Southeast Missouri State baseball team to host Illinois State for four

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team has won five of six so far during its season-long 11-game homestand.

But Southeast coach Mark Hogan knows the competition will increase dramatically this weekend when Illinois State visits Capaha Field for a four-game series.

Southeast (5-4) and ISU (4-3) will play a 3 p.m. contest today, a noon doubleheader Saturday and a 1 p.m. game Sunday.

"They're going to be a big test for us, but we're looking forward to it," said Hogan, whose squad has played IPFW three times along with NAIA programs Harris-Stowe and Hannibal-LaGrange a combined three times in the homestand. "They play in a very good league [the Missouri Valley Conference], and I know they're going to bring a good ballclub here."

The Redbirds are opening the season on the road against three opponents from the Ohio Valley Conference.

ISU, which is located in Normal, Ill., began the year by losing three of four at defending OVC champion and preseason favorite Austin Peay.

It was a competitive series, and the Redbirds actually outscored the Governors 18-15. ISU won the finale 10-1 after dropping three tight games to open the set.

The Redbirds then swept a three-game series at Tennessee Tech, another solid OVC squad. ISU outscored the Eagles 46-10, including a 28-2 romp in the finale that saw the Redbirds hit seven home runs, including two grand slams.

"They've already had some good showings against two strong programs from our conference," Hogan said.

ISU is picked to finish fifth in the eight-team MVC after losing many of its top players, including all three conference starting pitchers.

But the Redbirds return five starters and 19 letter winners from last year's squad that set a school record for wins. It went 36-18 and finished third in the league.

ISU captured its first-ever MVC regular-season championship in 2010, the debut campaign for third-year coach Mark Kingston.

The Redbirds are hitting .293 and averaging more than nine runs per game while stealing 14 bases in 16 attempts. Their ERA is 3.99, and they have committed just two errors for a dazzling .991 fielding percentage.

Kyle Stanton leads ISU with a .500 batting average and 11 RBIs. Brett Kay also is hitting .500.

Southeast is hitting .334 and averaging just more than eight runs per game. The Redhawks have a 4.32 ERA and have committed 13 errors for a .959 fielding percentage.

Senior Trenton Moses leads the Redhawks with a .438 batting average.

Redshirt freshman Andy Lennington is hitting .417, and junior college transfer John Logan Zink is at .400.

They are followed closely by sophomore Cole Bieser (.394), senior Kenton Parmley (.378) and sophomore Derek Gibson (.375).