Under a first-year coach, Southeast baseball team enjoyed productive year despite injuries, struggles

The 2013 Southeast Missouri State baseball team won't go down as one of the program's better squads.

But as far as heart and competitive spirit, Steve Bieser doesn't believe he could have drawn up a better group for his first collegiate head coaching position.

Southeast defied most of the so-called experts to earn the program's Ohio Valley Conference-record 19th consecutive OVC tournament berth.

The Redhawks, preseason picks to finish eighth in the 11-team conference based on voting by the league's coaches and sports information directors, wound up sixth despite being gutted by injuries and ending the year with only four seniors.

Southeast then went 2-2 at the six-team OVC tournament to place fourth, bettering its seed by two spots.

"What you've got to be most proud of with this team is that it never quit. They just never gave up," Bieser said. "I was very proud of them for that."

Bieser, who took over the program on an interim basis following last year's retirement of longtime coach Mark Hogan, recently had his interim tag removed.

"I'm really excited about the potential of this program," said Bieser, a former star player at Southeast who was Hogan's pitching coach for two seasons before assuming the top spot. "I feel like the sky is the limit for us."

Bieser, who spent two seasons in the major leagues during a long professional playing career, wants to make it clear that he was in no way satisfied by the Redhawks' 26-33 record that represented a three-win improvement from 2012.

"I hate to lose. For me an average season is 10 games over .500," said Bieser, whose squad went 13-17 in OVC play. "Maybe we could have done that with a full team, I don't know."

The Redhawks had far from a full team because of injuries, defections and suspensions. They were especially thin for the OVC tournament as they took just eight pitchers to the event in Jackson, Tenn.

At .332, junior Derek Gibson was one of seven Redhawks who hit better than .300 this season.

"We started with 18 arms and we came to the tournament with eight arms," Bieser said.

Bieser's debut year as Southeast's coach was already assured of being especially challenging because the Redhawks lost most of their top players from 2012.

Things got much tougher well before the season even started when three anticipated key pitchers were lost for the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery in November.

Bieser planned to have Dylan Lynn and left-hander Christian Hull anchor the starting rotation while Cody Spanberger was considered a closer candidate.

Southeast Missouri State first baseman Matt Tellor tosses the ball to pitcher Michael Patman to get Southern Illinois Carbondale's Wes Neece out during the Redhawks' loss to the Salukis Tuesday, April 9, at Capaha Stadium.

"Any staff, you lose your projected No. 1 and No. 2, it's tough," Bieser said.

Bieser is optimistic that all three will return in full health next season.

"We're looking forward to having them back," Bieser said.

In-season injuries also took down several front-line players, the biggest losses being junior center fielder Cole Bieser, sophomore third baseman Andy Lennington and junior pitcher Luke Shearrow. All missed at least the last few weeks of the year.

Bieser (.306 batting average, team-high 15 steals in 15 attempts), who missed the final 21 games, and Lennington (.282, team-high four triples) were among Southeast's top all-around players.

Shearrow, after a slow start to the season following his transfer from junior college, boasted the OVC's top earned-run average in league play (0.90).

"It definitely has an impact when you're without that many key players," Steve Bieser said.

Those three should also return at full strength for 2014 and every other position player is also eligible to return since Southeast's only seniors this year were pitchers.

Sophomore right fielder Dalton Hewitt led Southeast with a .345 batting average. Others above .300 were junior left fielder Derek Gibson (.332), freshman center fielder Clayton Evans (.325.) -- voted to the OVC's all-freshmen team -- sophomore second baseman Jason Blum (.323), sophomore third baseman Nolan Fisher (.313) and junior first baseman Matt Tellor (.311).

Matt Tellor led Southeast with eight home runs and 46 runs batted in this season. (Adam Vogler)

Blum, who set single-season school and OVC records by being hit by a pitch 23 times, led the Redhawks with 53 runs scored, a .452 on-base percentage and a .496 slugging percentage. His team-high 21 doubles rank fifth on Southeast's single-season list.

Tellor was Southeast's top power threat after transferring from Lindenwood University. He led the Redhawks with eight home runs and 46 RBIs.

Sophomore DH Ryan Barnes (.268) and freshman shortstop Branden Boggetto (.244) were other primary offensive contributors.

Southeast's pitching staff represented the only graduation losses in No. 2 starter Zack Smith, closer Bobby Hurst, reliever Tony Zerrusen and reliever/starter Trevor Kill.

Hurst finished tied for the third-most saves in Southeast single-season history with seven, and his nine career saves are also third. He went 4-4 with a team-leading 1.80 ERA this year.

Hurst's 30 appearances tied him for the school single-season record, just ahead of Zerrusen's 29 appearances.

Sophomore left-hander Will Spitzfaden was the Redhawks' top winner with a 5-5 record as their No. 1 starter.

Freshman reliever Alex Siddle came on strong down the stretch and Bieser said he could be a candidate to fill Hurst's closer role next year.

Several other young hurlers displayed promise for the future, including freshman lefty Alex Winkelman, who went 4-4 to tie Hurst for second on the squad in wins.

"We had a lot of young players get valuable experience this season and they should be that much better next year," Bieser said. "We need to add with recruiting, get some more guys to give us the depth we need, but I feel really good about our team for next year and the future."