Southeast Missouri State University's club baseball team has gotten off to a hot start through the first seven games of the season. Southeast is 5-2 and won the "For the Love of the Game Tournament" Feb. 12-14.

Southeast beat Ole Miss in the first game of the tournament 12-0. After dropping their next game 5-2 to Stephen F. Austin, Southeast rattled off a 9-3 win against Lone Star-Kingwood before defeating Stephen F. Austin in a rematch for the championship 14-4. Freshman outfielder Austin Bucher was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

Since that tournament, Southeast has won five out of six games, including beating Tulane University on Feb. 27 and 28 in two out of three games.

The success Southeast has had has given the team recognition, which club baseball has never seen before. Southeast is ranked tied for 14 in the National Club Baseball Association polls. This is the highest Southeast has been in their history as a club baseball team, considering they were previously ranked 15, the previous all-time high, the week before. Club baseball president and coach, Matt Rowe, is proud of the team's accomplishment. Club and intramural coordinator, Kweku Arkorful, also is taking notice of the team's performance.

"The tournament definitely put them up winning against some very notable schools," Arkorful said.

This year, the World Series will be in Pittsburg, Kansas, which hosts all eight district champions. Southeast has never been to the World Series but has been to the district tournament.

Bucher has statistically had the best start to the season for the team. Named MVP of the "For the Love of the Game Tournament" in the first weekend of the season, he's batting .478 while leading the team in hits and runs batted in.

Tim Agne, a pitcher and a designated hitter for the team, has never lost a game throughout his career, which dates back to 2013. He is a career 11-0 with a 1.57 ERA, including being 2-0 already this season with an ERA of 0.50 in those two games.

Southeast will resume play after spring break against District VI opponent St. Louis University, which is currently ranked fourth in the nation, on March 24-25. These also will be Southeast's first home games of the season.