COLUMN: Hope springs eternal for SEMO when OVC slate arrives

At SEMO athletics, it seems like a tradition to struggle against non-conference opponents and enter the Ohio Valley Conference slate feeling confident in the team's chances of turning the season around and making a run towards the championship.

The softball team went 9-12 against non-conference opponents before dominating the OVC on their way to the regular season title. This year, they are currently 9-17 after sweeping SIUE on the road this past weekend. Head coach Mark Redburn said during an SEMO luncheon before the start of the season that the Redhawks believed that they were "one of the big dogs" and built a non-conference schedule that allowed them to prove it. The Redhawks went to four tournaments and came away with four total wins.

Yet after sweeping SIUE by a combined score of 13-6, and a home series against Tennessee Tech coming up, the Redhawks are undoubtedly confident that the season will now go their way.

The same can be said for the baseball team. Last year, the SEMO baseball team went 12-20 against non-conference and 14-10 against the OVC, even with the season-ending 11-game losing streak included.

After dropping a home weekend series against Western Kentucky, the Redhawks are 8-13 with their first OVC weekend series on the horizon.

"We're a better team than our record would say," SEMO head coach Andy Sawyers said. "We've had some spots of being really good. We need to be more consistent and we need to get healthy."

The highlight from the series, and the season, has been centerfielder Michael Mugan. The junior from California hit a triple that turned into an inside-the-park home run after a throwing error allowed him to score.

"I kind of anticipating spin and I saw a bubble and took a good swing and got the bat to it," Mugan said. "Once I saw it split the gap I was just running and I slid into third. I saw the ball kind of bouncing towards our dugout and I just didn't hesitate, didn't wait for coach to send me."

Mugan is batting .400 after 20 games and his 32 hits leads the OVC. The Redhawks as a whole have stayed competitive through most games solely because of their bats. SEMO is second in the OVC in home runs (27) and third in runs scored (112).

"I think every single guy on this team is hungry for at-bats," said SEMO senior Ty Stauss.

On the flip side, the Redhawks strike out (158) and get caught stealing (11) more than any other team in the conference.

"I think we're a little self-centered," Stauss said. "We need to start playing more team baseball, but what team doesn't have that problem? I hope going into conference, we can scratch it, get back to that."

Pitching is clearly the Redhawks' weakness, but fortunately for them, the same is true about everyone else in the OVC. SEMO's pitching staff has given up 103 runs and carries an ERA of 5.72, but that is only second to Little Rock (5.54 ERA) Lindenwood, led by Saxony Lutheran alum Eli Brown (3.77 ERA), is the only OVC team to surrender under 100 runs.

Health has also been an issue with the SEMO bullpen and likely a concern that will carry over for most of the season. Whoever was healthy had to go multiple innings to keep the Redhawks alive. Sawyers credited Logan Katen for saving the bullpen during his postgame radio interview on Friday after he threw four innings during an 8-3 loss. Colin Wilma threw the final three innings of SEMO's 8-7 win on Saturday to earn his second save of the season. Sunday's 7-2 loss was a bullpen day for SEMO, starting with 3.2-inning outings from Peyton Lawrence and Ethan Osborne, and finishing with two outs from Eddie White and an inning from Esteban Hernandez.

"I'm hoping that we get some guys healthy out of the bullpen and fully staffed when we go out to Charleston (Eastern Illinois) next week," Sawyers said.