Southeast Baseball

As Southeast Missouri State baseball coach Andy Sawyers sits in his office two weeks after the end of the season -- an unceremonious spilling out of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament after going just 1-2 as the No. 2 seed -- he is full of anticipation...

Southeast Missouri State junior Justin Dirden may not have heard his name called in last week's draft, but on Wednesday his name did show up on multiple postseason awards squads. Dirden was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association and Rawlings NCAA Division I South All-Region Second Team as well as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division I All-American Second Team...

For the first time in two years, a Southeast Missouri State baseball player was selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. Wednesday, the Chicago Cubs selected Carlos Vega in the 21st round, as the senior right-hander became the first Redhawk to be drafted by the Cubs...

Once the postseason arrives, teams can't afford to have a bad day in consecutive outings. But the Southeast Missouri State baseball team did. After giving up 25 hits and 18 runs while falling into the elimination bracket of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament Thursday, second-seeded Southeast couldn't slow its opponent again as it saw its season end with an 11-0 loss to No. 4 Jacksonville State on Friday afternoon at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama...

Thursday was not a day Southeast Missouri State baseball pitchers will remember fondly. Second-seeded SEMO gave up seven runs in the first three innings, including five in the second, and surrendered 25 hits in an 18-9 loss to No. 3 Morehead State in an Ohio Valley Conference winner's bracket game at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama...

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team took a two-run lead in the first inning and led the rest of the way, riding a strong effort from starting pitcher Carlos Vega to drop Murray State 5-2 in the opening round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on Wednesday at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama...

SOUTHEAST BASEBALL The Ohio Valley Conference announced its postseason awards Tuesday, with the Southeast Missouri State trio of second baseman Trevor Ezell, outfielder Justin Dirden and pitcher Carlos Vega named to the All-OVC First Team. Dirden leads the team in numerous offensive categories, including slugging percentage (.680), RBIs (66) and home runs (15)...

Southeast Missouri State baseball took care of businnes, locked up the No. 2 seed in this week's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and ended the regular season with positive momentum as it swept a doubleheader at Eastern Kentucky, 7-6 and 10-9, on Saturday in Richmond, Kentucky...

On Friday night, the Southeast Missouri State baseball team could have taken a step toward locking up its seeding for the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. Mother Nature had other plans. Game 2 of a three-game series at Eastern Kentucky was delayed before ultimately being postponed, and will be played Saturday as part of a doubleheader beginning at 10 a.m. in Richmond, Kentucky...

Southeast Missouri State baseball tallied just two hits through nine innings. Turns out, the Redhawks were saving them for extras. SEMO scored five runs in the top of the 10th inning to claim a 7-2 win over Ohio Valley Conference foe Eastern Kentucky in the series opener Thursday in Richmond, Kentucky...

Too many two-run innings doomed Southeast Missouri State's baseball team in a mid-week game against Georgia Tech. The Yellowjackets of the Atlantic Coast Conference threw four two-run innings at the Redhawks for an 8-5 home victory. Georgia Tech improved to 29-24...

The walk-off magic just ran out. After back-to-back wins that came in its final at-bat, Southeast Missouri State baseball couldn't conjure a similar spell in the series finale against Ohio Valley Conference foe Belmont. The Redhawks rallied from a 6-0 deficit to force extra innings in the bottom of the ninth, but hopes of more magic collapsed as the Bruins controlled the 10th inning to down SEMO 10-6 on Sunday afternoon at Capaha Field...

For a second straight night, the game came down to the final out. And for a second straight night, Southeast Missouri State baseball walked off with a win. Alex Nielsen reached on an error in the bottom of the ninth to push in Devon Wilson for the winning run, as the Redhawks snagged a 9-8 win over Belmont in Game 2 of the three-game Ohio Valley Conference series on Saturday night at Capaha Field...

Southeast Missouri State baseball trailed by five runs entering the sixth inning, but the Redhawks didn't give up. Instead, SEMO put together a comeback capped off by a walk-off RBI single from Alex Canty in extra innings. Thanks to Canty's heroics, SEMO edged Belmont 9-8 in 10 innings Friday in the series opener...

