Redhawks soar, then plummet

~ A promising season finished with a 26-25 record and fourth-place finish in the OVC.

Southeast Missouri State baseball coach Mark Hogan entered the season figuring the only thing that could keep the Redhawks from having a really big year was subpar pitching.

Hogan's worst fears were realized as the Redhawks' 6.76 earned-run average was by far the highest in Hogan's 15 seasons at Southeast.

That negated a hard-hitting, power-packed lineup that Hogan ranks with the best he's ever had.

It also was the biggest reason the Redhawks finished just 26-25 overall and 12-11 in the Ohio Valley Conference, which placed them fourth among nine teams.

This was after a 2008 season in which Southeast posted a 5.92 ERA, which at the time was the Redhawks' worst under Hogan.

"It's real disappointing," Hogan said of his pitching staff this season. "I thought it would be better [than last year].

"It just didn't work out. It's not that they didn't compete. And I think a whole bunch of it was that this is the most offensive I've seen the OVC in my 15 years here."

Southeast's pitching was actually better in this week's OVC tournament than it had been for much of the regular season, but the Redhawks lost both games to suffer their earliest tournament exit since 2005.

"It was disappointing," Hogan said. "It kind of typified what we went through the last three weeks."

Southeast started the year with a bang by winning two of three games at nationally ranked Alabama. The series seemed to indicate that the Redhawks' lofty preseason expectations were warranted.

The Redhawks did nothing to diminish those expectations when they started OVC play 7-0.

Southeast was 11-4 more than halfway through the conference schedule when league-leading Eastern Illinois -- just percentage points ahead of the Redhawks -- came to town for a first-place OVC showdown.

The Redhawks were swept in the May 2 doubleheader by identical 8-7 scores, then had the May 3 game rained out.

That started a season-ending swoon for the Redhawks that saw them lose nine of their last 10 games, including their final six.

Particularly frustrating was a five-game stretch that saw the Redhawks score 10 or more runs four times -- yet they lost three of those contests. For the season, Southeast averaged a healthy 7.7 runs per game -- but the opposition put up the same.

"I've really never seen anything like it, where you score so many runs and you still lose," said Hogan, whose squad extended its record streak to 15 straight OVC tournament appearances since he took over the program. "It was an up-and-down year, mostly up until the last three weeks."

It was particularly disappointing for the Redhawks that they weren't able to fully capitalize on the presence of eight seniors, including many of the team's top players who also rank among the better performers in program history.

"We say goodbye to a great group of seniors. They're special guys," Hogan said.

Seniors represented four of the Redhawks' top six hitters by average, along with their top two home-run hitters and top three RBI men.

No longer around next year will be right fielder Tyrell Cummings (.386, nine homers, 55 RBIs), first baseman Matt Wagner (.335, 13 homers, 53 RBIs), left fielder Justin Wheeler (.335, 13 homers 53 RBIs) and second baseman Tony Spencer (.307, team-high 18 stolen bases).

Also missing will be the Redhawks' pitching ace -- nobody else was even close -- in James Leigh (7-3, 4.89 ERA).

Others gone will be a second member of the conference starting rotation, Todd Strahlendorf (2-3, 7.19); versatile reliever Ryan Poole (1-1, 4.91), who led the team with 23 appearances and was second in ERA; and reliever Daniel Schuh (0-0, 11.12).

"We'll miss all those guys," said Hogan, the winningest baseball coach in Southeast history.

Hogan acknowledges the Redhawks will face a major challenge next year.

Southeast could return a respectable nucleus, especially if standout catcher Jim Klocke comes back for his senior season.

Klocke led Southeast 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 leader in saves with seven as he became Southeast's closer despite never having pitched in college before.

Klocke, who joined Cummings on the all-OVC first team, is expected to be selected in next month's amateur draft. If he is taken high enough, he could elect to give up his final year of collegiate eligibility.

"We'd obviously love to have him back, but that's something we'll just have to wait and see on," Hogan said.

Four other position regulars were underclassmen, including two who had strong seasons.

Sophomore DH Louie Haseltine, who had just nine at-bats as a redshirt freshman in 2008, hit .325 with 11 homers, 37 RBIs and a team-high .667 slugging percentage.

Haseltine, the second-team all-OVC DH, led Southeast in conference play with eight homers and 30 RBIs. His .365 average in league games ranked third among the Redhawks.

Shortstop Kenton Parmley batted .306 to make the OVC all-freshmen team. He was third on the squad with 13 stolen bases.

Junior center fielder Nick Harris (.254) struggled much of the season offensively but came on strong late. He was second on the team with 16 doubles and 17 steals, while adding six homers and 35 RBIs.

Sophomore third baseman Trenton Moses (.258), an Advance High School product, rounded out the starting lineup.

Kody Campbell from Oran had a solid freshman season, hitting .298 in 47 at-bats as he shared DH duties with Hasletine early in the year before Haseltine got hot and kept the job for good.

In the pitching department, junior Kyle Gumieny (3-2, 6.86) was a conference starter while sophomore Corey Harness (0-1, 4.55) had Southeast's top ERA and came on in the final week with two strong performances.

Several other hurlers who saw varying amounts of action were underclassmen, including junior John Salazar (3-5, 5.88), who had Southeast's only two saves not recorded by Klocke.

"We've got a decent nucleus coming back, but we're going to miss the upperclassmen," said Hogan, who hopes his incoming recruiting class will be able to help in various areas. "We've got our work cut out for us."