Southeast Missouri State baseball team has final tuneup for OVC play

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team has a final tuneup before the start of Ohio Valley Conference play.

Saint Louis University visits Capaha Field today for a 5 p.m. first pitch, marking the fourth leg of Southeast's eight-game homestand that continues this weekend with a three-game OVC series against Morehead State.

Southeast is coming off Sunday's 5-3 loss to Wright State as the Raiders hit a two-out, two-strike grand slam in the ninth inning to erase a 3-1 deficit.

Wright State, the defending Horizon League champion, took two of three in the series and dropped Southeast to 11-9. The Redhawks have lost three games by one run and three more games by two runs.

"Our record is deceiving. It could be a lot better," Southeast coach Mark Hogan said. "But I'm not worried about it right now. A lot of what you do in these early games is to learn about yourself. I feel like we've learned a lot about ourselves."

SLU, which will host Southeast on April 13 to complete the annual two-game series, is off to a 13-6 start.

The Billikens went 33-29 last year, including a fourth-place 15-12 in the Atlantic 10 Conference, and captured the A-10 tournament title to earn an NCAA regional berth.

SLU set a school record for victories in 2010 and returned six position starters along with 10 pitchers.

Fourth-year coach Darin Hendrickson has led SLU to consecutive 30-win seasons for the first time in school history.

"They've really improved their program," Hogan said.

Southeast and SLU split their meetings last year, the Billikens winning 10-6 in St. Louis and the Redhawks prevailing 8-4 in Cape Girardeau.

Hogan said senior left-hander Josh Syberg will start on the mound today. Syberg, who missed all of last season with a torn labrum, has been solid with a 1-1 record and 3.07 ERA.

Syberg has been part of a pitching staff that leads the OVC with a 2.98 ERA. Southeast is hitting .291. SLU has similar statistics with a .291 batting average and a 3.14 ERA.

Hogan is looking for a strong performance before the Redhawks begin OVC play this weekend.

"It's our final tuneup before conference. We want to play well," Hogan said.