Southeast Baseball

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...

Keaton Presley blasted two home runs and finished with three RBIs in helping the Bears improve to 8-8. Southeast fell to 5-12 win the non-conference loss and 0-6 away from Cape Girardeau. Presley gave the Bears a lead they would not relinquish when he launched an 0-2 pitch from Southeast starter Ryan Losman for a two-run home run in the first inning...

Consider it something to build on. The Southeast Missouri State baseball team split a doubleheader with Morehead State on Saturday, taking the opener 10-3 before dropping the nightcap 8-4, giving the Redhawks two wins in the three-game series. It was a positive turn of events for a Southeast team that entered the conference-opening series at 3-10 but walked away with the upper hand against an Eagles side projected to finish second in the Ohio Valley Conference...

Entering the start of conference play, Southeast Missouri State was a baseball team in need of a favorable bounce or two. On Friday evening, it got one. Tied at 4-4 after seven and a half innings, the Redhawks took advantage of a wild pitch with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the eighth to score the game-winning run, claiming a 5-4 victory over visiting Morehead State to open Ohio Valley Conference action at Capaha Field...

Like clockwork, the first-inning woes struck again Tuesday for Southeast Missouri State baseball. The Redhawks surrendered three runs before they even came up to bat, falling behind in the first inning for the seventh time in eight home games. That early deficit proved to be too much as two Southern Illinois hurlers combined to toss a one-hit shutout, and SEMO suffered its third consecutive loss, falling 5-0 to its regional rival on an unseasonably chilly and windy night at Capaha Field...

Trevor Ezell had been out injured for eight months. But when he was fully cleared to return in mid-October, it looked like he hadn't missed a beat. The Southeast Missouri State second baseman appeared fast and strong and ready to go, teammate Tristen Gagan said. When baseball season began months later, Ezell continued to impress...

Resilience in losing has become a frustrating theme for the Southeast Missouri State baseball season early in its 2018 campaign. On Sunday, the Redhawks again fell into an early hole and again rallied but ultimately suffered defeat, falling to South Dakota State 6-5 at Capaha Field...

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team wanted to secure a series win Saturday, but that will have to wait. Instead, the Redhawks allowed five runs in the final four innings as South Dakota State picked up its first win of the season, 8-4, at Capaha Field...

First, the good news. The Southeast Missouri State baseball team got its offense rolling Friday afternoon-turned-evening, racking up 12 runs, 11 hits and a pair of home runs. The bad news is that it needed every one of those to prevail. But prevail it did, as Southeast rallied past South Dakota State in a game long on runs and, well, minutes, but short on consistent quality pitching for a 12-8 victory to open the three-game series against the winless Jackrabbits at Capaha Field...

Memphis' Kyle Ouellette singled to right field with one out in the ninth inning to score two runs and send the host Tigers to a 3-2 walkoff victory over Southeast Missouri State baseball on Tuesday. The hit was the second of the day for Ouelette but just the sixth of the day for Memphis (3-5) off three Redhawks pitchers...

Down by as many as four runs, the Southeast Missouri State baseball team needed a spark to avoid a second straight weekend series loss to begin the season. The Redhawks found that in their best hitters. Trevor Ezell hit an eighth-inning, game-tying triple and Tristen Gagan -- the very next batter -- followed that up with a go-ahead two-run home run as Southeast rallied past Bowling Green 9-7 on Sunday afternoon at Capaha Field to split a doubleheader and the four-game series...

Trailing after six innings, the Southeast Missouri State baseball team scored four runs in the seventh inning to rally past visiting Bowling Green and pick up its first win of the season, 8-4, on Saturday at Capaha Field. Trevor Ezell had a monster day to lead the Redhawks (1-5), as he went 3-for-5 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored...

For a third straight game, the Southeast Missouri State baseball team pushed for a late-game rally. And for a third straight game, it fell short. Spotting Bowling Green a nine-run advantage midway through the game, the Redhawks battled to make things interesting but ultimately couldn't erase the deficit, falling 9-7 to the Falcons in SEMO's home opener Friday afternoon at Capaha Field...

After tying the game with two runs in the top of the ninth, the Southeast Missouri State baseball team needed a scoreless inning. It didn't get one. Arkansas State took advantage of a leadoff walk and claimed a 7-6 walk-off win on Tuesday in Jonesboro, Arkansas. SEMO, which led 3-0 after three innings, dropped to 0-4 with the loss...

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team made a late push but ultimately came up short as it fell to College of Charleston, 5-4, on Sunday in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. SEMO put up two runs in the sixth inning and two runs in the eighth, but couldn't quite dig out of a five-run hole...

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team slid to 0-2 to begin the 2018 season as it fell to College of Charleston 6-0 on the road Saturday afternoon in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. In a scoreless deadlock through four innings, the hosts plated three runs in the bottom of the fifth, added another in the sixth and then scored twice in the seventh to ensure a series victory...

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team jumped out to an early lead but couldn't hold on and lost its season opener on Friday afternoon. The Redhawks scored three runs in the first inning but were shut out for the rest of the game, falling 6-3 to College of Charleston at Patriots Point Stadium in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina...

After a year of firsts, the Southeast Missouri State baseball team and coach Andy Sawyers know what to expect heading into Year 2. Last year was Sawyers' first as a Division I head coach, and the first time SEMO had a new headman in four years. It was also Sawyers' introduction to the Ohio Valley Conference, having never seen an OVC game before...

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team was picked to finish fifth in the 2018 Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll released Friday. SEMO is entering its second season under coach Andy Sawyers and coming off a 29-26 campaign. In the preseason rankings, which are voted on by the conference's head coaches and sports information directors, the Redhawks got 115 points...

The nexus of baseball in Cape Girardeau gathered in front of the podium, representing the sport in the city for the last 50-plus years. They were not there, though, to discuss the old, but rather to usher in the new. The next era of baseball in Southeast Missouri will include what is currently formally known as Cape Prospect League, LLC, as the City of Cape Girardeau announced Friday afternoon at the Cape Girardeau SportsPlex that a wood bat college summer league team will be playing at Capaha Field beginning in June 2019.. ...

Southeast Missouri State baseball star Tristen Gagan, a senior first baseman, earned third team preseason All-America honors by Collegiate Baseball on Monday. A native of Ramona, Oklahoma, Gagan started 54 games in 2017, his first season as a Redhawk. He led Southeast with 13 home runs and 62 RBIs and was second on the team with 15 doubles, finishing his junior campaign with a .567 slugging percentage...

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team announced Wednesday its 2018 schedule, a 56-game slate that includes 27 contests at Capaha Field. The Redhawks' schedule includes midweek contests at Atlantic Coast Conference member Georgia Tech, the American Athletic Conference's Memphis and in-state rival Missouri State, an NCAA Tournament team last season...

Southeast Missouri State baseball coach Andy Sawyers announced Wednesday the addition of seven signees for the 2019 season. Catcher Andrew Keck, outfielder Brett Gonzalez, pitcher/outfielder Dylan Dodd and pitchers Blake Cisneros, Bryce Grossius, Noah Niznik and Masen Palmier all inked their National Letters of Intent during the early signing period...

At the expense of a practical joke, Joey Lucchesi has vivid memories of an all-important meeting he had earlier this summer. He had just thrown a bullpen session and completed his daily workout with the Lake Elsinore Storm when suddenly he was called into the coaching staff's office to sit down with manager Edwin Rodriguez and pitching coach Glendon Rusch...