardeau, is a 6-2 junior from Eureka, Missouri and was on fire at the plate over the four-game week last week. Dakota finished the week going 11-17 at the plate with a pair of doubles, six RBIs, and three runs scored. In each game this week, Joggerst recorded at least two hits including an impressive five-hit day on Saturday afternoon against UT Martin. He had two hits against Evansville and against UT Martin in games one and three finishing the week with a .647 batting average and a .765 slugging-percentage. 
He recorded 13 total bases, drew a walk, and had an on-base percentage of .667 as the Redhawks went 4-0 over the week. Defensively, Joggerst was a vacuum at first base as he made all four starts there recording 31 putouts, two assists, and finished with a perfect 1.000 fielding-percentage. This season, Joggerst has made 17 starts in the field and has played in 18 games. He is hitting .391 overall (25-64) with six doubles, a triple, 13 RBIs, and 11 runs scored. Joggerst is the first Redhawk this season to win an OVC weekly award.
 
Every Single Game
Outfielder Caleb Klein has the longest on-base streak on the team. Klein, who has started every single game in center field this season, has reached base safely in all 25 games this season. He has eight games this season with multiple hits, has drawn nine walks, and has struck out just 11 times this season over 103 at bats. Klein has a .320 batting average in 2026. 
 
Ain't Going Down Easy
Short stop Andrew Ramirez is among the nation's best at not striking out at the plate this season. In 68 at bats this season, Ramirez has just one strikeout and ranks first in the Ohio Valley Conference and second in the entire nation in 'toughest to strike out' (68.0). 
 
Heatin' Up
Outfielder Demitri Shakotko has been on a roll over the last few weeks having been inserted in the lineup in the three hole. Shakotko is hitting .362 on the season after this past week and recorded his third career three-hit day against UT Martin last Saturday. He has recorded three hits in a game three times in his SEMO career. 
 
The Long Ball
Shakotko also recorded his second home run of his career against UT Martin in Saturday's contest. The blast marked his first of the season and his second against the Skyhawks as he hit his first SEMO career home run a season ago in Martin, Tennessee. 
 
See Ball, Hit Ball
Dakota Joggerst enjoyed a new career-high on Saturday afternoon against UT Martin. The Eureka, Mo.-native finished the game 5-5 at the plate with three RBIs and a pair of doubles. Joggerst recorded five hits in a game for the first time in his career and is the second Redhawk this season to have five hits in a game after Ryan Lopetegui did it against Evansville (3/18) earlier last week. 
 
Team BA
The Redhawks enter the second weekend of OVC play with the league's highest team batting average. As a team, SEMO is hitting .312 at the dish with a 262-841 mark. Dakota Joggerst has the highest BA on the team with a .391 followed by Carson Schrack (.381) and Demitri Shakotko (.362). The Redhawks rank 30^th in the country in batting average as Georgia Tech leads the nation with a .372 BA. 
 
Defensive Prowess
The Redhawks defense has continued to be amongst the country's best as SEMO has not recorded an error in eight of their last 10 games. SEMO ranks fourth in the nation in fielding percentage as a team with a .986 mark which is just .001 behind the nation's leader, Rider (.987). In games where the Redhawks commit zero errors, the squad is an impressive 13-3 overall. 
 
Punch Out
SEMO's pitching staff has continued its dominance on the mound from 2025 into 2026 and rank amongst the nation's best staffs in strikeout-to-walk ratio. As a staff, SEMO leads the OVC with a 2.92 K/BB ratio and ranks 20^th in the country. Auburn leads the nation with a 4.40 mark. 
 
Whole Lotta Ks
To the same tune, the Redhawks have done a great job of accumulating strikeouts this season. SEMO is averaging 9.4 strikeouts-per-nine-innings and ranks 77^th in the country in that category. RHP Mason Pennington leads the staff in strikeouts with 36, followed by John-Paul Sauer (24), and Ben Snider and Nathan Mertens tied for third with 22 each. 
 
Gonna Have to Earn It
As a staff the Redhawks have been one of the best at not allowing base on balls to their opponents. In 215.1 innings pitched this season, SEMO has allowed just 77 total walks as RHP Nathan Mertens leads with just one allowed walk in 2026. SEMO is averaging just 3.22 BB/9 which ranks them atop the OVC and 12^th in the country.