Southeast Missouri State baseball steps into regional play today vs. Mississippi State

Ask any member of the Southeast Missouri State baseball team to describe the Redhawks right now and you'll hear likely the words tough, positive, confident.

It was those qualities that helped the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season champion Redhawks battle back after dropping their second game of the OVC tournament last weekend

to win three games over two days and claim their first tourney title and NCAA tournament bid since 2002.

It's the same qualities they're going to try to carry over into the Starkville Regional where they face Mississippi State at 1:30 p.m. today at Dudy Noble Field.

"…They kind of jumped on each other's back and encouraged and stayed locked in the whole time -- that's a really good thing to see from your team this time of the year," Southeast coach Steve Bieser said about his team's gutsy performance in the tournament. "There's a lot of teams out there that are just ready to get home and call it a season. It would've been easy for them to just kind of lay down and say, 'Well, we had a good season,' but they definitely didn't do that and they came out and got behind each other, and there's a lot of excitement right now. They can't wait to get to this weekend. My hope is that they first know that there's some preparation, that we're not going to walk in and just play outstanding -- we've got some preparation until that time. But they're excited, and I expect them to rise to the challenge and step up and play really solid games all weekend long."

The host Bulldogs are the top seed in the regional and No. 6 national seed.

"I think of course we want to have good, solid practices and stay crisp, but I think at the same time we just need to stay relaxed and not make the game any bigger than it is," Southeast second baseman Trevor Ezell said. "We realize that if we play the way we know how to play, then we should be fine -- we'll be able to score runs and keep them from scoring runs."

No. 2 Cal State Fullerton and No. 3 Louisiana Tech will face off in the first round of the regional, which is set up in a double-elimination format, at 6:30 p.m. The championship game is scheduled for Sunday evening, but the regional could span four days if a seventh game, an if-necessary championship contest, is required on Monday.

Neither Southeast nor MSU has announced its starting pitcher for today.

Redhawks' ace Joey Lucchesi would be coming off short rest after having thrown 119 pitches in a complete-game shutout last Friday and then 35 pitches in three scoreless innings of relief in the OVC championship Sunday night.

Lucchesi (10-4) was named a Louisville Slugger first-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper on Thursday. He is the first Southeast player to be a first-team selection.

Bieser thought the lefty and two-time OVC Pitcher of the Year, who was also the OVC tournament MVP, would be able to pitch in the game, but said during his press conference that the decision would wait.

"He had a little rough night of sleep last night, woke up a little stiff, and I think it's going to be more of a game-time decision for us," Bieser said.

If Lucchesi, the nation's strikeout leader with 145, is unable to pitch, usual Saturday starter Clay Chandler likely will get the nod.

Chandler (4-5), a right-hander, pitched 5 1/3 innings in relief in the Redhawks' loss to Jacksonville State in the OVC tournament. He allowed three earned runs on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

Bieser's mentioned on multiple occasions that Chandler and the Redhawks' third weekend starter, Robert Beltran, both junior college transfers, are a little worn down from the number of innings they've pitched.

"Clay's ready," Bieser said. "... He did not get a start in the conference tournament, and he's kind of chomping at the bit to go, so I think we've got a couple good options there. Obviously, Joey's our No. 1 and Clay's our No. 2, and we're hopeful that Joey can go, but I'm not certain. The last thing I want to do is run him out without him being 100 percent."

From an offensive standpoint, Bieser said his players know what to expect whether they face MSU ace right-hander Dakota Hudson or someone else ---- good velocity.

"They have just a boatload of power arms on their roster," Bieser said.

Hudson, who was named a Louisville Slugger second-team All-American, is 9-4 with a 2.35 ERA in 15 starts. He's thrown three complete games and opponents hit .244 against him. He's struck out 107 in 103 1/3 innings. MSU has a team ERA of 3.42.

"Not as many extra base hits are going to be given up against quality pitching. We understand that," Bieser said. "Really, I think, from an offensive standpoint we find ways to score other than just hitting the ball over the wall or driving those gaps. The one thing about our offense is our offense has been able to adjust for the most part over the last few years to where we're playing and who we're playing, and I think that's something that's made our offense pretty solid."

The Redhawks are familiar with Southeastern Conference opponents, losing to Ole Miss 10-2 and 6-4 in early March before splitting midweek games with Missouri (W 7-2, L 13-6) less than a week later.

The SEC champion Bulldogs went 41-16-1 and 21-9 in conference. MSU boasts SEC Freshman of the Year Jake Magnum, who enters today's game hitting .423. Nathaniel Lowe, Jack Kruger, Jacob Robson, Brent Rooker, Gavin Collins and Reid Humphreys are also batting over .300. Collins leads the team with 10 home runs, while Rooker and Kruger each have seven.

Lowe's has team-high 48 RBIs, while Rooker (45) and Humphreys (44) aren't far behind.

"I understand that they're a very good club. They can beat you a lot of different ways," Bieser said. "Their offense, they're hitting .312, and we know that they can score runs. I think the key for us is going to be on the pitching side. How do we control it? We make sure that we don't give any free bases. We make sure that we play really good defense.

"When you look up and down their pitching -- their pitching staff is a pitching staff that's not going to give up much. ... We've got to be able to play the close game tomorrow, and that's something that we've talked about. Things that we've prepared for is being able to play those 3-2 type games to have a chance to win this game."

MSU coach John Cohen noted the Redhawks' .411 on-base percentage (seventh nationally) and 324 walks (fourth nationally) during his press conference Thursday. Southeast also ranks sixth in runs scored with 465.

""A four seed with an RPI of 45 -- that's not what the doctor ordered," Cohen said. "They're pretty darn good, and I think they could beat anybody in the country. Right out of the gates, we have to play well in order to win in our first round."

Unlike in the OVC tournament, the Redhawks won't be the ones with the pressure on them to come out on top.

"At this point I feel like we have nothing to lose," Ezell said. "We've really never been in this situation before. We're just going to go try to enjoy it and have a lot of fun."