Southeast Missouri State baseball team visits New Mexico State

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team will be more than 1,200 miles from Cape Girardeau today when it opens a three-game series against New Mexico State.

The Redhawks, making their longest trip in distance this season, bused roughly two hours to St. Louis on Thursday, flew to Albuquerque, N.M., and then bused approximately three hours to Las Cruces, N.M., where they will face their Western Athletic Conference opponent.

Southeast (7-11) and the Aggies (12-8) will have a 7:05 p.m. contest today and a 4:05 p.m. doubleheader Saturday.

"It's going to be a very challenging series for us against a tough opponent," Southeast coach Mark Hogan said. "Our scouting reports say they're a very good club."

NMSU went 34-24 last year, marking the Aggies' third consecutive season of at least 34 wins.

The Aggies won the national team batting title with a .337 average last season, when eight starters wound up hitting .325 or better.

NMSU is off to another strong offensive start, batting .304 and averaging nine runs per game. The Aggies lead the seven-team WAC in runs by a wide margin and are second in hitting.

Zac Fisher tops the Aggies with a .359 average and 25 RBIs, while Kyle Phillips (.357) and Parker Hipp (.351) also are off to hot starts.

Fisher paced NMSU last season with a .398 average, followed by Hipp at .396.

"Statistically they look awesome," Hogan said.

The Aggies have a 5.62 ERA, last in the WAC. Ryan Beck (2-1, 2.48 ERA) has been their most effective starter. Scott Coffman has 17 career saves to tie the program record. He has recorded three saves this year.

Southeast will be looking to bounce back from Wednesday's 16-2 home loss to Arkansas-Little Rock. The Redhawks have dropped seven of their last nine games.

"I'm sure they'll look at the box score [of Wednesday's contest] and lick their chops," Hogan said. "It will be interesting to see how we respond."