Southeast Missouri State baseball team faces Bears day before OVC series

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team faces an unusual challenge this week with games on four straight days.

Southeast visits Missouri State today for a 3 p.m. nonconference matchup before returning home to play Tennessee-Martin in a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series. Thursday (5 p.m.), Friday (2 p.m.) and Saturday (1 p.m.).

OVC series, normally played Friday through Sunday, are moved up a day for Easter.

"It's going to be rough, a big challenge for us, but it's just something we've got to deal with," first-year interim Southeast coach Steve Bieser said.

Bieser said the Redhawks and Missouri State originally were going to play Tuesday but the Bears later wanted to use that date for a contest with Kansas -- which wound up being cancelled due to inclement weather.

"That's the bad thing, we were trying to help them out to get some games in, then they don't even get to play [Tuesday]," Bieser said. "One of the things when I made the change, I didn't take into account this week was a Thursday-Saturday series. I probably wouldn't have been as generous with their situation.

"You generally don't want to play the day before you start a conference series. We need to make sure we've got our arms available [for Tennessee-Martin]. It'll be a struggle for us, but we'll just hope for the best."

Southeast, 12-13 overall and 4-5 in OVC play, will have a rugged test against a perennially strong Missouri State squad that is 14-6 and beat the Redhawks 8-1 last year in Cape Girardeau.

The Bears, the preseason Missouri Valley Conference favorites, have not yet opened their MVC schedule. They earned their eighth NCAA regional berth last year, when they went 40-22 under 31st-year coach Keith Guttin, who has a 1,046-658 record at MSU.

MSU features a pitching-dominated team that boasts a 2.73 ERA. The Bears are batting .265, led by freshman center fielder Tate Matheny. The son of Cardinals manager Mike Matheny is hitting .383 while also leading the squad with two home runs and 14 RBIs.

"They're real solid again this year. They've got a great pitching staff," Bieser said.

Bieser said freshman Tyler Thomas, who has impressed in limited work out of the bullpen, will make his first collegiate start today. Thomas is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA. He has allowed three hits, struck out two and walked one in six innings covering four appearances.

After facing the Bears, the Redhawks will return home to host struggling Tennessee-Martin (8-16, 1-8), which has lost eight straight conference games and seven of eight contests overall.

The Skyhawks began their OVC schedule with a win against Jacksonville State. They dropped the final two games of the home series, then were swept at Murray State and at home by Tennessee Tech.

UTM features one of the OVC's premier pitchers in senior Dan Tobik, who beat Southeast 5-4 last year with 3 1/3 innings of no-hit relief as he struck out six. The Redhawks romped in the final two games of the series played in Martin, Tenn., 13-1 and 14-2.

Tobik, one of the OVC's top professional prospects, compiled a 2.78 ERA in 2012 and averaged 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings to rank 12th nationally. He was used as the Skyhawks' closer.

Tobik is a starter this year, the same role he filled in 2011. He has been solid with a 3.86 ERA despite a 1-2 record. He has struck out 38 in 30 2/3 innings.

"He's tough to beat," Bieser said.

Some of the Skyhawks' other starters have struggled, but UTM has an elite closer in junior Stu Jones. He has four saves and has struck out 15 in 11 1/3 innings, allowing just five hits.

Top UTM offensive players are senior right fielder Byron Johann (.358, two homers, 15 RBIs), senior first baseman Wade Collins (.349, three homers, 20 RBIs) and senior left fielder Grant Glassner (.346).

The Skyhawks are fifth in the OVC with a .277 batting average, which is right behind Southeast's fourth-place .279 mark. UTM's 6.58 ERA is last in the league, while the Redhawks' 4.65 ERA is fourth.

UTM has struggled defensively with its .949 fielding percentage last in the league. The Skyhawks are tied for the most errors with 45. Southeast, which has committed 38 errors, ranks fifth with a .960 fielding percentage.

Southeast is in a three-way tie for sixth place in the 11-team OVC. UTM is 10th. The top six finishers qualify for the conference tournament.

Squads still have plenty of time left in the 30-game conference schedule, but Bieser said the Redhawks can't wait too long.

"We really need to get a winning streak going," Bieser said. "Our backs are kind of to the wall. We need to start making up ground."