Life works in mysterious ways sometimes. A year ago, Brian Lees was readying himself for a summer of professional baseball. Just two years before that, he was doing exactly what he wanted -- paying for his college education by playing the sport he loved in the shadow of his hometown of Brunswick, Ohio, with family and friends looking on...

Southeast Missouri State baseball coughed up a late lead in another one-run loss Sunday. Lipscomb scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh, capped by Jake Perry's sacrifice fly to plate the go-ahead run, and held on for an 8-7 win over SEMO in Nashville, Tennessee. It was the Redhawks' 12th one-run loss this season and second in as many games...

Leading through four and a half innings, Southeast Missouri State baseball could not hold on, as Lipscomb scored the game-winning run on a fielder's choice in the ninth inning to hand the Redhawks a 7-6 road loss Friday in Nashville, Tennessee, to open up a three-game non-conference series...

A slow start doomed Southeast Missouri State baseball to a loss Tuesday. SEMO gave up five runs in the first four innings and didn't get a hit until the seventh, falling 5-2 to host Saint Louis at the Billikens Sports Complex in St. Louis. Coming off an impressive victory over Tennessee Tech on Sunday, which ended the Golden Eagles' nation-high 28-game winning streak, the bats were quiet for SEMO against the Billikens...

Southeast Missouri State used a stellar offensive performance to halt the nation's longest winning streak Sunday. The Redhawks totaled 17 hits in a 10-6 win over No. 20 Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tennessee, putting an end to the Golden Eagles' 28-game winning streak. SEMO (21-23 overall, 15-9 Ohio Valley Conference) jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and never looked back, dealing the hosts their second conference loss of the season and avoiding the series sweep...

After dropping a one-run contest in the series opener, the Southeast Missouri State baseball team again suffered the same fate as many who have faced No. 20 Tennessee Tech this season, falling 6-2 on Saturday in Cookeville, Tennessee. The Golden Eagles (37-5 overall, 19-1 Ohio Valley Conference) stretched their nation-long winning streak to 28 games with the result...

The third-seeded Kennett Indians struck for three runs in the third inning Saturday and beat seventh-seeded Dexter 5-2 in a consolation semifinal of the SEMO Conference Baseball Tournament at Cape Central High School. The Indians will face Notre Dame in the fifth-place game at 2:15 p.m. Monday. Dexter (3-12) will meet New Madrid County Central for seventh place at noon Monday. Both games will be played at Capaha Park in Cape Girardeau...

Tennessee Tech ran its nation-best winning streak to 27 games Friday night with a 7-6 comeback victory over visiting Southeast Missouri State. The Eagles, ranked No. 20 in the nation, trailed 5-4 before pushing across a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning in improving to 36-5 overall and 18-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference...

For at least one day, offense didn't travel well. The Southeast Missouri State baseball team mustered just two hits against Southern Illinois and fell 2-0 in a midweek road game Tuesday night in Carbondale, Illinois. Trailing 1-0 in the eighth inning, Southeast put two runners in scoring position with two outs, but Peyton Faulkner struck out to end the inning as one of SEMO's best opportunities slipped away...

FRISCO, Texas -- When the Houston Astros assigned Alex Winkelman to Double-A Corpus Christi this spring, the Southeast Missouri State product didn't complain. That's because the Texas League is where the 24-year-old Winkelman, a 21st-round pick in 2015, finished his 2017 season...

For three games there wasn't a whole lot separating the Southeast Missouri State baseball team and Murray State. But the Redhawks had two things the Racers didn't: winning momentum and Aaron Stretch. Stretch earned saves in both games of Saturday's doubleheader, working out of a tough situation in the opener and then putting in a sparkling 3 1/3 relief innings in the nightcap to help Southeast to its eighth and ninth wins in the last 12 games with a doubleheader sweep of MSU, 8-6 and 7-5, at Capaha Field.. ...

