March 21, 2008

Game Notes

SERIES HISTORY: Southeast leads the all-time series against Tennessee Tech, 33-18. The Golden Eagles took two out of three in last year's late-season series in Cookeville.

LAST SERIES: The Redhawks won the first two games of last weekend's three-game set at Memphis. On Friday night, Southeast outlasted the Tigers, 9-8, in a 14-inning marathon that lasted four hours and minutes. Brad LaBruyere was credited with his first career victory after pitching the final four innings without allowing an earned run. Saturday, Southeast was led by James Leigh, who pitched six innings, yielding only one run en route to holding on for a 6-5 victory. Sunday, Memphis bounced back with a 2-0 win.

TEAM MATCHUP: The Redhawks and Golden Eagles are both opening up Ohio Valley Conference play with this weekend's series. Southeast is 6-6 thus far while Tech is 13-5-1 thus far in non-conference play. TTU is coming off a split at Dayton last weekend, taking the final game by a 12-1 margin.

LEIGH HONORED: Redshirt junior left-hander James Leigh was named OVC Co-Pitcher of the Week for last week's performances on the mound. He was 2-0 with 13 strikeouts while giving up only one earned run over his two outings against Memphis and Lyon. Leigh leads the OVC with a 3-0 record, 1.06 ERA and an average of 14.82 strikeouts per nine innings.

HOT STARTS: Junior college transfers Justin Wheeler and Tyrell Cummings have added power bats to the middle on the batting order. Wheeler is leading the team with a .362 average and and 17 hits, including three doubles, three home runs and 15 RBIs. Cummings leads the team with five home runs, six doubles and 18 RBIs. He homered late in each of the first two games at Memphis to help seal the Southeast victories.

HARRIS RETURNS: Sophomore Nick Harris returned to the lineup as the designated hitter during the Memphis series. He had been out of action since the opening game of the season, when he was injured in the 9th inning at Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Feb. 22. Harris contributed at the plate right away, registering three hits during last weekend's series.

THREE OF A KIND: Three Redhawks were named to the Preseason All-OVC Team that was announced prior to the OVC Media Day Teleconference on Tuesday. Senior right-hander Dustin Renfrow, redshirt junior first basemen Matt Wagner and sophomore catcher Jim Klocke all earned a spot on the squad based on votes from the league's 10 head coaches.

HOGAN APPROACHING ANOTHER MILESTONE: Head Coach Mark Hogan is seven games away from recording his 400th victory as the Southeast skipper. His Southeast record stands at 393-328-1 with the current campaign being his 14th with the program. Hogan has led SEMO to the OVC Postseason Tournament in every one of his previous 13 seasons at the helm.