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SEMO baseball to go to Fayetteville Regional
Monday, May 27, 2024
Southeast Missouri State baseball players await the announcement of their playoff destination on Monday, May 27, at Wings Etc., in Cape Girardeau.
Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com
The Southeast Missouri State baseball team gathered table by table at the local Wings Etc., on Memorial Day, May 27, waiting with anticipation for their announced place in the unveiling of the NCAA Tournament bracket.
“It means everything,” SEMO senior outfielder Ian Riley said. “We’re really excited about this one for sure.”
Once their school name was announced as SEC powerhouse Arkansas’ first opponent in the Fayetteville Regional, the bar erupted with applause, and their reaction was seen on national television.
“It’s really a dream come true,” SEMO senior catcher Nolan Ackerman said. “Especially Fayetteville, an atmosphere like that, thousands of people.”
The Ohio Valley Champion Redhawks (34-25) join Kansas State and Louisiana Tech in the Fayetteville Regional, which starts on Friday, May 31.
This will be a special matchup for SEMO head coach Andy Sawyers, who will be coaching against Arkansas’ Dave Van Horn, who was his coach in college at Nebraska in 1998.
“We’re comfortable with them,” Sawyers said. “We know how good they are but it’s gonna be a cool trip, good experience with our guys.”
Fayetteville is a six-hour drive from Cape Girardeau. Just like the SEMO faithful came to Marion, Illinois, to support the Redhawks in the OVC Tournament, Sawyers expects some supporters to make the trip to Arkansas.
“We will be well represented with our families and friends,” Sawyers said. “But it’s certainly going to be a hostile environment.”
The usual fans from the party deck were right beside the Redhawks in Marion in a way that not many other OVC teams got to enjoy.
“In the first game, I was sitting in the dugout and it was a close game,” Ackerman said. “Then I heard them chant ‘SE-MO’ and I felt like we had it. It was that 10th man. They were with us and I felt good about it.”
Arkansas is the national No. 5 seed in the tournament. Given the national status of the OVC, SEMO is always pitted against one of the top teams in the nation from the get-go.
“We’re not expecting to go in there and blow them out,” Ackerman said. “We’re kind of the underdogs so we’re gonna have to scrap, bunt, do whatever we can.”
LA Tech features a local ace in Charleston High School grad Luke Nichols. Kansas State, who have the same record as the Redhawks, earned their first bid in 11 years.
SEMO has become a mid-major mainstay in the NCAA regionals, making its third regional appearance in the last four years. While many seniors came to this team from the junior college circuit, a handful of them were here all four years and had an impact on this OVC dynasty.
Pitcher Kyle Miller, who Sawyers recently mentioned as “the most important kid I ever recruited,” has the program record in appearances and saves. Collin Wilma went from starting pitcher to crucial reliever at a time when the bullpen had shaky health and was a liability. Payton Lawrence got the final out of the title game on Saturday and Ty Stauss has been a key bat all throughout his four years with the Redhawks.
“They kind of turned it around for us. We weren’t winning as much as we wanted to prior to those guys showing up to campus,” Sawyers said. “I’m just super happy for them that they got to go out on top.”
SEMO will be in its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and the first since 2022. The Redhawks earned the Ohio Valley Conference bid by winning the Tournament championship over Morehead State on Saturday, May 26, in Marion, Illinois.
The Redhawks nearly swept their way to the tournament title last week but stumbled late against Morehead State. They won the second game behind their resilience and overwhelming offense.
“We had a guy who was ready to go where they had used all their pieces,” Sawyers said. “We had a fresh starter so I said the advantage is ours. The challenge you guys have to do is get over this emotionally in 30 minutes.”
The silver lining to losing the first game is Ackerman was able to play in the second game and catch the final out.
“It was a sigh of relief,” Ackerman said. “I could take a deep breath. I knew it was fine, I was stressing all weekend about it like we could get this done. It’s gonna be hard but we can get it done. And me being in that lineup on that final lineup card is awesome because coach [Sawyers] is gonna put it up in a frame. It’s gonna be in his office forever. It just means a lot to me coming into SEMO and being able to help the team win something like that.”
Ackerman, who had four hits and two RBIs in two games during the tournament was one of a handful of role players who weren’t in the starting lineup all season long but had their moment in the sun when it mattered most. Keoni Coloma Was named Tournament MVP despite starting in only 23 regular season games.
“It’s huge,” Ackerman said. “SEMO’s got great recruiting. We don’t recruit anybody who can’t play ball so even if you’re not a starter all year, you’re still a good ball player. So when their names got called, they just did their thing because they’re good players. It paid off in the end and it worked out perfectly.”
Riley, who had a hit in all four games including a home run and a triple with four RBIs through the tournament, attributed the championship to the fall practices that hardened them.
“It says that we’re tough,” Riley said. “I attribute it all to the fall, how tough the fall was on us. We did a lot of things in the fall so that we can come back from stuff like that.”
The Redhawks won the OVC without one of their top hitters. Michael Mugan was out of the lineup on the final weekend of the regular season after playing every game at center field due to a hand injury.
While nothing is certain about his status in the regional, Sawyers said he hopes Mugan will be back and ready.