Maybe it was just a good approach at the plate. Maybe it was the beautiful weather. Maybe it was the new, eye-catching uniforms. Whatever it was -- senior second baseman Trevor Ezell gave credit to all three -- the Southeast Missouri State baseball team hit the ball hard Friday night, smacking three home runs and recovering after losing a three-run lead to drop visiting Murray State 7-4, claiming the opening game of the Ohio Valley Conference series at Capaha Field...

At first, Joey Lucchesi thought he was getting traded. The former Southeast Missouri State pitcher had been called into a meeting with the San Diego Padres brass, who had already told the 24-year-old lefty he was starting the season in the minors. So Lucchesi believed he was getting shipped away to another franchise. ...

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team had just given up five runs and fallen behind late against in-state foe Saint Louis University. The Redhawks responded with four runs next time up to take a lead they didn't relinquish. Thanks to those late runs, SEMO won a see-saw slugfest Tuesday, beating visiting SLU 10-8 in front of 1,468 fans at Capaha Field. It was Southeast's second home win over the Billikens this season...

Southeast Missouri State senior right-hander Carlos Vega was named the adidas Ohio Valley Conference Co-Pitcher of the Week, the league announced Monday. Vega picked up his sixth victory of the season Saturday, tossing nine innings of one-run ball to become the first SEMO pitcher to earn the award this season. He shared the honor with Jacksonville State's Garrett Farmer, who shut down SEMO in the first game of the series Friday...

The Southeast Missouri State baseball leaned on one of its finest starting pitching performances of the season to avoid a series sweep Saturday. Carlos Vega tossed nine innings of one-run ball, and SEMO scored three runs in the 10th inning to edge host Jacksonville State 4-1 in Oxford, Alabama...

Minutes into its doubleheader at Jacksonville State on Friday, the Southeast Missouri State baseball team had runners on second and third with no outs. The Redhawks came up empty, and that set the tone for the rest of the day. Southeast finished the way it started -- coming up short -- as it fell 7-0 in the opener and then 7-6 in 11 innings in the nightcap at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama...

DENVER -- Former Southeast Missouri State pitcher Joey Lucchesi got his first major league win thanks to a go-ahead three-run homer from Hunter Renfroe in the seventh inning, and the San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies 5-2 on Tuesday night. Lucchesi (1-0) shut down Colorado in his third career start. He struck out eight and allowed just two unearned runs before leaving two batters into the seventh...

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team carried over a weekend offensive burst into a non-conference matchup with McKendree University on Tuesday at Capaha Field. The Redhawks unloaded seven extra-base hits in a 15-0 thumping of the Bearcats. The victory upped Southeast's overall record to 15-18, while dumping McKendree, a Division II program, to 6-21...

For the first two games of the series, the bats for the Southeast Missouri State baseball team had been held in check. That changed Sunday. The Redhawks totaled 16 hits and cruised to a 13-1 win over visiting Eastern Illinois at Capaha Field to claim the series victory. After scoring six runs combined in the first two games, SEMO scored eight runs in the first six innings Sunday...

For a second straight day, the Southeast Missouri State baseball team didn't always find offense with ease, but at least one player came through. Tristen Gagan went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, a solo home run and a two-run double to lead Southeast to a 3-1 victory over Eastern Illinois on Saturday at Capaha Field...

On a day when Eastern Illinois sent two baseballs over the outfield wall, Southeast Missouri State could barely get any out of the infield dirt. Southeast starting pitcher Christian Vick gave up two home runs and the Redhawks only managed one hit out of the infield as they fell 5-3 to Eastern Illinois on Friday afternoon at Capaha Field...

Just 24 hours after the game was scheduled, Southeast Missouri State baseball was walking off the field with a mid-week victory. The Redhawks defeated Saint Louis 4-2 thanks to some early runs and 5 2/3 scoreless innings of relief pitched by five different hurlers Wednesday night at Capaha Field...

