andy sawyers
Head Coach
Head Coach Andy Sawyers enters his 10th season as the Redhawk manager in 2026. He begins the upcoming season with a 247-222 record as the Redhawks' head coach with a 129-93 record in Ohio Valley Conference play.
During his tenure, Coach Sawyers has won the OVC regular season championship once (2021) and has three OVC Tournament titles during his time in Cape Girardeau (21, 22, & 24). He led the program to its first NCAA Regional Final during the 2024 season. He has one OVC ‘Coach of the Year’ award under his belt as well (2021).
2025 marked the ninth season for Head Coach Andy Sawyers at the helm of Southeast Missouri State Baseball. The Redhawks finished with a 30-25 overall record and a 16-11 mark in OVC play.
Under Coach Sawyers, four Redhawks landed on the All-OVC Postseason team including outfielder Cole Warehime, RHP Nathan Mertens, and LHPs Haden Dow and Jackson Kranawetter.
The Redhawks advanced to the 2025 Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Tournament as the tournament’s fourth seed, resulting in a loss to #8 Little Rock in the first round of the tournament.
The 2024 season marked the eight season for Coach Sawyers and was a historical season for the Redhawks. SEMO Baseball finished 36-27 overall in the regular season, with an 18-9 OVC record, and finished as the number two overall seed in the conference tournament (Marion, Ill.).
The Redhawks ended the regular season on a five-game winning streak and landed five Redhawks on the All-OVC list including Ben Palmer, Ty Stauss, Josh Cameron, Brooks Kettering, and the all-time saves and appearances leader in school history, Kyle Miller.
Coach Sawyers and the Redhawks won the first two games of the 2024 OVC tournament and carried a seven-game winning streak into the tournament’s double-elimination final. The #2 Redhawks would fall in the first game of the championship to #3 Morehead State, before capturing the program’s third OVC Title under Coach Sawyers in the last four seasons.
The historical run for the Redhawks did not stop there as they advance to the NCAA Regionals in Fayetteville, Arkansas where they were paired up with #5-National Seed and host, Arkansas, #2 Kansas State, and #3 Louisiana Tech. After falling to Arkansas in the opening round, the Redhawks would respond with a 9-3 victory over #3 Louisiana Tech to setup a Sunday elimination matchup with the loser of #2 Kansas State or #1 Arkansas.
The #4 Redhawks would face a ‘lose-or-go-home’ matchup with #1 Arkansas at Baum-Walker Stadium on Sunday afternoon as the Redhawks took down the Razorbacks to advance to the program’s first ever NCAA Regional Final.
2023 marked Andy Sawyers’ seventh as Southeast Missouri’s head coach.
In the last two years alone, Sawyers led SEMO to one Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title, back-to-back OVC Tournament crowns and two NCAA Tournament appearances. For the first time in program history, the Redhawks claimed the league’s OVC Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons during the 2021 and 2022 campaigns.
During the 2022 season, SEMO compiled a 37-22 overall record and finished second in the OVC with a 16-8 mark. The Redhawks, after dropping their first game of the conference tournament, won three-straight elimination games to secure their second-straight OVC Tournament championship. SEMO outlasted top-seeded Belmont, 5-4, in 10 innings to get the title.
The Redhawks later represented the OVC at the NCAA Regional in Louisville, Kentucky. That trip came a year after SEMO advanced to the NCAA Regional in Oxford, Mississippi.
SEMO was nearly unbeatable at home in 2022, where it led the nation with a 23-2 record. The Redhawks won their first 14 games at Capaha Field en route to their best home record in program history. In addition, the Redhawks finished the year with 24 come-from-behind victories.
The Redhawks hit a program record 97 home runs with five players getting 10 or more. SEMO also had seven All-OVC selections, two American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings All-South Region picks and one draft pick (Andrew Keck, 10th round, Atlanta Braves) in 2022.
Academically, SEMO’s baseball team recently recorded a 3.45 grade point average for its best fall term GPA in program history. During the 2021-22 academic year, the Redhawks had two OVC Medal of Honor recipients and 20 Commissioner’s Honor Roll selections.
In terms of winning percentage, Sawyers’ baseball program is the second-winningest in SEMO’s Department of Athletics with a .546 percentage over the last seven seasons. The Redhawks accumulated a total of 194 wins and won at a .592 rate in OVC play (103-71). SEMO won 30 or more games each of the last two years and Sawyers is in position to become the third head coach in program history to post three-consecutive 30-win seasons.
