Southeast Missouri State baseball team migrates south for today's OVC opener

~ Southeast will visit Belmont after Capaha Field was deemed unplayable

It's not exactly the place where the Southeast Missouri State baseball team had planned to open Ohio Valley Conference play, but the Redhawks will launch league play at 4 p.m. today against Belmont in Nashville, Tenn.

The recent winter storm has left Capaha Field unplayable, so Southeast will take a four-game losing streak to Rose Park in Nashville for the three-game series, where the Redhawks will be the home team on the scoreboard.

It's the second straight year the Redhawks have opened OVC play in Nashville against Belmont. The teams met five times last year, with Belmont taking two of the three regular-season games. However, the Redhawks defeated the Bruins twice in the OVC tournament to eliminate them.

"They're one of the best teams in our conference and will be year in and year out," Southeast coach Steve Bieser said. "I think it's a good thing that we're opening up against them. It allows us to figure out where we're at this time of year, which is not where I hoped we'd be, but I think we'll figure it out this weekend."

Both teams are 6-6 entering this weekend.

The Redhawks are picked to finish sixth in the OVC, the same spot they finished last season after going 13-17 in conference play and 26-33 overall. Belmont is picked to finish third, two spots behind defending OVC champion Tennessee Tech.

Bieser said the preseason pick is fair and accurate in terms of how the Redhawks have performed on the field in recent years, but he also thinks the ranking will motivate his team to improve.

"I think if anything you can use that as fuel when people are not giving you much credit," Bieser said. "But honestly, I don't think we deserve to be picked any higher than that considering the pitching staff we lost and the way we finished last year."

The Redhawks lost six players from last year's team to graduation -- all pitchers.

This year's pitching staff returns four starters.

Lately, the Redhawks have struggled to get out of big innings. They gave up 20 runs in a weekend series in which they were swept by Memphis. Junior Tyler Iago (2-1) will start today's game. The right-hander has 16 strikeouts this season over 15 2/3 innings.

"We know we need to step up and play big," Iago said. "We're losing too many games that should have been ours, and that has to change going into conference play."

Offensively, Southeast basically will stick with the same lineup. Bieser said his only change would be getting Clayton Evans, who missed the previous two games due to illness, more playing time in the outfield. Bieser likes the speed Evans provides in left field and the amount of ground he can cover. But for now, Bieser will stick with the hot bat of left fielder Derek Gibson, who has 14 hits, six RBIs and a .350 average on the season.

"We need him out there for us," Bieser said. "Last weekend he took some of the best swings I've seen him take since he's been here, and hopefully that will carry over into big games when we need big hits as well as playoff time."

Southeast has made the OVC tournament 19 of the last 20 years. Bieser said making it to the tournament is always a goal for the team, but he is more focused on how the Redhawks will position themselves in the tournament.

"It's not just about making the tournament, it's about setting ourselves up to win the tournament," Bieser said. "With our tournament format, the way to do that is you need a number one or two seed, because those are the teams that get the byes and don't run out of pitchers too early."

To do that, the Redhawks are focusing on one game and one series at a time.

Southeast won its first series when it took two of three games against Oral Roberts. The Redhawks followed that with a sweep of Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne. However, Southeast has dropped its last four games, including the three-game sweep at Memphis last weekend.

"As a unit, our goal is to win every series we play, whether its home or on the road, against Tennessee Tech, whoever," Bieser said. "I think that's something we need to focus on as we open conference play, and it's a realistic goal if we play the way we're capable of playing."

A tough road lies ahead, with the Redhawks' first six OVC games and nine of their first 12 conference games away from Capaha Field. After facing Belmont, the Redhawks will head to Eastern Kentucky to play the Colonels in a three-game set.

Southeast will play its first OVC series at home against Morehead State on March 21 to 23.