Former Southeast Missouri State baseball standout Derek Gibson headed to Cards' Double-A affiliate

Former Southeast Missouri State outfielder Derek Gibson will return to play baseball in his home state.

The Bonne Terre, Missouri, native was promoted to the St. Louis Cardinals organization's Double-A affiliate Springfield Cardinals on Friday night. He was walked in his first and only at-bat with Springfield.

Gibson, who signed with the Cardinals organization as an undrafted free agent in June 2014, had played in 26 games with the Class A Advanced affiliate Palm Beach Cardinals this summer.

He batted .376 in 93 at-bats with six doubles, six RBIs and six runs scored with Palm Beach and had a 12-game hitting streak before his call up to Springfield.

Gibson's former Southeast teammates, Matt Tellor and Alex Winkelman, both of whom were apart of the Redhawks' 2014 Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship, also have had recent success for their respective professional teams.

Tellor, the 2014 OVC player of the year, is batting just .187 in 43 games with the Class A Rome Braves this season but had back-to-back three-hit games last Tuesday and Thursday.

Against the Lexington Legends on Tuesday, Tellor hit his second grand slam of the season. He also had a three-run double that night to finish with seven RBIs.

Winkelman, who was drafted following his junior season by the Houston Astros in the 21st round on June 10, picked up his second win of the season Thursday.

The left-handed pitcher's second win came in his longest outing of his young professional career. He did not allow a run on two hits in 3 innings of work. He walked one and struck out a career-high six batters to improve to 2-0.

In three relief appearances, the Crystal City, Missouri, native has a 1.29 ERA. He's allowed one run and six hits, walked three and struck out 12.