COLUMN: SEMO’s record vs. rivals show last year’s slide was a fluke

Southeast Missouri State outfielder Michael Mugan reaches first base safely after hitting a two-run single against Missouri State on Tuesday, May 7, at Capaha Field.

Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

On a night that was originally reserved as a homecoming for Jackson High School and Cape Catfish alum Caden Bogenpohl, Michael Mugan and the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks stole the show with a 5-3 win over Missouri State on Tuesday, May 7, at Capaha Field.

It was his only hit of the game but Mugan’s two-run single in the seventh inning made the difference in the game. His big hit followed an RBI single by Brooks Kettering.

“My previous at-bat kind of broke my posture a little bit,” Mugan said. “I was just trying to get my swing off and keep it together. I didn't want to slow down at all and in that situation with guys on the base and I think there was only one out at the time so if I miss, have it be in the air hard, don't have it be on the ground for something they can turn for double play and don't sacrifice any bat speed early in the count. I think he threw me a first-pitch fastball, kind of came in and I missed it, and I just stayed on it. I just didn't come off it.”

Cody Kelly hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning to make it a two-run game, hence the importance of Mugan’s moment.

Bogenpohl made his first appearance at Capaha Field as a college player, a field where he experienced winning the SEMO Conference Tournament twice as a high school player and spent the summer as a member of the Catfish. He went 0-for-3 with a walk. The 6-6 freshman is batting .276 with 16 home runs and 41 RBI on the season.

SEMO has now gone 6-1 against its nonconference rivals. We’re talking rivals from schools who are in conferences considered a tier or two higher than the Ohio Valley Conference. The Redhawks swept Murray State and Southern Illinois, upset Missouri at their place, and split with Missouri State.

“To go out and do it against schools that people kind of have perceptions of that are a little bit bigger, maybe get a little bit higher quality of recruit, whatever it may be,” Mugan said, “to go and show that we’re right up there with them and we're going to be a tough team. I think going back honestly to the first series when we played Dallas Baptist, we didn't win a game but I think we knew internally and just as a team that we were going to be in a good spot against the rest of the competition.”

It even means more on a personal level to a team built on junior college players who are often seen as underrated as they make their rise through the DI ranks.

“People have these perceptions of bigger schools and I think that us, some of the guys we got on the team coming from junior college, coming from places or maybe feeling like they were a little bit underlooked,” Mugan said. “We want to beat those guys every single time.

College rivalries these days are taught. Players like Mugan, who transferred from the junior college ranks aren’t familiar with traditions and rivalries when they arrive.

“I kind of was learning the rivals during football season,” Mugan said. “I didn't really know who our rivals were but I know SIU is a big one, I know these guys are obviously Mo State and SEMO. I mean, just anytime you can win a baseball game, winning at the Division I level is hard, hence why we take a picture after every game.”

After their win on Tuesday, the Redhawks have 26 victory photos, the same amount as they would have last year had the tradition started a year earlier. SEMO head coach Andy Sawyers started the group photo tradition during the fall as his team of juco transfers was forming together.

“He said he’s gonna do like a collage at the end of the year,” Mugan said, “which is pretty cool.”

Tuesday was SEMO’s first game since sweeping Lindenwood, which is significant because the previous season, the Redhawks swept the Lions with a 20-run performance and it was their last win before losing out the remainder of the season. This win is a hopeful signifier toward preventing a repeat of misfortune.

“I think sometimes when you're playing every day when you're with the same guys when things maybe aren't going the right way, it's easy to point fingers,” Mugan said. “We're not going to blame the pitchers, or we’re not going to blame the hitters because we're not hitting any.”

Entering the final two series of the regular season, the Redhawks have the second-lowest ERA in the OVC and have scored the second-most runs as well. The Redhawks are second in the OVC in nearly every offensive statistical category this season.

This bodes well, as they are mere weeks away from potentially winning their third OVC Tournament championship in the last four years.

“I think that everybody's kind of getting on the same page,” he said. “I knew when I was coming here that the expectation is we're gonna compete for regionals. That's the expectation and anything below that is a disappointment. But I think that as we kind of get toward that final stretch, that's at the forefront of everybody's mind. Like we're not worried about our stats or all-conference or whatever personal milestones we may have because it's baseball. No matter what personal milestones you have, you could always be better, but a trip to Fayetteville, sitting in regional to play against the big boys with your brothers, it doesn't get doesn't get much better than that.”