Baseball Sweeps UT Martin Saturday, Locks Up Two Seed in OVC Tournament - Southeast Missouri State University Athletics (2024)

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. –Southeast Missouri Baseball (31-24, 18-9 OVC) picked up its third Ohio Valley Conference sweep of the season with a 9-5 Saturday afternoon victory over UT Martin (20-34, 12-15 OVC) in the 2024 regular season finale.

The Redhawks locked up the number two overall seed in the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Championship presented by SERVPRO from Mtn. Dew Park in Marion, Ill. SEMO will play on Thursday, May 23, at 3 p.m. with the opponent TBD.

Prior to the contest, 14seniors were honored for their final home game in a SEMO uniform as Nolan Ackerman, Josh Cameron, Esteban Hernandez, Logan Katen, Payton Lawrence, Peyton Leeper, Kyle Miller, Ben Palmer, Fischer Rausch, Ian Riley, Chance Resetich, Collin Wilma, Tommy Windt, and team manager Connor Rooney were all recognized prior to first pitch.

SEMO pounded out 13 hits led by Josh Cameron, Bryce Cannon, and Ty Stauss who all finished with three hits each. The outfield duo of Stauss and Cameron drove in a combined four of SEMO's nine runs on the afternoon.

The Redhawks fell behind early in the ball game as UTM's Zac Rice drove a solo home run to left field off RHP Brian Strange in the top of the third inning.

The 1-0 advantage would not last long for the visitor's as a four-run response in the SEMO half would get the Redhawks going.

Short stop Ben Palmer singled through the left side to score catcher Shea McGahan after he drew a leadoff walk, advancing to second on a wild pitch. Palmer would drive in the RBI to tie the game.

A sacrifice fly by Caleb Corbin would score Palmer from third after a one-out double by Stauss. The Redhawks led 2-1 after Corbin's 27^thRBI of the season.

Josh Cameron would blast his 13^thhome run of the season the next batter, scoring Stauss, to the opposite field to give SEMO a 4-1 advantage.

Stauss would extend the lead in the following inning as a two-out RBI single to right field would bring in second baseman Brooks Kettering to make it 5-1.

The Skyhawks did not go quietly. A leadoff walk to catcher Cam Brady, a single by Rice, and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases in the top of the fifth inning as Strange's day ended. He finished the outing with 4.0 innings pitched.

Andrew Fernandez doubled off LHP Alex Hayes, a three-RBI double, but was tagged out trying to extend the hit into a triple.

A solo home run by Mac Danford capped off the four-run fifth inning for the Skyhawks as the game was tied, 5-5.

The Redhawks would respond once again in the home half with a two-run inning as back-to-back walks to Cannon and designated hitter Cole Warehime put two on with one out.

After a wild pitch, right fielder Keoni Coloma drove in both baserunners to make it 7-5 Redhawks.

The SEMO bullpen and defense closed it down from that point on as Hayes (3-2), Logan Katen, and Kyle Miller combined allowed no runs and no hits from the sixth inning on to pick up win number 31 on the season.

An RBI base hit by Bryce Cannon in the sixth inning, and the same from Stauss in the seventh inning made it 9-5 as the Redhawks finished conference play with an 18-9 mark and locked up the 2-seed in the conference tournament.