Southeast Missouri State baseball visits JSU for huge OVC series

There have been glimpses of it throughout the Southeast Missouri State baseball team's first 37 games of the season -- moments where everything's been clicking.

Coach Steve Bieser thinks there's another level of play that his team can make a jump to when those flashes turn into weeks of impressive performance in all aspects of the game.

The fourth-year coach, who's led his team to Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championships the last two seasons, also thinks the Redhawks have that type of performance in the making.

If he's right, that type of performance couldn't come at a better time as Southeast faces Jacksonville State on the road in a pivotal conference series beginning at 6 p.m. today.

"I think the true test is going to be this weekend because whether you want to say it or not there's going to be some pressure, there's going to be some really pressure times in this weekend series, and I think the biggest thing will be how we respond to those," Bieser said. "And if we trust in our abilities, trust in what we can do, then it's not going to be overwhelming, but if we're not fully confident and we don't fully trust what we're doing yet, then I think we'll see some mistakes that we shouldn't be making this time of the year."

The Redhawks and Gamecocks enter the series atop the OVC standings.

Southeast brings a record of 27-10 and 16-2 in conference to Rudy Abbott Field while JSU is 25-11 and 13-2 in conference.

The Redhawks have won their last six contests and 21 of their last 24. Their two losses both came against Austin Peay two weeks ago and they've swept their other five conference series.

"I think this club has kind of settled into their own skin and they understand what makes them tick and how they've got to go about business every single day," Bieser said. "It just seems like a focused group right now that understands what's at stake this weekend and not putting that do-or-die-type mentality on it, but that mentality of confidence and knowing that if they go in and play their best game that they're going to come out and feel really good about themselves."

Southeast will have three OVC series remaining after this weekend while JSU will have four left to play.

The Gamecocks have yet to lose a conference series. Their losses were by one run apiece to Murray State and Tennessee Tech the last two weekends.

Whichever team wins this series will be in the driver's seat for the OVC title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, which begins May 25.

"Even though there's still several series to be played yet before the season's up, the team that comes out of here with the series win is the team that puts themselves in an excellent position to kind of seal the deal," Bieser said.

JSU is tops in the conference with a .332 batting average through 15 conference games.

Southeast's .332 average through 18 contests is second.

The Gamecocks have scored 158 runs (10.5 per game) while the Redhawks have scored 183 (10.2 per game).

Southeast's 224 hits, 30 home runs, 120 walks and 31 stolen bases (out of 35 attempts) are most in conference play.

JSU leads the league with nine triples.

The Redhawks boast the top pitching with a 3.44 ERA and 183 strikeouts. JSU ranks fourth with an ERA of 4.75.

"I think the most concerning thing is the fact that you're on the road, it's a long travelling weekend for us," Bieser said. "I think we match up really well from a pitching standpoint and also from an offensive standpoint. I think both offenses are really clicking right now and swinging the bats well, and after we get through Friday I think the weather is going to be really good and I'm just kind of excited to see how the two teams respond.

"I think the team that can go in and play the most relaxed and the most confident, and the team that makes the fewest mistakes, is going to be the team that comes out of this series with a big win."

If there's one area the Redhawks have struggled in this season its defensively. They've found ways to win despite committing 36 errors in conference action, which is the most of any team. JSU is one of two teams that have committed the fewest errors with 17.

It was a point of emphasis during their practice Monday after recording eight errors in a sweep of Eastern Illinois last weekend. Southeast was errorless in its 10-3 victory over Saint Louis on Tuesday.

The final two games of the series are set for 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

"I think we've all got to realize that it's definitely an important series," Bieser said. "I think both teams are playing extremely well this year and the team that can come out with a series win here it's definitely going to put them in a good position."