Southeast Missouri State baseball team opens OVC home slate against EKU

The Southeast baseball team will try to end a three-game skid today against the Colonels

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team has only played three of its 30 scheduled Ohio Valley Conference games.

But the Redhawks don't want to dig themselves an early OVC hole, which puts plenty of emphasis on their first conference home series.

Defending OVC regular-season co-champion Eastern Kentucky opens its three-game series at Capaha Field at 5 p.m. today.

Southeast is 9-9 overall and 1-2 in league play after losing two of three last weekend at first-year OVC member Belmont, the defending Atlantic Sun Conference regular-season and tournament champion.

EKU is 4-9 and 1-2 after dropping two of three at home last weekend to Tennessee Tech in its opening OVC series.

"I don't care about the 18 games we just played," first-year Southeast interim coach Steve Bieser said. "It all starts this weekend. We have to go out and win every series we play in conference."

The Redhawks have scuffled against strong competition after starting 5-0 for the first time since 1995. They are just 4-9 since then.

But the Redhawks had been competitive in all their losses, their largest margin of defeat being five runs -- until Tuesday against visiting Creighton.

Creighton pounded the Redhawks 17-2, and Bieser questioned Southeast's fight after the contest -- something he had not done previously this season.

Sophomore Jason Blum said Bieser was correct in his assessment of the Redhawks' performance but they'll look to put that behind them this weekend.

"We've got to come out ready to play," Blum said. "Second weekend of conference, it's nice to be at home."

Bieser doesn't expect things to get any easier against EKU, picked fourth out of 11 teams in the OVC preseason poll. Southeast was tabbed for eighth place.

The Colonels had a big year in 2012, going 31-23 overall and tying for the OVC regular-season title at 19-7 despite being picked sixth in the preseason poll.

The Colonels, whose OVC regular-season title last year was their first since 2000, lost two of their top three pitchers and five positional starters.

EKU has two preseason all-OVC selections in junior third baseman Bryan Soloman and senior left-handed starting pitcher Shane Grimm.

Soloman had 14 home runs and 46 RBIs last year. Grimm went 6-4 with a 3.14 ERA.

Other top returning players for the Colonels are senior pitcher Anthony Bazzani, who saved eight games and was a 31st-round draft pick but decided to return to school, and senior center fielder Austin Grisham (.320).

Soloman is batting .315, second-best on the squad, with no homers and eight RBIs.

EKU's leading hitter is junior catcher Sean Hagen at .368. Senior shortstop Matt Phipps, hitting .293, leads the Colonels with two homers. Grisham is batting .283.

Grimm has EKU's top record of 2-0 with a 5.79 ERA. Bazzanni, now a starter, is 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA. Rounding out the Colonels' conference rotation is junior Brent Cobb (1-3, 5.19). All had solid starts during EKU's OVC-opening series.

The Colonels, like Southeast, have struggled lately, losing six of their last seven. Bieser expects that trend to change soon, although he hopes it's not in Cape Girardeau.

"They're going to catch fire eventually," Bieser said.

Bieser hopes to regain the services of all-OVC first-team junior left fielder Derek Gibson this weekend.

Gibson, Southeast's top returning hitter who also leads the Redhawks so far this season with a .341 average, has missed the last six games with a hamstring injury.