After losing two heartbreakers a day before, the Southeast Missouri State baseball team showed no signs of a hangover Saturday. The Redhawks produced season highs in hits and runs en route to a dominating 20-4 win over host Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tennessee, to avoid a series sweep...

It was a tough end to a tough day for the Southeast Missouri State baseball team. A game-ending balk -- upheld under protest -- capped a doubleheader in which the Redhawks dropped a pair of one-run games, 6-5 and 7-6, at Austin Peay on Friday in Clarksville, Tennessee, giving Southeast its first Ohio Valley Conference series loss of the season...

SAN DIEGO -- The rebuilding San Diego Padres will get their first real look at one of their hotshot pitching prospects, former Southeast Missouri State baseball star Joey Lucchesi, earlier than originally expected. The 24-year-old lefty, sent down to the minors on Saturday after a strong spring training, is scheduled to make his big league debut tonight against the Milwaukee Brewers...

Three years ago, as Chase Urhahn was spending the spring of his senior year at Notre Dame Regional High School batting .421, setting a school record of 39 stolen bases, matching a school record of 42 runs scored, leading the Bulldogs to a Class 4 state title and being named the 2015 Semoball Awards Baseball Player of the Year, he had a thought in the back of his mind...

On a day in which the bullpen twice blew a lead, the bats bailed Southeast Missouri State baseball out. Danny Wright hit a two-out, bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth to send the host Redhawks off with an 11-10 victory over SIU Edwardsville on Sunday afternoon at Capaha Field, securing a series sweep of the Cougars...

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team pitched its first shutout of the season and dropped SIU Edwardsville 7-0 on Saturday afternoon to clinch its third consecutive series victory to begin Ohio Valley conference play. Southeast (9-15, 6-2) scored three runs in the bottom of the second inning to jump on top and never looked back, despite a weather delay midway through the contest...

Through four innings, the Southeast Missouri State baseball team had put good swings on the ball and produced a couple runs but was locked in a tie game. Then, its players came up to bat for a third time, and something changed. The Redhawks were more patient at the plate, drawing four walks, and scored eight runs in the fifth inning to break the game open and chase SIU Edwardsville starting pitcher Nelson Martz. ...

Southeast Missouri State pitchers took a walk on the wild side in a 10-5 baseball loss to Missouri State on Tuesday in springfield, Missouri. Nine Redhawk pitchers took to the mound and combined for 14 walks, including four in a five-run seventh-inning where the Bears broke a 5-5 deadlock with just two hits...

Tristen Gagan's bat has been picking up steam for the Southeast Missouri State baseball team, and others have taken notice. The Ohio Valley Conference announced Monday that Gagan has been named the adidas OVC Player of the Week for his performance in a mid-week series vs. Central Arkansas and three-game weekend conference series against UT Martin...

Justin Dirden wasn't about to let Southeast Missouri State baseball blow a six-run lead, and a series victory. Down to the last out, Dirden produced a two-run homer and SEMO held on for an 8-7 win over Ohio Valley Conference foe UT Martin on Sunday in Martin, Tennessee...

The Southeast Missouri baseball team has been trying to piece together a complete game, and on Saturday it got one. The Redhawks exploded for 17 runs, more than enough on a day they held UT Martin to just one and rolled to a 17-1 victory in Ohio Valley Conference play in Martin, Tennessee...

A familiar problem for Southeast Missouri State baseball reared its head again Friday. The Redhawks' early-inning woes continued as they gave up five runs in the first inning and couldn't overcome that early deficit in an 8-7 loss to Ohio Valley Conference foe UT Martin in Martin, Tennessee. It was SEMO's fourth consecutive loss as it dropped to 0-8 on the road...

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team had done the hard work to overcome a slow start, and then it couldn't hang on. After erasing a 3-1 first-inning lead and holding on to a 4-3 edge into the eighth inning, the Redhawks let victory slip away as Central Arkansas scored twice in the bottom of the eighth to grab a 5-4 win and sweep the two-game midweek series from SEMO on Wednesday afternoon in Conway, Arkansas...