Baseball provides fresh air for Southeast athletics

After the football, men's basketball and women's basketball teams all suffered through big-time losing seasons, Southeast Missouri State fans have been starving for a winner among the university's more high-profile sports.

Right now they certainly have one in the baseball squad.

It's hard to imagine a team being much hotter right now than coach Mark Hogan's Redhawks, who have won 12 of their last 13 games and 14 of 16.

The Redhawks are 18-9 overall and 5-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference, which has them tied for first place, although the bulk of the OVC schedule remains to be played.

After taking two of three during its first OVC series at Morehead State, Southeast swept visiting Eastern Kentucky in a three-game set played Friday and Saturday.

The Redhawks are getting the job done in all areas, powered by a sizzling offense that ranks among the national leaders with a .355 batting average.

That figure would be eye-popping under any circumstances, but is even more impressive considering the Redhawks lost several key position players to injury early in the season after they had graduated many of their top hitters from 2009.

The Redhawks have not wavered in the least despite all that adversity. Several players who weren't even seeing much action early in the year have taken advantage of their opportunity to become some of the club's top performers.

Every position regular is batting better than .300, the defense is solid and the pitching staff is greatly improved from last season.

It's early in the conference race to make predictions, but it's unlikely the Redhawks will finish seventh in the OVC as voted in the preseason poll.

Based on what has transpired so far, the Redhawks have the look of a team that will contend for a conference championship.

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It was great to see former Southeast baseball standout and ex-Cardinals outfielder Kerry Robinson at the series against Eastern Kentucky.

Robinson, one of my all-time favorite Southeast athletes -- as much for his wonderful personality and friendly nature as for his impressive talent -- has been working in his native St. Louis since his professional baseball career ended in 2007.

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The college football season is several months away, but Southeast is in its second week of spring practice after kicking off those workouts Wednesday.

The entire 2010 schedule was released last week.

The nonconference highlights are the Sept. 2 opener at Division I-A Ball State and the Sept. 18 matchup at perennial Division I-AA national power Southern Illinois, which will be playing in a brand-new stadium.

Ball State will pay Southeast $275,000 to aid its general athletic department revenue, a good sum considering the Cardinals aren't even a BCS conference member.

Although I've written about it previously, Southeast will receive a school-record $315,000 for a game in 2011 at Purdue of the Big Ten Conference.

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Sikeston High School graduate Blake DeWitt, a former first-round draft choice, begins the major league baseball season as the Los Angeles Dodgers' starting second baseman.

The 24-year-old DeWitt hit just .204 in only 49 at-bats last year, which he primarily spent in the minors. He had a strong rookie season in 2008 that saw him hit .264 with nine homers, 13 doubles and 52 RBIs in 368 at-bats.

It looked for a while like Cape Girardeau native A.J. Ellis would make the Dodgers' opening-day roster, but the catcher will begin the season at Class AAA Albuquerque.

I'm trying to gather information on the local background of Ellis, drafted in the 18th round in 2003 out of Austin Peay who was 1-for-13 in brief stints with the Dodgers the past two seasons.

From what I've been told, Ellis -- who turns 29 on Friday -- was born in Cape Girardeau but his family moved when he was about 12 and he attended high school in Lexington, Ky.

The way I understand it, Ellis never had any extended family in this area. His father moved here for job purposes before A.J. was born, and later left for the same reason.

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Although the Yankees and Red Sox played Sunday night, the official opening of the Major League Baseball season is today with a full slate of games, including the Cardinals at the Reds.

The weather is warming up and MLB is starting up. It's a great time of the year to be a sports fan.

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The first two weeks of the NCAA men's basketball tournament were among the best ever, with numerous thrilling, down-to-the-wire finishes and a host of low seeds springing upsets.

That exciting trend carried over into the opener of Saturday's Final Four as Butler continued its amazing story with a 52-50 win over Michigan State. Duke rolled past West Virginia 78-57 in the other semifinal.

Butler playing for a national championship -- who would have ever guessed that?

But it is a great story and, nothing against Duke, but I'll be rooting for the Bulldogs tonight. And I know I won't be alone.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.