Southeast Missouri State baseball team will play its first home game today

~ The Southeast baseball team makes its home debut against Harris-Stowe State

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team will look to break into the win column at home today.

Southeast, which was swept in a three-game, season-opening series at Dallas Baptist over the weekend, begins its home schedule with a 3 p.m. first pitch against Harris-Stowe State.

The contest against the NAIA program from St. Louis starts an 11-game homestand for Southeast, which welcomes IPFW to Capaha Field for a three-game set Friday through Sunday.

"It'll be good to play at home," Southeast coach Mark Hogan said. "We've got a nice home schedule and a really nice homestand coming up. Hopefully the weather will cooperate."

Southeast suffered three tough losses at Dallas Baptist, which won an NCAA regional last year and entered this season ranked 33rd in one national poll.

The Redhawks outhit the Patriots 26-17 in the series. Southeast lost 7-6 and 3-2 on Friday, then fell 3-1 on Saturday in a contest that ended after five innings because of rain.

"I was encouraged," said Hogan, whose squad lost 18 seniors from last year and has 21 newcomers among its 34-player roster. "Dallas Baptist has a really good club. I was really proud of our club. We stood up to them good. With a play here or there we could have won a couple of games."

Southeast hit .280 in the series, and Redhawks pitchers allowed just a .224 batting average. But Southeast hurlers were hurt by 20 walks that contributed to a 5.14 ERA.

Sophomore center fielder Cole Bieser is Southeast's early batting leader at .364 (4 of 11) among players with at least four at-bats.

All-American senior third baseman Trenton Moses (4 of 12), senior shortstop Kenton Parmley (4 of 12), redshirt freshman left fielder Jason Blum (3 of 9) and senior second baseman Taylor Heon (2 of 6) are all hitting .333.

True freshman DH Ryan Barnes has a team-high three RBIs, including the Redhawks' only home run which came during his first collegiate at-bat Friday.

"I was excited about several of the performances we had -- the veterans and the new guys," Hogan said. "It's just really important for us to play as much as we can, to iron out some of the fundamental things we didn't do well [at Dallas Baptist]."

Harris-Stowe was 0-6 before Monday's doubleheader at the College of the Ozarks. The Hornets have played all their games on the road.

The Hornets went 18-33-1 last season, including 6-17-1 in the American Midwest Conference. They finished sixth in the seven-team league.

Harris-Stowe features three players from local high schools: senior outfielder Blake Dirnberger (Scott City), junior pitcher Drew Coleman (Jackson) and sophomore pitcher Caleb Hosey (Jackson).

Dirnberger played at Southeast as a freshman, receiving three at-bats.

Southeast and Harris-Stowe have played the past two years. The Redhawks rolled 10-2 in 2010 and won 3-0 last season despite managing just four hits.

"I'm expecting a spirited club going against us. Anything can happen," Hogan said. "We don't have any wins yet. We need to get a win no matter who we're playing."

Hogan said true freshman Cody Spanberger will receive his first collegiate start on the mound today. Several other hurlers will see action.

"Cody is a talented young player. I'm really excited about him," Hogan said.