Hayden Dow's complete game shutout propels SEMO to victory over Purdue Fort Wayne

No starting pitcher wants to be taken out of the game.

Much less one who is a graduate student in their third year with the program.

After pitching a total of 9.2 innings over the first two starts, Hayden Dow threw his first career complete game shutout to lead Southeast Missouri State to a 5-0 win over Purdue Fort Wayne on Sunday, March 2, at Capaha Field.

"I felt really good today," Dow said. "I wanted that one. It has been a fun series. Yesterday was a little exciting, and I really wanted that one. So it was my call. I told [head coach Andy Sawyers] I wanted to go back out there and finish it."

Dow allowed only three hits and struck out nine batters in 115 pitches. In his previous start, he struck out eight batters over five shutout innings against Northern Illinois the previous week.

"I wanted to go deep," Dow said. "I wanted to have a good outing go along today. I think, really, the goal every week is to go all nine, and very rarely does that happen, but that's always the mindset. I want the whole game, and this week I was able to do that, some defense behind me, and made some good pitches."

Dow finished last year among the Ohio Valley Conference’s top 15 in ERA and strikeouts. The first three outings show that the best is yet to come for Dow, who has 20 strikeouts in 18.2 innings with only one earned run.

"I think we still have some things that need to be fine-tuned and need to work," Dow said. "There's always positive and negative to everything, and I think we're in a good spot. Just need to get those little things rolling."

Cole Warehime went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored. Bryce Cannon and Andrew Ramirez also drove in two hits and Michael Mugan and Brooks Kettering each walked in a run for the Redhawks.

Warehime was instrumental in the Redhawks splitting the doubleheader on Saturday, March 1. He went 2-for-3 with a solo home run in the second inning to lead SEMO to a 6-5 win. A 3-run rally in the eighth inning, highlighted by an RBI single by Ramirez proved to be clutch for the Redhawks.

Ramirez had a hit in each game during the weekend series to improve his season batting average to .353.

Kettering and Ty Stauss went 2-for-4 during SEMO's 9-5 loss to start the doubleheader. Entering Sunday, Kettering had two hits for four straight days.

The Redhawks (6-5) travel to Columbia, Mo., to take on Missouri on Tuesday, March 4.

"You gotta take every game one at a time," Dow said. "It doesn't matter if it's weekend (series), if it's Tuesday if it ends up being a Wednesday, whatever it is, you've got that game that day. That's the next one you can win and go out and do your job on game day."