Redhawks conclude historic home season with bittersweet series

Southeast Missouri State baseball coach Andy Sawyers walks off the diamond at Capaha Field during a game against Southern Illinois earlier this season.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

The three-game series that Southeast Missouri State baseball just concluded against Ohio Valley Conference foe UT Martin was bittersweet.

In one regard, it was a grave disappointment because the Redhawks (33-17, 15-6 OVC) got blown out 10-3 in the series opener at Capaha Field by the Skyhawks (11-34, 4-20), who are in last place in the league.

That loss may prove fatal to SEMO’s quest to repeat as the OVC regular-season champions.

With a three-game road series at Eastern Illinois looming on Thursday through Saturday, the Redhawks are one game in back of league-leading Belmont (35-17, 16-5).

The Bruins will visit SIU Edwardsville (24-24, 11-10) for a three-game series from Thursday through Saturday.

However, on a positive note, SEMO concluded this spring having won 23 of its 25 home games, which is the best mark in Cape Girardeau by the program ever.

“We’ve been so good at home,” veteran Redhawk coach Andy Sawyers said recently. “Capaha has been good to us.”

SEMO BB suffers long night vs. grounded Skyhawks

Tom Davis

Andy Sawyers has been on a baseball diamond since he was barely taller than a Louisville Slugger bat, so he knows enough that a team is only as good as its pitching.

Sawyers said that he has never seen anything like the success that his team has achieved at home in 2022.

He was on the coaching staff of both Nebraska (57 wins in 2005) and Texas A&M (47 wins in 2011) when both programs advanced to the College World Series, yet they didn’t match the win percentage of his latest team.

The Huskers lost four games in Lincoln in 2005, while the Aggies were 30-9 in 2011 in College Station.

“The best record that I have ever heard at home was Morehead State,” Sawyers said, “when they only lost two games at home three years ago (2019).”

Sawyers explained that the small dimensions of Sonny Allen Field lead to opposing pitchers throwing too cautious and blowing up in their faces.

“Everybody in the league calls it ‘Getting Moreheaded,’” Sawyers said. “Pitchers get brain damage from flyball home runs. They are scared of the barrels (of the bat) and they walk 10 people.”

The Eagles won 26 of 28 games that spring and Sawyers is in disbelief that his team was comparable.

“I thought that was impossible,” Sawyers said of Morehead State’s accomplishment.

The Redhawks bounced back from the debacle against UT Martin on Friday with a 7-6 win on Saturday – barely.

SEMO had to rally from a 6-3 deficit in its final two at-bats to pull that game out.

On Sunday, the Redhawks left nothing to chance, as they outhit the Skyhawks 14-4 in a 15-2 thumping.

Thursday’s game in Charleston, Ill. opens at 3 p.m., followed by a Friday game (1 p.m.) and a Saturday battle (1 p.m.).