Southeast Missouri State baseball team out for payback vs. Murray State

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team only failed to beat one Ohio Valley Conference squad last season.

That was Murray State, which will host the Redhawks for a noon doubleheader Saturday and a 1 p.m. contest Sunday.

"It should be a good series," said Southeast coach Mark Hogan, whose club has won nine of its last 10 games. "We've had a tremendous rivalry with them over the years and it's always tough over there."

Southeast, 25-15 overall, is 8-5 in OVC play. The Redhawks are second in the nine-team league, just percentage points behind Austin Peay. MSU, 14-23 overall, is tied for fifth in the OVC with a 5-5 mark.

The Thoroughbreds are even with Southeast on the loss side and just a game behind Austin Peay on the loss side in the tight conference race.

Southeast Missouri State's Blake Slattery slides into third base for a triple against Jacksonville State last week at Capaha Field. (Fred Lynch)

"There's still so much to be decided. The conference is really close this year, like it usually seems to be," said Hogan, whose squad has three OVC series left compared to four for MSU. "Just about all the spots are still up for grabs, which makes for an exciting race."

Southeast went 0-3 against MSU in 2010. The Thoroughbreds swept a doubleheader in Cape Girardeau -- one game of the series was rained out -- then ended the Redhawks' season with a 10-inning win in the OVC tournament elimination round.

"They had a really good club last year," Hogan said about an MSU squad that finished third in the OVC, just percentage points ahead of fourth-place Southeast.

The Thoroughbreds lost many of last year's top players, including All-American slugger Wes Cunningham, who now plays in the minor leagues.

But Hogan said the Thoroughbreds still have considerable talent despite a recent funk that has seen them lose seven of their last eight and 10 of their last 12.

MSU was picked sixth in the OVC preseason poll and had no preseason all-conference selections. Southeast was picked second and had a league-high six preseason all-OVC players.

"They lost some great players, but they returned some good players," Hogan said. "I'm anticipating a really tough team. It's a big series for both clubs."

MSU ranks third in the OVC with a .314 batting average but is just sixth in runs scored (213) and has hit a league-low 13 home runs. The Thoroughbreds are eighth with a 6.91 ERA and seventh with a .955 fielding percentage.

MSU has been especially hot at the plate in conference games, leading the league with a .368 average.

The Thoroughbreds feature seven regulars batting at least .300, led by sophomore shortstop Brandon Elliott, the OVC's top hitter at .425.

Junior catcher Jacob Rhodes is 12th in the league at .361, including a team-high .474 in OVC games.

Senior right fielder Zach Noonan leads MSU in home runs with four and RBIs with 32. He is hitting .321.

While MSU's pitching staff has struggled overall, senior left-hander Jake Donze is having an impressive season.

Donze, a Ste. Genevieve High School graduate, is 6-2 with a 3.69 ERA while allowing just 58 hits in 61 innings. He leads the OVC with four complete games, ranks third in ERA, is tied for third in wins and is tied for second in batting average against (.259).

MSU's other two conference starters have been juniors Tyler Beers (3-5, 6.00) and Luke Shuemaker (2-4, 7.14).

Southeast is second in the OVC in batting (.316) while leading in runs scored (280) and home runs (41). The Redhawks are second in ERA (4.56) and first in fielding percentage (.972).

Eight Southeast regulars are hitting better than .300.

Junior third baseman Trenton Moses is tied for fifth in the OVC with a .376 average, tied for third with eight homers and tied for first with 39 RBIs. He also ranks second in slugging percentage (.664) and fifth in on-base percentage (.463).

Senior left fielder Michael Adamson ranks 11th with a .364 average.

Not having enough at-bats to qualify among the league leaders are senior right fielder Nick Harris (.435) and senior DH Brett Russell (.359).

Adamson leads the OVC in runs scored with 43, just ahead of Southeast junior shortstop Kenton Parmley's 42.

Southeast's conference starters are seniors Jordan Underwood (3-0, 4.82), Jon Dicus (3-3, 4.02) and Brad LaBruyere (6-1, 3.14).

LaBruyere, a Central graduate, leads the OVC in ERA and is tied for third in wins. Dicus is fifth in ERA.

Senior reliever Logan Mahon is second in the conference with six saves. His 2.10 ERA would rank among the leaders but he does not have enough innings to qualify.

League leader Austin Peay will play at Morehead State this weekend.