SEMO baseball loses ninth straight

The Redhawks losing skid continued on Friday after a 7-2 loss against Eastern Illinois at Capaha Field.

This is the ninth loss in a row for SEMO who has not won a game since April 30 against Lindenwood. The Redhawks were held scoreless until the seventh inning when two runs were scored to bring the game to within one. SEMO head coach Andy Sawyers said the team is in a rut right now and they are not playing their best baseball.

“We’re not really doing any of the three phases of the game at a super high level, offense, defense, or pitching,” Sawyers said. “A team is a complicated system and when something gets out of whack, there’s never usually an easy answer.”

Junior pitcher Collin Wilma started on the mound for the Redhawks and went through six innings, he finished with seven strikeouts, no walks, and three earned runs.

The Southeast pitchers who came in for relief did not fare well with two not making it a full inning, and another having four earned runs.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, SEMO loaded the bases with senior outfielder Jevon Mason at the plate. Mason grounded into a fielder’s choice which scored fellow senior outfielder Brett Graber, the next man up junior utility player Peyton Leeper managed to draw a walk and allowed Gunnar Doyle to score.

Sawyers said the offense had seen the Panther pitcher a few times already which made it easier to get some hits.

“It was the third or fourth time through for our starters, we had a little better looks at him,” Sawyers said. “Seeing him a few times helped us manage to time some pitches better.”

Southeast will be competing in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament beginning on May 24 and will look to get the losing out of the way before then. Sawyers said all they can do is remain positive and focused on things to do better.

“It’s one of those things where sometimes all it takes is one,” Sawyers said. “You get one you can feel better about yourself and walk out of there playing with a lot more confidence.”