Sawyers was named OVC Coach of the Year after leading SEMO to a sweep of league’s regular-season and tournament titles in 2021. The Redhawks finished that championship season with an overall 30-22 record and 17-10 in the OVC. SEMO recorded 30 wins in a season for the first time with Sawyers at the helm and posted series wins in eight of its nine series against league foes in 2021.
Sawyers coached his first OVC Specialty Award-Winner when left-hander Dylan Dodd was tabbed the league’s Pitcher of the Year.
Dodd later became the highest draft pick in program history when he was selected in the third round by the Atlanta Braves in the 2021 Major League Draft. Additionally, Dodd wrapped up his final college season as a Second-Team Collegiate Baseball All-American.
Statistically, SEMO led the OVC with 14 saves and a .967 fielding percentage after committing just 49 errors in 52 contests. The Redhawks were also second in the conference in wins as their 30 victories marked the most in a season in five years.
In 2020, SEMO had an overall record of 9-8 and a 2-1 mark in OVC play when its season abruptly ended due to a global COVID-19 pandemic. The Redhawks heated up to win seven of nine contests prior to the end of competition.
The Redhawks led the OVC in batting average (.314), hits (188), triples (9), plate appearances (707), at-bats (598), hit by pitch (26), stolen bases (36), fewest walks allowed (54) and fielding percentage (.976), and rated second in slugging percentage (.503), on-base percentage (.404), runs (129), RBI (121) and home runs (21) at the time their 2020 campaign came to a close. SEMO also ranked among the top 10 teams in the nation in hits (6th) and triples (8th).
Individually, Justin Dirden led the conference in slugging percentage (.900), RBI (26), home runs (9), hits (29), total bases (63) and stolen bases (9) before signing as an undrafted free agent with the Houston Astros.
Shortstop Tyler Wilber topped the OVC in runs (26) and center fielder Danny Wright tied a league-high with 29 hits when play was suspended.
Pitching wise, left-handers Dylan Dodd (2-1, 36 Ks) and Noah Niznik (3-0, 15 Ks) were a combined 5-1 with 51 strikeouts and two complete game shutouts through four starts in 2020.
Before they took the field in 2019, the Redhawks ushered in a state-of-the-art hitting facility adjacent to Capaha Field. The 4,000-square foot facility can fit up to four batting cages and is equipped with portable pitching mounds. It also had HitTrax Rapsodo technology which is used to enhance overall player performance through real-tiem stats and performance metrics.
SEMO went 23-32 during an injury-riddled 2019 campaign. The Redhawks played without five of their position starters for much of the season.
Despite the misfortune with injuries, SEMO had a pair of All-OVC performers in Wilber and Niznik.
A First-Team selection, Wilber led the OVC with a .383 batting average and was the Redhawks leader in hits (80) doubles (19), triples (3), RBI (40), slugging percentage (.531) and on-base percentage (.480).
Niznik, who landed a spot on the All-Newcomer Team, started 13 games as a freshman. He led the team with a 3.63 ERA, ranked second in innings (62) and third in both strikeouts (49) and wins (3).
The year before that, Sawyers guided the 2018 squad to the program’s 13th consecutive OVC Tournament berth as the Redhawks finished 27-30 overall and second in the conference with a 20-10 record.
That team produced three First-Team All-OVC performers, including Carlos Vega, Trevor Ezell and Dirden.
Sawyers was hired as the sixth head coach in program history on July 29, 2016.
In his first year as an NCAA Division I head coach in 2017, Sawyers led the Redhawks to a winning season (29-26 overall, 16-14 OVC). He also picked up his first career OVC Tournament win along the way.
First-Team pick Dan Holst, Second-Team selections Brian Lees, Chris Osborne, Justin Murphy and Clay Chandler, and All-Newcomer Team member Danny Wright formed a group of six All-OVC players in Sawyers’ debut season as a Division I head coach.
In all, Sawyers has over two decades worth of collegiate coaching experience.
Prior to arriving in Cape Girardeau, he worked two seasons as the Associate Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator at Big 12 Conference member Kansas State. There, Sawyers oversaw the hitters and catchers, while helping coordinate recruiting efforts.
Sawyers has coached in two College World Series, two NCAA Super Regionals and nine NCAA Tournaments during his coaching tenure. He has mentored 40 Major League Baseball draft picks, including two first-round selections and nine top-10 round picks.
