New roles, same result for OVC champion Southeast Missouri State baseball team

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- It became evident to the Southeast Missouri State coaching staff in just the team's first practice in the fall that this year's Redhawks squad was capable of a special season.

Third-year coach Steve Bieser saw every quality that he loves in players he coaches right in front of his eyes -- smart guys with speed who were willing to buy in to whatever he and his assistants taught them.

The Redhawks weren't the same team that had won just the program's second ever Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title the previous year, but even with several newcomers the notion that they were capable of the same, or even better, fate was instilled early.

"There's definitely a lot of pride here," junior Ryan Rippee, a transfer from Jefferson College, said following Southeast's 13-7 win in the regular-season finale against Belmont on Saturday. "That's definitely something that Coach Bieser's created and it's filtered all the way down. We try to have pride in everything we do whether it's weights, practice or a game and that's definitely been something special to be a part of."

The team wrapped up the first repeat as the regular-season champion in program history on Friday night and did so without players who stand above the rest.

In 2014 they had senior first baseman and OVC Player of the Year Matt Tellor and first-team and designated hitter Derek Gibson to pace the team.

Gibson, who is currently playing professionally in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, batted .403 and had 70 RBIs while Tellor, who was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 10th round last June and was recently promoted to their Class A affiliate, hit .386 with 15 home runs and 71 RBIs.

Eight of the nine players in Southeast's starting lineup on Saturday have batting averages above .300, but none are near the numbers Gibson and Tellor put up.

Returners Andy Lennington, Scott Mitchell, Brandon Boggetto, Dalton Hewitt and Jason Blum are all above .300 as well as freshman Trevor Ezell and junior transfers Rippee and Garrett Gandolfo.

Rippee hit two home runs in Saturday's win and leads the team with 12 while Boggetto and Gandolfo each hit one to bring their totals to 11 and nine, respectively.

Rippee's driven in 54 runs, Boggetto has 52 RBIs and Gandolfo has 51. Lennington is close behind with 45 and Hewitt has 43.

"The expectation was that we knew that we had to be a team this year and that we had to do it with not one person but as a unit," Bieser said following Sunday's season finale. "And I think that's what really came to fruition is the fact that you look at our lineup and you see nine .300 hitters hitting in our lineup and you see how they work together. There's nobody hitting .400 just carrying the entire load, and that's what makes this group even closer yet.

"It's a different guy that comes through every single day, and I think that everybody just comes to the park and they're just kind of looking around, 'Who's it going to be today?' because they know that everybody's capable and when you have that type of club it brings a lot of confidence. No matter what the predicament is out on the field you just have that confidence that somebody's going to come through and carry us today and have a good day and as a unit everyone's going to have a solid day."

That's not to say that there haven't been some standout performances this season.

Ezell, a freshman and candidate for the conference's Rookie of the Year award, has started all 54 games in his first year with the Redhawks.

He's got a .315 batting average and .428 on-base percentage as the team's leadoff batter and has driven in 36 runs and scored a team-best 61 runs.

He started out in left field -- a position he wasn't comfortable in, according to Bieser -- before having to move to second base when Blum, who'd started every game there for the past two seasons, missed time with a broken pinky. When Lennington was sidelined with a hamstring injury Ezell took over at third where he proved himself as the starting third baseman and has remained since.

"What he's done is special," Bieser said. "To be able to keep his offense up and moving around so much and I think sometimes that gets overlooked. Not the fact that he's been a good offensive player but how he's kind of solidified our defense and been very versatile."

Southeast found its ace in another newcomer -- junior college transfer Joey Lucchesi.

From the time he arrived in the fall Bieser knew Lucchesi had a promising future but left him in the bullpen until a spot opened up for him in the starting rotation.

Since he secured his first start in the first conference series against Eastern Kentucky, Lucchesi has only continued to impress.

He's got a 7-1 record and his 2.87 ERA is the best in the OVC as well as his opponent's batting average of .194 and 87 strikeouts. He is the frontrunner to be named the conference's pitcher of the year at the OVC's banquet on the eve of the conference tournament on Tuesday.

"He was just patient and kept grinding it out and all of a sudden he ends up where we knew he would end up before the season was over," Bieser said. "But to be as good as he is, probably wasn't expecting that because a lot of guys have really good stuff but to translate a great season -- just because you've got good stuff doesn't always work out. I think the mental side of it is something that's impressed me is the way he's able to handle himself from start to start.

