Redhawks still can turn so-so season into good one

The regular season wasn't nearly as good as the Southeast Missouri State baseball team expected.

In fact, it was mediocre as the Redhawks never could find consistency — primarily with their pitching staff — and finished below .500 overall and in Ohio Valley Conference play.

But at least the Redhawks were able to continue an impressive streak.

Southeast qualified for the OVC tournament for the 14th year in a row.

That is the longest streak in OVC history and spans the entire Southeast coaching career of Mark Hogan.

The Redhawks (23-24, 12-13) will enter this week's six-team conference tournament in Paducah, Ky., as the No. 6 seed.

Southeast plays No. 3 Austin Peay, the defending champion, at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the opening round at Brooks Stadium.

The top two seeds — No. 1 Jacksonville State and No. 2 Samford, who receive a first-round bye — have a significant advantage as far as winning the championship and earning the league's automatic NCAA regional berth.

In the three years since the OVC went back to this format, either the No. 1 or 2 seed has captured the title every time.

Considering how much trouble Southeast's pitching has had this year, I've got to rate the Redhawks as longshots to prevail.

But as the old sports saying goes: That's why they play the games. The Redhawks have enough offense and defense to make a strong push in Paducah, as long as the pitching comes through.

I'm not counting on it, but we'll see what happens.

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Anybody who watched the opener of Southeast's May 10 doubleheader probably saw a first-round draft pick.

Eastern Kentucky junior left-hander Christian Friedrich put on a show in front of about 15 professional scouts, allowing one hit — an infield single — and striking out 13 in eight innings.

Several mock drafts I've seen have Friedrich going in the top 15 selections.

I had a chance to interview Friedrich after the doubleheader and really enjoyed talking with him. He was personable, humble and polite, just the kind of guy who is easy to root for.

It will be fun following Friedrich's pro career after he spent the past three years as one of the OVC's dominant pitchers.

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Great move by Southeast administrators to name Eric Crumpecker the university's head track and field coach.

Crumpecker has been an assistant to retiring coach Joey Haines for the past 17 years, and for the last 11 years he has been Haines' right-hand man in the program.

Crumpecker played a big role in Southeast's most consistently successful sport since the university moved up to Division I, helping Haines lead the track and field program to 21 OVC titles.

The 39-year-old Crumpecker has had opportunities to leave for bigger programs, but he remained loyal to Southeast.

It's nice that Southeast stayed loyal to Crumpecker, who I believe will continue to keep the program among the OVC's elite.

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Southeast's first annual Walk for Women's Athletics held April 26 was a smashing success.

Cindy Gannon, Southeast's associate director of athletics who put together the event, had hoped to raise $20,000, with proceeds going to the university's women's athletics scholarship fund.

The walk did even better. Gannon told me that money is still coming in and the final tally should be in the neighborhood of $24,000.

That's pretty impressive, and the event only figures to grow in the coming years.

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B.J. Smith will not be the new women's basketball coach at Casper College.

The junior college in Casper, Wyo., announced Friday that it had hired Miles City (Mont.) Community College coach Dwight Gunnare.

Smith, Southeast's former coach, was one of four finalists for the Casper College position. He interviewed with school officials last Monday.

I ran into Smith over the weekend, and he said he actually withdrew his name from consideration for the job after his interview because he doesn't believe the school is committed to fielding a big-time juco program.

Smith had a four-year record of 79-41 at Southeast, including the program's first OVC championship and NCAA Division I tournament berth.

Smith resigned prior to the 2006-07 season amid allegations of NCAA rules violations. Southeast self-imposed sanctions, and in December the NCAA determined that the program should vacate all 79 wins under Smith and the NCAA tournament appearance should be taken away.

The ruling was appealed and Southeast is still awaiting word from the NCAA.

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The Richmond (Ky.) Register reported last week that Lisa Pace has emerged among the top candidates to succeed Larry Joe Inman as Eastern Kentucky's women's basketball coach.

Pace, who played for EKU, spent seven seasons as a Southeast assistant before joining Inman's staff before last season. Inman recently retired.

The newspaper said other leading candidates for the position are East Carolina assistant Chrissy Roberts and Transylvania coach Greg Todd, with Roberts — a former EKU standout — apparently the leading candidate.

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The addition of quarterback Ryan Perrilloux to Jacksonville State's football team just made everybody's job in the OVC a lot tougher.

Perrilloux, kicked off LSU's national championship squad after repeated off-the-field problems, signed Wednesday with JSU.

The Gamecocks, always an OVC contender, did not have one of their better seasons last year — for goodness sake, Southeast even beat them — and after coach Jack Crowe kicked talented junior quarterback Cedric Johnson off the team earlier this year, JSU faced the prospect of starting a true freshman signal caller.

Perrilloux's addition changes everything for the Gamecocks and might make them the OVC favorite for 2008.

Perrilloux, who will be eligible immediately for the Gamecocks, was the nation's top-rated quarterback coming out of high school. He was primarily a backup during his first two years at LSU, but was the MVP of last season's Southeastern Conference title game. He was expected to start for the Tigers this year.

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Chris Gibson, the son of Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson, recently was released from the St. Louis Cardinals' extended spring training camp in Jupiter, Fla.

Chris Gibson spent the past two seasons with the independent Gateway (Ill.) Grizzlies, after playing at Southeast in 2005 and 2006.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.