The Wildcats ranked fourth in the Big 12 offensively with a .284 team batting average in 2016. K-State’s offense registered a .400 slugging percentage and .372 on-base percentage, scored 335 runs, had 550 hits, belted 100 doubles, notched 17 triples, and finished with 30 home runs and 300 RBI.
Sawyers coached freshman Josh Rolette who garnered Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American honors in 2016. He also helped mentor Jake Scudder who was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. The Wildcats had three student-athletes on the All-Big 12 Teams that season.
The 2015 and 2016 campaigns were Sawyers’ second stint at K-State.
He previously served as an assistant coach for the Wildcats in 2009 and 2010. Sawyers helped lead K-State to an 80-30-1 record and the first two NCAA Regional appearances in school history over that span.
The 2009 season was a year of power for the Wildcats under Sawyers. The team hit 22 triples and 58 home runs, most in both categories since 1997. The offense shined when it came to stolen bases as the 149 steals were second-most in the nation and just two shy of breaking the Big 12 record. Overall, the team finished among Big 12 leaders in on-base percentage (2nd, .399), runs scored (2nd, 458), hits (2nd, 675), RBI (2nd, 420), doubles (3rd, 123), and fewest strikeouts (4th, 393).
Six Wildcats claimed All-Big 12 honors in 2009, including outfielder Nick Martini, who also garnered Louisville Slugger Freshman All America honors, and Justin Bloxom and Carter Jurica, who finished fourth and eighth, respectively, in the Big 12 in batting average.
The 2010 squad matched the success of 2009 by also reaching the NCAA postseason, and the offense topped the previous season totals in batting average (.323 in 2010; .317 in 2009), runs per game (7.6 vs. 7.4) and OBP (.426 vs. .399).
Before K-State, Sawyers spent four seasons as Associate Head Coach at Texas A&M (2011-14). Those four seasons at Texas A&M represented the end of Sawyers’ five-year stint with the Aggies after he spent 2008 as a volunteer assistant coach.
In each of those five seasons, Sawyers helped Texas A&M reach an NCAA Regional while also winning a pair of Big 12 championships. In addition, he coached standouts Tyler Naquin - 2011 Big 12 Player of the Year, All-American and a first round pick by the Cleveland Indians in 2012 - and Krey Bratson, a 2011 Freshman All-American.
Before his appointment at Texas A&M in 2008, Sawyers worked with current Aggie head coach Rob Childress as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Nebraska from 2003-07.
While in Lincoln, he helped the Huskers earn four trips to the NCAA Tournament, including an appearance at the 2005 College World Series. Sawyers, who lettered two years at Nebraska, worked with 12 Huskers who were selected in the MLB Draft, including Alex Collegiate Baseball.
After working as the volunteer assistant at Nebraska in 2000, Sawyers worked the 2001 and 2002 seasons as head coach at Hutchinson Community College, compiling an 87-30 record and two postseason berths. In 2001, the Dragons went 40-16 and won the Jayhawk West Sub-Regional, while the 2002 squad set a school record with 47 wins and was ranked as high as seventh by the NJCAA.
Sawyers’ coaching career began at Northwestern (La.) State in 1999 as a volunteer assistant coach, helping the Demons finish second in the Southland Conference.
He first played collegiately at Point Loma (Calif.) Nazarene College in 1994. Following a year off, he played at Mendocino (Calif.) Junior College in 1996 before finishing up his playing career at Nebraska.
A native of Willits, California, Sawyers received his bachelor (1998) and master’s (2000) degrees from Nebraska. He is married to the former Dena Lindeblad and the couple have two sons, Andrew James (A.J.) and Alex.
trevor ezell
Associate Head Coach
Associate Head Coach Trevor Ezell enters his sixth season in 2026 as a member of the Redhawks’ coaching staff. 2026 marks the fourth season for Ezell as the program’s associate head coach after receiving the promotion ahead of the 2023 season. He spent one year as the Director of Offensive Player Development in 2021 before being promoted to Hitting Coach in 2022. As a team, the Redhawks have been to a NCAA Regional 3 of the last 5 seasons (’21, ’22, ’24).
In 2025, the Redhawks’ offense under the guidance of Ezell finished with a .268 / .382 / .427 slash line as a team. The Redhawks also recorded a .809 on-base plus slugging-percentage to round out a 30-win season and a berth in the 2025 OVC Tournament.
The Redhawks finished with 502 hits, 98 doubles (4th in OVC), 16 triples (3rd in OVC), 56 home runs (5th in OVC), 339 RBIs (5th in OVC), and 800 total bases (7th in OVC). SEMO also continued its great eye at the plate, drawing the second most walks (291) in the OVC after leading the conference in 2024.
