SEMO Baseball sweeps Skyhawks, secures No. 2 seed in OVC Tourney

A group of Redhawks celebrate following Josh Cameron's two-run home run during SEMO's 9-5 win over UT Martin on Saturday, May 18, at Capaha Field.

Clay Herrell ~ cherrell@semoball.com

The Southeast Missouri State Redhawks entered Saturday afternoon with a couple of different things at stake.

They looked to sweep the UT Martin Skyhawks and secure the No. 2 seed in the OVC Tournament.

With all that in play, the Redhawks handed the ball to junior right-hander Brian Strange.

In the end, the Redhawks won a 9-5 slugfest over the Skyhawks to secure the sweep.

“I thought we played great baseball,” Redhawks coach Andy Sawyers said. “We were super fundamental. We made one error in three games. We got bunts down, we got timely hits, we played great defense, and we had good pitching.”

Strange was dialed in from the start, retiring the side in order in the top of the first thanks to a pair of groundouts.

In the bottom of the first, the Redhawks threatened as Ben Palmer singled and then stole second base with just one out in the inning.

Back-to-back strikeouts by Ty Stauss and Caleb Corbin stranded Palmer, however, and kept the game scoreless after the first inning.

Strange once again did his job, working around a two-out walk to keep the Skyhawks in check through two innings.

After the Redhawks failed to score in the home half of the second, UT Martin center fielder Zac Rice drilled a solo home run to left field to give the Skyhawks a 1-0 advantage in the top of the third.

Credit to Strange, he didn’t let the inning snowball and allowed just the solo home run in the third inning.

“I thought he pitched great up until the fifth,” Sawyers said.

The solo shot seemingly awoke the Redhawks’ offense as they got hot in the bottom of the third.

The inning began with a leadoff walk to Shea McGahan, and he advanced on a wild pitch.

The same at-bat as the wild pitch, Brooks Kettering advanced McGahan to third base with a groundout.

Ben Palmer pulled a two-strike single to left field to get the Redhawks on the board and tie the game 1-1.

“We have a rule where if there’s a runner on third and less than two outs, you don’t take a strike,” Sawyers said. “(Ben) took two. You’re not up there looking for the perfect pitch. You’re just looking to put the ball in play. He took two strikes, so I was over at third base fuming, and then he outcompeted the mistake and fouled some pitches off, and then got a ball in the six hole.”

Ty Stauss joined in on the fun as he hit a double down the right-field line, but a good relay forced Palmer to hold up at third base.

The next batter, Caleb Corbin, hit a sacrifice fly that plated Palmer and gave SEMO a 2-1 lead.

“You have to be fundamental,” Sawyers said. “If you want to win in the postseason, you have to take care of your opportunities.”

The exclamation point came courtesy of Josh Cameron as he hit the first pitch he saw over the left field wall to balloon the Redhawks’ lead to 4-1.

“I was looking for a heater away, and I got it,” Cameron said. “I was able to put a good swing on it, and it happened to fly over the wall.”

Strange did exactly what was needed in the top of the fourth after a big offensive inning; post a zero.

The Skyhawks had some traffic on the bases, but Strange remedied the problem with a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

“We call them shutdown innings,” Sawyers said. “The line is we score. They don’t. We need a zero so the momentum stays on our side.”

Strange was rewarded for his quick work when Stauss picked up his second hit of the afternoon with an RBI single, making it 5-1 Redhawks.

The Redhawks ran into trouble in the top of the fifth as Strange walked the leadoff batter, and the next batter singled, giving the Skyhawks first and second with nobody out.

The situation worsened as Strange hit the next batter, loading the bases.

With the hit by pitch, Strange was relieved by Alex Hayes.

UT Martin’s Alex Fernandez greeted Hayes with a double and was thrown out trying for third, but not before he cleared the bases, making it 5-4 Redhawks.

Strange’s final line was four innings pitched, four earned runs, and three hits allowed.

The rally didn’t stop there for the Skyhawks as Mac Danford ripped a solo home run tying the game 5-5.

It didn’t take Southeast long to respond as a pair of walks came back to bite UT Martin when Keoni Coloma singled home Bryce Cannon and Cole Warehime to restore the Redhawks’ lead, making it 7-5.

“Keoni hits better against left-handers,” Sawyers said. “I think sometimes against right-handed pitchers he opens up and comes off the ball, but against left-handers, he hits the ball more up the middle and the other way. He stayed on that ball and hit it right back up the middle.”

SEMO tacked on in the bottom of the sixth when Bryce Cannon singled home Ty Stauss, making it 8-5 Redhawks.

Stauss, who already had pieced together an impressive day, added to it in the bottom of the seventh as he roped a single to right field that scored Brooks Kettering as the Redhawks extended the lead to 9-5.

“He’s pretty consistent,” Sawyers said. “He’s been fantastic for the last two-thirds of the season.”

After a leadoff walk to begin the ninth by Redhawks left-hander Logan Katen, Kyle Miller entered to slam the door and secure the 9-5 win.

Leading the Redhawks offensively in the win was Stauss and Cameron, who both picked up three hits and two RBIs each.

With the win, the Redhawks end the regular season with an overall record of 30-24 and an 18-9 record in the OVC.

Up next for the Redhawks is the OVC Tournament, where the Redhawks will be the No. 2 seed and play on Thursday, May 23, in Marion, Ill.

“You have to want to keep winning,” Sawyers said. “Everybody wants to win, but I promise you with all these teams across the country going to conference tournaments, some of them wake up, and they’re ready to be done. The teams that win want to keep playing. They want to win for their friends and their teammates.”