Alnutt appears to be be a good hire for Southeast

Evaluating the hiring of an athletic director isn't easy because there are no quantifiable performance results like wins and losses.

But on the surface, Southeast Missouri State appears to have done well in landing 39-year-old Mark Alnutt.

I thought Alnutt, a former Missouri football player who has spent the last 14 years at the state's flagship university, made a favorable first impression when he was introduced as Southeast's new athletic director last week.

Alnutt seems to have the personality, presence and drive to lead Southeast athletics into the future.

He worked and learned under Mizzou athletic director Mike Alden, and that should be a plus. Alden has done wonderful things with the Tigers' overall program.

Alnutt agreed to a five-year deal but the contract numbers have not been finalized. He is scheduled to begin his duties next month.

Time ultimately will tell what type of impact Alnutt, currently the senior associate athletics director for administration at Mizzou, makes at Southeast.

But for now I'd say Southeast supporters should be happy Alnutt is on board.

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It was a big weekend for Southeast baseball.

One of the program's all-time top teams held a reunion and was introduced on the field before Saturday's contest against Tennessee Tech.

Southeast's 2002 squad won the program's only Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship and captured the program's second and most recent OVC tournament title.

Southeast went 37-20 to tie a school record for wins and upset host Alabama for the program's only NCAA Division I regional victory.

I had a blast covering that team, and it was great to see so many of the players and coaches made it back to Cape Girardeau for the weekend.

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This Southeast baseball season hasn't met the program's high standards thus far, but the Redhawks appear to be heading in the right direction.

Southeast picked up its first OVC series win over the weekend and now has posted victories in six of its last nine games.

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Kudos to Southeast baseball coach Mark Hogan for reaching a milestone victory.

Hogan recorded his 900th win last week during a 31-year career that has spanned Division I Southeast, Division II West Alabama and Wallace Junior College.

Hogan, Southeast's winningest baseball coach, is 517-447-1 in his 18th season with the Redhawks. He is 902-704-3 overall.

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A member of Southeast's six-player women's basketball recruiting class for next year picked up a nice honor last week.

Jordan Hunter, a sophomore point guard at Crowder College in Neosho, Mo., was named a third-team junior college All-American.

Hunter averaged 13.3 points, 5.3 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game for Crowder this season.

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I covered a high school baseball game in Oak Ridge last week and met the Blue Jays' rookie coach for the first time. I was surprised when I learned about Seth Fortenberry's impressive resume.

Fortenberry, a Texas native, starred at Baylor and was an 11th-round draft choice of the Yankees in 2006. He spent five years with the Yankees and Marlins organizations.

Fortenberry was on the coaching staff at Division I Sam Houston State in Huntsville, Texas, last year. He said his young family moved to the area for his wife's job, and that's what led to his coaching position at Oak Ridge.

I'd say the Blue Jays are fortunate to have a coach with those kind of credentials.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.