Coach Ezell coached one All-OVC performer in 2025 in outfielder Cole Warehime.
The Redhawks finished their 2024 season by making it to a regional final for the first time in school history. From the year prior, the offense made a big jump by producing a slash line of .290/.397/.503. They collectively set the program record for runs scored (483), home runs (107), and total bases (1085). Nationally, the Redhawks ranked top 30 in a handful of categories, including BB/HBP, HR’s, Runs, Hits, 2K scoring, 2K OBP, and bunting. Four hitters earned their way onto the OVC All Conference teams, including Josh Cameron, Brooks Kettering, Ben Palmer, and Ty Stauss.
The 2023 campaign was a breakout season for Redhawk outfielder Josh Cameron. He hit over .300 with 34 XBH (16 HR) and 13-14 stolen bases. His performance landed him on the All-OVC Second Team Honors list. Other players made big strides in boosting their batting average. Three every day starters bolstered a batting average in 2023 that was 50 points or better than their career batting average prior to…this included Danny Sperling, Peyton Leeper, and Lincoln Andrews.
In his first year as SEMO's full-time hitting coach in 2022, Ezell led the Ohio Valley Conference Champion Redhawks to a program record 97 home runs. Individual records were set by Tyler Wilber’s 74 RBI and Jevon Mason’s 72 runs scored. Additionally, SEMO hitters had over 400 (405) RBI in a season for the first time since 2016. Four different players hit .317 or better with 10 or more home runs that year. The team’s core of 5 sluggers significantly improved their ability to do damage between the 2021 and 2022 season under Ezell’s leadership. Tyler Wilber, Andrew Keck, Brett Graber, Jevon Mason, and Lincoln Andrews combined for 74 long balls in 2022, versus only 16 in 2021. At the conclusion of the 2022 season, Andrew Keck was drafted in the 10th round by the Atlanta Braves.
A native of Bryant, Arkansas, Ezell earned a bachelor’s in business administration from SEMO and a masters in Operations Management at the University of Arkansas. He was an all-conference player 4 times and an All American 3 times during his college career. Before returning to SEMO to coach, Ezell played in the Tampa Bay Rays organization from 2019-20.
NCAA Postseason Experience:
College World Series – 2019
NCAA Regionals – 2016, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024
matthew kinney
Pitching Coach
The 2026 season will mark the the eighth season for Matthew Kinney at Southeast Missouri and the seventh as the Redhawks pitching coach.
In 2025, the SEMO Pitching Staff recorded a historical season on the mound and were among the nation’s best in many statistical categories. The Redhawks finished fourth in the nation in Walks-Per-Nine-Innings (3.09), 13th in Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio (2.79), 27th in WHIP (1.34), 41st in ERA (4.67), 64th in Hits-Allowed-Per-Nine-Innings (8.95), and third in overall strike percentage (65.2%). These rankings all marked a program record in their respective categories in the program’s DI era.
Three Redhawk pitchers landed on the 2025 All-OVC Postseason Team including two first teamers and a second team selection. RHP Nathan Mertens and LHP Jackson Kranawetter both landed on the First Team, with LHP Haden Dow landing on the Second Team.
Mertens finished the 2025 campaign ranked first in the nation in walks-allowed-per-nine-innings (0.91) and third in the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio (8.38). He also ranked 18th nationally in WHIP (1.00).
Kranawetter finished with a team high eight saves, ranking him 29th in the country and first in the OVC in saves. He led the bullpen staff with 23 appearances in relief, the fourth most in the OVC.
Dow finished his final season under Coach Kinney amongst the nation’s best; ranking 12th in WHIP (0.97), 21stin walks-allowed-per-nine-innings (1.61), 38th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.79), and 68th in hits per nine innings (7.12).
Coach Kinney led the Redhawks pitching staff to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title during the 2024 season and advanced to the Fayetteville Regional. The Redhawks then knocked out #5 national seed, Arkansas, en route to the first NCAA Regional final appearance in school history.
As a staff, SEMO ranked among the top 50 in the country in several statistical categories including overall strike percentage (11th), first pitch strike percentage (14th), and fewest walks allowed per nine innings (43rd). During the campaign, the Redhawks also led the OVC in saves headlined by Kyle Miller.
Under the guidance of Kinney, RHP Kyle Miller became the all-time appearances leader in a Redahwk uniform. He also broke the saves record, becoming the the all-time saves leader in program history.
