SEMO Baseball and Softball hit the road one last time

The Southeast Missourian baseball and softball seasons are coming down to the end with baseball having three series left and softball having just three games left. Both teams currently sit atop the Ohio Valley Conference standings and hope to hang on to that spot as the OVC Tournaments approach.

The baseball team (26-20, 14-4 OVC) travels to Manhattan, Kansas to take on Big 12 Conference member Kansas State (28-18, 11-7 Big 12) for a three-game weekend series against the Wildcats beginning on Friday at 6 p.m.

The Redhawks played Kansas State about 20 years ago and came away with a 9-5 win. SEMO is coming off a loss to Murray State at Capaha Field on Tuesday after four wins in a row. Kansas State is fresh off a series win over 14th-ranked Texas Tech.

The game will also be a homecoming of sorts for head coach Andy Sawyers who at one time was a part of the Wildcat coaching staff. Coach Sawyers explained what the biggest difference is between the two conferences.

“Just the number of really good players you know, so like our best players can all play in the Big 12 and SEC,” Sawyers said. “The difference is we might have three or four in a given year while they have a lot more.”

Senior outfielder Brett Graber expressed nothing but excitement about getting the opportunity to play a power five school.

“I'm just really excited to get the opportunity to play in an environment like that. I know that the guys are really excited to get on the road and play a big school. You don't get many series like that,” Graber said. “You don't get a lot of opportunities to play on that kind of stage. So I'm really just excited to get going and see what we have and see how we match up against the team in the Big 12.”

The softball team travels to Charleston, Illinois, to play their final series of the season at OVC rival Eastern Illinois (30-18, 15-5 OVC). The Redhawks (27-11, 19-1 OVC) recently clinched the OVC regular season championship after sweeping UT Martin last weekend to finish the home slate of the season with a perfect record for the second straight season.

The Redhawks extended their home winning streak to 30 games and are currently on a 16-game conference win streak. A sweep of the Panthers would mean a 30-win season on top of a season that already saw Head Coach Mark Redburn’s 450th win and the program's 2,000th win.

The OVC Tournament begins next weekend in Oxford, Alabama where the Redhawks will be the #1 seed, SEMO will take on the 4, 5 or 8-seeded team depending on how things shake out.