OVC poll: Southeast baseball will miss tourney

~ The Redhawks were picked to finish seventh by the conference's coaches

The Southeast Missouri State baseball program has been remarkably consistent under coach Mark Hogan, qualifying for the Ohio Valley Conference tournament a league-record 15 straight seasons.

But if the rest of the OVC's coaches are correct, this will be the year the Redhawks finally fail to make the cut under Hogan, entering his 16th season at Southeast.

The OVC preseason poll, announced Wednesday and voted on by the league's coaches, has Southeast tabbed for seventh in the nine-team conference. Only the top six finishers qualify for the postseason tournament.

Southeast, which opens the season Feb. 19 at Auburn, carries low expectations from those outside the program largely because it graduated many of its top hitters along with its ace pitcher from a staff that struggled.

Hogan said he was not surprised by the poll, based on Southeast's heavy personnel losses, but he also is optimistic about the Redhawks due to a solid base of returning talent and a host of promising newcomers, particularly on the mound.

"It has to do with the guys we lost via graduation. We probably had about as heavy a losses as anybody," said Hogan, whose 2009 squad went 26-25, including a fourth-place 12-11 in the OVC as the Redhawks lost nine of their final 10 games. "Some clubs are returning more people, and that's usually what the poll's all about.

"And the league is stacked this year. I feel like the league's about as good as it's been in a while. We've got a lot to prove, but I feel good about where we are right now."

The Redhawks return one of the OVC's premier players in senior catcher Jim Klocke, Southeast's lone all-OVC preseason selection. Klocke is a Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball preseason All-American.

Klocke, the 2007 OVC rookie of the year and the all-OVC first-team catcher the past two seasons, led Southeast last year in batting average (.394), doubles (20), runs (56), on-base percentage (.484) and walks (29). He had nine homers and 46 RBIs.

In addition, Klocke ranked among the OVC leaders in saves with seven as he became Southeast's closer despite never before having pitched in college.

Defending OVC regular-season champion Eastern Illinois is the preseason favorite in a close vote over Jacksonville State. The Panthers received three first-place votes and 59 points, while the Gamecocks had four first-place votes and 56 points.

Tennessee Tech, which last year became the first No. 5 seed to win the OVC tournament, nabbed the other two first-place votes and had 51 points.

Murray State (43 points) was picked fourth, followed by Morehead State (33), Eastern Kentucky (26), Southeast (25), Austin Peay (22) and Tennessee-Martin (9).