Redhawks' Gibson looks to resume torrid assault on OVC pitching vs. Morehead State

Southeast Missouri State baseball player Derek Gibson isn't overly superstitious about continuing hitting streaks or the offensive success he's having early in his senior season.

It doesn't really even bother him when something is different from one game to the next.

There was one instance about a week ago, though, when his mom texted him and asked about his hitting streak, which he joked could've jinxed him.

"Whenever she sent me that text I thought, 'God bless her, she just has no idea,' Gibson said with a big grin on his face. "You know, she's just hearing this from Dad and Dad said I had a hitting streak going, I'm sure. And she heard that and thought, 'Hey, that's pretty cool, I'll ask him about it.' And she didn't know any better, but I thought, 'Come on, Mom. Gimme a break."

It didn't end up causing any problems, though, as he's continued his impressive success at the plate.

Southeast Missouri State's Derek Gibson comes to the plate during the Redhawks' 11-8 loss to the Saint Louis University Billikens Tuesday, March 18, at Capaha Field. (Adam Vogler)

He's batting .465 and currently has a 13-game hitting streak. He ranks fifth in the nation in batting average while the Redhawks' .319 team average is 13th, according to the NCAA website, which is updated through Monday.

He's been named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week the past two weeks after batting .636 (7 for 11) and .625 (10 for 16) during those two weeks.

While he enjoys the recognition for his contributions to Southeast's perfect 6-0 record in the OVC, he tries to not let it affect his performance, and is heading into today's series opener against Morehead State at Capaha Field exactly how he's entered every other game.

"Whenever somebody says something about the success I'm having, you know, it's great, it really means a lot to me and it's very special to me, but at the same time, I didn't get here by pressure or by just trying to protect my success, in a sense," Gibson said. "I'm going to go out tomorrow in our next game and I'm going to approach it just like I approached the game before or the first game of the year. I'm going to go out and have a good approach and I'm going to do everything I can to put a ball in play somewhere, and that's all you can do.

"I think whenever I was younger I maybe kind of let the pressure get to me a little more, and the expectations. But the expectations I have for myself I think are higher than any expectation anybody could have for me, or any pressure anybody could put on. I just feel like whenever I think about pressure, then as I think deeper about it I think I'm extremely confident in my abilities and I know what I can do. If I just go out there and beat the pitcher, then I've already won, and that's all I have to worry about."

Southeast coach Steve Bieser remembered a similar burst of offense from Gibson his sophomore season, when Bieser was an assistant.

"We went into Tennessee-Martin where he hit for a lot of power, hit home runs, drove in, I think, 17 runs in some ridiculously short amount of period, and we saw that type of explosiveness from him and he was able to continue it throughout the entire season of being very consistent," Bieser said. "I mean, obviously you're not going to hit .600. You're going to have stretches where you hit .600, possibly -- that he's shown that he can do."

During his sophomore season, Gibson had 13 RBIs during that four-game stretch that included the series against UT Martin, and he was named the OVC Player of the Week following that performance. He also had a 29-game hitting streak at that point, which had been somewhat overshadowed by Kenton Parmley's 47-game hitting streak.

Gibson didn't mind staying out of the spotlight, and went on to be named first-team all-OVC that season.

"I think that's what made it easier on me because everybody was like, 'OK, this guy's got a 40-plus game hit streak,' and I'm like, 'OK, maybe they'll just worry about him and just leave me over here in my corner, let me do my thing. I don't want anybody knowing,'" Gibson said with a laugh. "That was kind of almost when I wanted to be nonexistent. I just really didn't want anybody to know who I was, and I think I've grown a lot since my sophomore year just in different areas. I still love the game like I did then, but I think I've just grown up a lot more and I don't let the pressure get to me near as much anymore."

Bieser agreed that Gibson hasn't tried to live up to any expectations during his senior campaign, which is something he didn't have to worry about during his sophomore season.

"He wasn't a starter, and got an opportunity and slowly built up and just started producing. At that point there was no expectations. He was just in there to hit the ball hard," Bieser said. "And then I think as those expectations get put on a guy they start trying to live up to those expectations rather than doing what they're capable of doing. This year I think he just, he's much more mature as a baseball player and he realized that there's only certain things that he can control, and that's himself and just going in and try to hit the ball hard, and that's why he's successful.

"When he starts trying to play some of the finer points of hit-and-run and try to hit it in a certain hole or get the guy over, those are times that he struggles a little bit. If he gets in and he's got an opportunity just to hit the ball hard, those are times he thrives. ... Because he is a very strong guy and I think if we can allow him to do that and he can start getting some balls up in the air, we're going to see more home run production and more power out of him. And last year that was the big thing, is that we just didn't see any power production from him like we saw his sophomore year."

By no means was his junior season not a success. He started 52 games -- 51 in left field -- and had a .332 batting average with 70 hits and 31 RBIs.

This season he's taken on the role of designated hitter, which has taken some getting used to.

"I think early in the season it was a little tougher for him because he's always been the everyday left fielder," Bieser said, "and now he's kind of settled into that DH role where he's just sitting there, you know, gritting his teeth, waiting for his next opportunity at the plate."

Bieser noted there's a lot of fist pumps and other outward emotion when Gibson's excited about something during the game, but that he conceals his frustrations when he's not playing as well, and that sets a good example for his teammates.

He does not lack confidence in his abilities, and his teammates are like-minded.

"I can honestly tell you that I have never stepped in the box whenever I thought the pitcher was better than me," Gibson said. "I don't care if it's a guy projected to go in the first round and he's throwing 94, 95 [miles per hour], or if it's somebody from a Division II school or a small Division I that's only throwing mid-80s. There is no doubt in my mind that I'm better than everybody that steps on the mound. I think that's the approach of every guy on our team.

"If you ask anybody I think that we all honestly believe that we're better than the pitcher, and I think that we also believe that whenever we get out, we get ourselves out. I don't think that we ever think that the pitcher beat us. We just feel that confident in our approach and our system, and I think it's 'Respect all, fear none.'"