"He doesn't get the big head because he threw a good game, he doesn't get overly anxious. He's just been very good at being able to control his emotions throughout the game, throughout the year, and he's dealing with a lot of stuff right now. People calling him for the draft and stuff like that -- there's a lot of things that he's dealing with and he's done a very good job of balancing that."

Starters Alex Winkelman and Travis Hayes round out a staff that Bieser has the utmost confidence in.

Winkelman has a 4.30 ERA and 86 strikeouts while Hayes (7-6) has a 5.58 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 14 starts. Hayes lasted just 3 1/3 innings on Saturday, allowing five earned runs on six hits with two home runs. He walked two and struck out three.

Hayes, last year's co-OVC pitcher of the year, has not had the outstanding senior season that may have been expected but Bieser knew it would be tough to repeat the same season he'd had the year before, especially with opponents gunning for the award-winning pitcher.

"But the thing about Travis is he's been able to make every start for us and give us those innings that we need him to give us and keep us in games," Bieser said. "He's won more ball games than he's lost and we've been able to win games with him as a starter, and that's a valuable thing when you look back on it because you look back at the innings that he's thrown and you question yourself, 'Where would our team be if Travis didn't throw 89 or 90 innings this year?' We may not be a winning ball club. I think he's done a very good job as far as just going out there and competing every single day."

As the defending champions the Redhawks had to collectively handle other teams' best in every weekend series.

While some players felt that motivated the team, Blum, one of the team's captains, said that the Redhawks tried not to pay too much attention to their opponents but focus on themselves and what it took to win each day.

"I think a lot of it just has to go back to the demeanor in the dugout, the quiet confidence that we have," Southeast assistant coach Lance Rhodes said last week of the team's success. "You know, the fact that we're not arrogant, we're not extremely cocky, we just believe whenever we walk out onto the field that we're the best team on that field that day."

That mentality led to a 33-21 record in the regular season and a 22-8 record in the OVC.

Southeast only lost one conference series -- to Tennessee Tech in its second to last OVC series of the season -- and were never swept by a conference opponent en route to the title.

Gandolfo, a transfer from South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, Arizona, recalled a moment when the team was told they were picked as the preseason favorites that he believed help drive the team.

"When they ranked us No. 1, Coach Bieser said, 'That doesn't mean anything. They don't think you guys are the best. They think we're losing 160 RBIs and 40 home runs. They don't think you guys are going to do anything,'" Gandolfo said.

"Everybody shows up every day and works hard because it's about the process and it's about what our coaches teach us every day. You've got to go out every day and get better," Gandolfo added. "There's something new that you can get better at every day. You've got to work and thrive for it otherwise it's not going to come easy."

Bieser is pleasantly surprised by the knowledge of the Redhawks system that the new players have picked up in just one season and considers them more like second-year players with how embedded in it they've become.

"That's one of the biggest things that's different about this year. We're focusing on the day -- what we can do today to get better just for that point in the season," Blum said. "I think that's the mentality that we've carried all year is how we can get better today to not have what happened last year happen this year. We have guys with the right attitudes that are coming in and working hard day in and day out and I think that's going to pay dividends in the end."

While what the Redhawks have done is remarkable -- the last team to win back to back regular-season titles outright was Austin Peay in 2003 and 2004 -- the players are not allowing themselves to get overly excited about it because they have a bigger goal of winning the conference tournament and advancing to an NCAA regional for the third time in program history.

Southeast has a first-round bye as the No. 1 seed in next week's OVC tournament. The Redhawks will play their first game in the double-elimination tournament at 7 p.m. Thursday at The Ballpark in Jackson, Tennessee, against the worst seed of the winners from Wednesday night's first-round games.

"Everything we've done is up to next week," Gandolfo said. "That's the real test of the season is if we can walk out of there with a W."

As the top seed last year Southeast won its first game against No. 6 Eastern Illinois before losing to second-seeded Tennessee Tech and No. 3 seed and eventual champion Jacksonville State.

"I think for them they've saved the celebration for the conference tournament. That is their goal," Bieser said. "They want to have a reason to celebrate in the conference tournament, and I believe in these guys. I know they're going to come out and they're going to put their best foot forward and they're going to control what they can control, and that's just basically making sure that they're prepared and they play the best that they can possibly play and the smartest they can possibly play. That's what's special about this group."