Southeast takes perfect OVC mark, five-game winning streak to Murray State

Southeast Missouri State could not have gotten off to a better start in Ohio Valley Conference play.

The mission for the Redhawks this weekend is to continue that momentum in their first OVC road tests of the season.

Southeast (17-7, 3-0) and Murray State (5-17, 2-1) square off in a three-game series in Murray, Ky. There will be a 1 p.m. doubleheader today and a 1 p.m. contest Sunday.

The Redhawks are riding a five-game winning streak, and they have won 10 of their last 11 games. Included in that stretch is a three-game OVC home sweep of Tennessee-Martin last weekend.

"We want to go over to Murray, try to get three wins and start out 6-0," senior shortstop Robby Moore said.

The Thoroughbreds also have some momentum.

Murray State, which struggled in nonconference play, opened its OVC schedule with a surprising result. The Thoroughbreds, picked ninth in the OVC preseason poll after finishing last in the 10-team league a year ago, took two of three games last weekend at defending league champion and preseason favorite Samford.

Murray, in fact, was close to sweeping the series before the Bulldogs salvaged the finale 7-4 on a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning.

"To go into Samford and take two out of three, and coming very close to sweeping, that says a lot," said Southeast coach Mark Hogan, whose squad was picked sixth in the conference preseason poll after tying for sixth last year. "I think it will be a typical OVC series, very hotly contested."

Hogan likes the momentum and confidence the Redhawks will carry into the weekend.

Southeast is coming off Wednesday's 27-16 win over NAIA Freed-Hardeman during which the Redhawks set a school single-game record for runs scored and also tied the NCAA single-game mark by hitting three grand slams.

"I'm excited about the way we're playing," Hogan said.

After a slow offensive start, the Redhawks have raised their team batting average to .294.

Moore leads the way at .392, followed by senior right fielder/pitcher Asif Shah (.381), freshman third baseman Nick Harris (.367) and senior second baseman Omar Padilla (.356).

Shah has driven in an OVC-best 29 runs, while Harris is tied for second in the league in home runs with six.

"Everybody is hitting right now," Moore said. "We just want to keep it going."

Southeast's pitching staff leads the OVC with a 3.49 earned-run average. Junior right-hander Dustin Renfrow (2-0, 1.66), senior righty Phillip Riley (4-1, 1.96), lefty Shah (2-0, 2.14) and freshman lefty Josh Syberg (4-1, 2.67) all rank among the league's top seven in ERA.

The Redhawks will go with their normal weekend rotation as Renfrow starts today's nine-inning opener, Shah works the seven-inning nightcap and Syberg goes in Sunday's nine-inning affair.

Murray ranks last in the OVC with a team ERA of 8.79 as no pitcher has a mark better than 5.40.

The Thoroughbreds are batting .260 as a group, led by Cape Girardeau native and former Central High School star Seth Hudson.

Hudson, a senior second baseman, is Murray's top hitter at .310 as he continues his impressive career with the Thoroughbreds.

Hudson batted a team-high .385 last year to make second-team all-OVC, although his season was cut short when he broke his wrist in mid-April.

As a sophomore, Hudson led all regular hitters with a .336 average.