Where Lincoln Andrews' bat goes, SEMO goes

An interesting stat has emerged after the first three weeks of the young college baseball season.

When first baseman Lincoln Andrews drives in a run, the Redhawks win. The junior drove in a total of four runs during the Redhawks' series win over Milwaukee at Capaha Field, their first of the season.

Andrews hit an RBI single in the middle of a 3-run eighth-inning rally to give SEMO a 6-5 win over Milwaukee in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader. He went off on Sunday's rubber match with a two-run home run in the first inning. When the Panthers took the lead in the second inning, Andrews hit an RBI double to tie the game 3-3 in the third inning, where the Redhawks scored four runs and went on to win 13-7.

Andrews has 10 RBIs this season, all during SEMO's four wins. He went 2-for-5 with a double and RBI single during the Redhawks' 11-3 season-opening win at Central Arkansas on Feb. 17. Andrews hit his first two home runs of the season during SEMO's 23-run scoring barrage at Abilene Christian on Feb. 25.

Andrews was named to the Ohio Valley Conference All-Tournament Team last season when he hit 15 home runs and was on the starting lineup for all 57 games. SEMO head coach Andy Sawyers said Andrews has worked toward becoming a better contact hitter this season.

"He's certainly worked hard to become more of a complete hitter," Sawyers said. "In the last year, for example, it was 15 homers, but it was a lot of strikeouts, and the batting average was low. He has really worked hard to get the ball in play more and not strike out as much and be more of a complete hitter. I'm proud of him for that."

Andrews is batting .273 over 12 games and has plated multiple hits in four games this season. He has more RBI (10) than strikeouts (8) and has only struck out twice in one game so far.

"It's certainly a small sample size," Sawyers said, "but that's paying off. He's not striking out at the clip he did a year ago, and I think he's gonna have a fantastic year."

Sawyers said after the Redhawks' home-opening loss to Evansville that the older players needed to step up their play if they were going to snap out of their season-starting funk. It appears that as the weather warms in March, the bats are starting to catch fire.

Junior catcher Ty Stauss and senior designated hitter Carlos Aranda each hit a home run during Sunday's win. Aranda has homered in three of SEMO's first four home games of the season.

Javon Mason entered the series batting .194 but went 6-for-13 against Milwaukee to boost his average to .273 on the season.

"For poorly as we played on offense for a couple of weeks, we do have good players, and it's just a matter of time," Sawyers said. "So certainly it was a big positive for us this weekend to have those older guys start to get going offensively."

SEMO hosts Missouri Valley-member Indiana State (2-8) for a two-game midweek series on Tuesday and Wednesday at Capaha Field. The Redhawks were swept by the Sycamores on the road last season. Indiana State won the first game 10-1 and won the second game with a 5-4 score. SEMO is currently 0-7 against Indiana State.

"We've certainly played better, but we're not there yet. We still don't have roles established at the point where I'd like to," Sawyers said. "We're trying to get some get our guys who are a little more productive offensively on the field, so it's still a work in progress."

First pitch for both games is slated for 3 p.m.