Southeast Missouri State baseball team to host SIU Carbondale

By MARTY MISHOW ~ Southeast Missourian

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team has positioned itself nicely in the Ohio Valley Conference standings by winning five of its last six league games.

Southeast will look to keep its momentum going today when the Redhawks step out of conference to face Southern Illinois Carbondale at 5 p.m. in the opener of a five-game homestand.

It's the first meeting in the annual two-game season series between the regional rivals -- Southeast visits SIUC on April 23 -- and also marks the first of six Southeast baseball tailgates featuring free food and beverages.

"We should have a great crowd if the weather holds up," Southeast coach Steve Bieser said. "I look forward to getting back home in front of our fans, who are always tremendous."

The Redhawks ended a four-game road swing Sunday by rallying for a wild 13-11 win at SIU Edwardsville, allowing Southeast to take two of three in the OVC series. The Redhawks trailed 7-1 after two innings and 8-3 after three innings.

"We showed a lot of character, a lot of fight," Bieser said.

Southeast, which has won two straight OVC series, solidified its hold on fifth place in the 11-team league halfway through their 30-game conference schedule. The top six finishers qualify for the OVC tournament.

"I like the way we're playing, but we've still got a long way to go," Bieser said. "Our goal is to win every OVC series."

SIUC is 14-16 overall and 1-5 in Missouri Valley Conference play, picking up its first MVC win Sunday at Evansville 13-5.

The Salukis went 31-28 last year, marking their first winning season since 2008. They had a 9-12 MVC record, which placed them sixth in the eight-team league.

SIUC has won five of its last seven games. The Salukis are next-to-last in the MVC with a .265 batting average but are coming off a season-high run total Sunday at Evansville.

The Salukis have excelled on the mound with a 3.19 ERA that ranks second in the MVC.

SIUC leads the all-time series 42-27-1, but Southeast has won four of the past five meetings.

The squads split their two matchups last season, Southeast winning 4-1 in Cape Girardeau and SIUC prevailing 9-5 in Carbondale, Ill.

Following today's game, Southeast resumes conference play this weekend with a three-game home series against two-time defending OVC regular-season and tournament champion Austin Peay. Starting times are 5 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.

Austin Peay (25-7, 8-3) is in fourth place in the OVC.