During the 2023 season, SEMO’s pitching staff ranked among the top 30 teams in the nation in fastball strike percentage (2nd), first pitch strike percentage (4th), overall strike percentage (10th), fewest walks allowed per nine innings (16th), and strikeout-to-walk ratio (28th). The Redhawks also led the OVC in strikeouts per nine innings, fewest walks per nine innings, fewest hits per nine innings, and batting average against.
Noah Niznik (current Savannah Banana LHP) and Haden Dow garnered first team and second team All-OVC honors respectively. Freshmen, Gavin Johnston and Eddie White, were both named All-OVC Newcomers. Kyle Miller finished the season with six saves, becoming the all-time saves leader in SEMO Baseball history.
Kinney spent the 2022 season as the pitching coach at Army West Point. The Black Knights won the Patriot League regular season and tournament championships and competed in the Hattiesburg Regional. At Army, Kinney oversaw a pitching staff that led the Patriot League in ERA, WHIP, shutouts, strikeout-to-walk ratio, fewest hits allowed per nine innings, and batting average against.
The staff featured three All-Patriot League team members. First Team member, Tanner Gresham; Second Team member, Brian Dawson; and Pitcher of the Year, Connelly Early. Early was also selected to the ABCA/Rawlings All-Northeast Region Second Team. He led the Patriot League in strikeouts and averaged the fewest hits allowed per nine innings. He was recently selected by the Boston Red Sox in the fifth round of the 2023 draft after transferring to the University of Virginia.
In 2021, Kinney was part of the SEMO team that won both the OVC Regular Season and Conference titles and advanced to the Oxford Regional. As a pitching staff, the 2021 Redhawks led the league in saves, ground ball percentage and fewest walks allowed. The Redhawks also ranked among the nation’s leaders in fastball strike percentage (4th) and overall strike percentage (28th).
To go along with the overall success of the pitching staff, Kinney mentored the freshman duo of Kyle Miller and Collin Wilma, who landed on the All-OVC Newcomer Team; as well as OVC Pitcher of the Year Dylan Dodd. The southpaw led the conference in innings pitched, strikeouts, wins and games started and checked in at second in ERA. Dodd earned Second Team All-America honors and went on to be the highest draft pick in program history when he was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the third round of the 2021 MLB Draft. Dodd made his MLB Debut with the Braves against the Cardinals on April 4th, 2023.
During SEMO’s 2020 campaign that was shortened to 17 games due to COVID-19, Kinney oversaw a pitching staff that led the Ohio Valley Conference in fewest walks allowed. Left-handers Dylan Dodd (2-1, 36 Ks) and Noah Niznik (3-0, 15 Ks) were a combined 5-1 with 51 strikeouts and two complete game shutouts through four starts in 2020.
2019 marked Kinney’s first season as the Redhawk pitching coach. He helped guide Noah Niznik to All-OVC Newcomer honors. Niznik started 13 games and led the team with a 3.63 ERA, ranked second in innings (62) and third in both strikeouts (49) and wins (3) that season.
Kinney first joined the SEMO coaching staff as Volunteer Assistant and Director of Operations. Prior joining Andy Sawyers' staff at Southeast Missouri in 2017, Kinney worked as the pitching coach for the Cape Cod League’s CotuitKettleers. Kinney served on Mike Robert’s staff after playing for Cotuit in 2015.
Before getting his start in coaching, Kinney enjoyed a successful baseball career as a player. At Belmont University, he helped the Bruins to the 2012 Atlantic Sun Conference regular season and tournament championships, as well as a berth to the Baton Rouge Regional. He split time as a pitcher and outfielder before pitching full-time in 2015, when he posted a 1.80 ERA, struck out 62 in 35 relief appearances, and notched 2 saves against eventual College World Series Runner-Up, Vanderbilt.
After earning a bachelor’s in finance from Belmont in 2015, Kinney graduate-transferred to national powerhouse Florida State. As a Seminole, he went 3-0 with a 2.49 ERA and helped the team secure an NCAA Super Regional Berth. Additionally, he was named to the Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year List and earned a master’s degree in sport management.
A Johns Creek, Ga. native, Kinney’s interest in the sport of baseball was originally sparked by his family. His grandfather, Jack Krol, was a long time major and minor league coach for the Cardinals and the Padres.
Kinney is married to the former Allyson Bradshaw, who played basketball at SEMO. They have two sons, Davis and Jace.
