Southeast coach Andy Sawyer said the team’s record of 7-15 isn’t properly showcasing the true story of their success, which is better reflected in their 4-2 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference.

“Winning is not a compilation of statistics,” he said. “What (the numbers) are telling me is we have good pieces, but we have yet to come together to play great baseball together.”

While its record is not what Sawyer or the rest of the team would like, the Redhawks have been performing strongly against OVC rivals. So far, the team has won both series against rivals Morehead State and UT Martin. Sawyer added that it was particularly big to win two of three against Morehead State, predicted to finish second in the preseason OVC poll.

Sawyer said he’s been approached by scouts and other coaches throughout the season, praising him for his team’s talent, regardless if the Redhawks had a good game statistically.

As well as the team is playing within the conference, non-conference play and road games haven’t been as strong. They currently stand with a 3-13 record in non-conference play, and 2-9 on the road.

“We haven't done enough to win a lot of games early,” Sawyer said. “We made mistakes and we walked too many guys. But the longer we play and as we got into conference play we started to clean that up. We are being a lot more fundamental and making them earn it on the mound.”

Redshirt junior infielder Trevor Ezell said the transfers had a bit of difficulty adjusting, but the entire team was to blame for early mistakes.

"It came to a point in the season when we knew we had to come together, and I think that's what you saw against Morehead State and UT Martin in the games we did win. It was more of a complete team effort,” he said.

Senior infielder Tristan Gagan is one of the players who has stepped up against conference opponents.

"He was coming off the ball, and he had the expectation of being a pre-season All-American,” Sawyer said. “I thought he was trying to do too much.”

Currently with a .346 batting average, Gagan hit his season highs in five categories against UT Martin, including hits with four and runs batted in with six. His performance in the series earned him OVC Player of the Week. Gagan has 14 RBIs in six OVC games and has 29 overall.

“Last year he was kind of an all-or-nothing type of guy. (This year) he's really maturing more as a professional hitter, kind of using the whole field,” Sawyer said.

Sawyer pointed out the changes he saw in junior outfielder Chase Urhahn. Like Gagan, the Cape Girardeau native started off the season trying too hard and had to sit down with Sawyer and the other coaches after the Bowling Green series in late February.

“He's really picked it up,” Sawyer said. “We put him in the leadoff spot and he's probably pretty comfortable there. We think he's going to be an elite hitter.” Sophomore infielder Danny Wright has been on a roller coaster ride as well, but another factor was holding him back. Mononucleosis kept him from getting more than one chance at the plate during the entire Morehead State series at Capaha. Sickness also kept him from playing in three additional games. He was well enough to play the entire UT Martin series on the road, where he scored two runs and recorded no strikeouts. Sawyer expects Wright to see an improvement of his numbers as the season progresses when his strength returns and he can find a groove on the field.

A continually consistent and top player for the Redhawks has been Ezell. He is leading the team with a .400 batting average and second on the team in on-base percentage with .458. Ezell also has two home runs and 22 RBIs.

“He's our best player," Sawyer said. "He has a 4.0 GPA, he's an All-American, he's leading us in hitting, he's a leader on the field, he’s what makes us go."

On the pitching side, junior right-hander Christian Vick was moved from the bullpen to the starting lineup for his last three appearances, along with senior right-hander Carlos Vega. Sawyer originally had a different vision for the pitching rotation.

“We thought we were going to have strike-throwing starters and some really big velocity-type stuff on the back end,” he said. “The strike throwers didn't get it done, so we put the hard throwers at the beginning of it and they're making great starts for us.”

Vick’s last two starts - the opener of the Morehead State series and the middle game of the UT Martin series - were his most effective of the season. He only gave up one run in both games combined.

“I like our arm talent; I think we have significantly better arm talent than we had a year ago,” Sawyer said. “We are pitching a lot of new guys. We are learning as we go in terms of what they can do and what they can actually do.”

One thing Sawyer is not doing is spending time focused on other teams’ performances. Instead, they are focusing most of their time addressing their own weaknesses and improving their strengths. Sawyer said they are working every day to better themselves.

“I’d rather have good players who aren’t playing winning baseball yet than have bad players,” he said. “We have some good players, so we need them to grow up together and play better together.”

Sawyer has hope and is optimistic about the team’s run the rest of the season as the Redhawks gets deeper and more competitive in conference play. The team is gearing up for a three-game series against conference rival Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at Capaha March 23-25. Games are at 1 p.m. Friday and Sunday and 2 p.m. Saturday.