Redhawks' opponents will seek revenge this week

~ Southeast owns exciting victories over both SIU and Missouri.

Two of Southeast Missouri State's most exciting wins of the season came in the past two weeks, at home against nonconference opponents Southern Illinois and Missouri.

The Redhawks have road re-matches with both those teams this week, visiting SIU at 3 p.m. today and Missouri at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Southeast, coming off Sunday's 21-7 Ohio Valley Conference drubbing at the hands of Jacksonville State, is 12-17 overall and 4-5 in OVC play. The Redhawks are just 2-12 on the road.

SIU is 21-14 overall and 3-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while Missouri is 16-14 overall and 6-6 in the Big 12 Conference.

Last Wednesday at Capaha Field, the Redhawks posted a wild 13-11 victory over SIU as they recorded season highs in runs and hits (16).

On March 29 at Capaha Field, the Redhawks stunned Missouri 3-2 on freshman Daniel Schuh's walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.

"Those were two very good wins for us, because SIU and Mizzou both have excellent teams," Southeast coach Mark Hogan said. "They'll be difficult opponents to face this week."

SIU bounced back nicely from the loss to Southeast, as the Salukis swept North Dakota State in a three-game series over the weekend.

Missouri, which started the season ranked 10th nationally but no longer appears in the polls, has not fared as well since falling to Southeast.

The Tigers have lost five of six games since the setback in Cape Girardeau, including five straight. They are coming off a three-game Big 12 Conference sweep at the hands of fourth-ranked Nebraska.

The Redhawks will look to bounce back from Sunday's lopsided loss at Jacksonville State as Southeast dropped two of three games in the OVC road series.

Southeast will also try to regain some momentum heading into its next OVC series, at home against first-place Samford Friday and Saturday.

Senior catcher Levi Olson, coming off his first career four-hit game over the weekend, leads Southeast with a .373 batting average, which ranks sixth in the OVC.