March 26, 2007

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - (Monday, March 26, 2007) Senior Asif Shah was named the Ohio Valley Conference Co-Player of the Week for his performance at the plate last week. He is sharing the award with Clay Whittemore of Jacksonville State University. The award is Shah's second conference award this season as he was named Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 26.

Shah, a senior pitcher and outfielder from Cincinnati, Ohio, was 8-for-18 in five games at the plate last week for a .444 average as Southeast was 4-1 overall including a three-game conference sweep of UT-Martin. Batting from the left side of the dish, he hit two doubles, one home run and drove in 12 RBIs; he also scored five times and was a perfect 2-for-2 in stolen base attempts. Shah recorded four multiple-RBI performances, including four runs batted in on Wednesday at Central Arkansas, and he has recorded at least one RBI in each game of his current six-game hitting streak.

The senior currently leads the team in several offensive categories, including a .357 batting average, 23 RBIs and a .661 slugging percentage; his four home runs are tied for the team lead. Meanwhile, he ranks first in the OVC with a .507 on-base percentage. His 23 RBIs are tied for third-most in the conference.

The southpaw, who came to Southeast last season from Wabash Valley Community College, also started the second game of a doubleheader against Tennessee-Martin on Saturday. He had a no decision in the 7-5 Redhawks win. Shah (2-0) is second on the team, and third in the OVC, with a 2.14 ERA so far this season.

Whittemore, a junior outfielder, hit .419 (13-for-31) with eight runs scored, four doubles and 10 RBI as Jacksonville State was 5-2 overall including an OVC opening weekend sweep of Austin Peay. Whittemore extended his hitting streak to a career-best 15 games while posting back-to-back four-hit games. He added three walks, a hit-by-pitch and stole a base and did not commit an error in the field.

The weekly conference honor is the fifth bestowed upon a Southeast student-athlete this season. Besides Shah's Co-Player of the Week and Pitcher of the Week honors, junior Dustin Renfrow has been named Pitcher of the Week on two occasions including last Monday, and sophomore Matt Wagner earned the first Player of the Week honor of the season.

Shah and the Redhawks will play a pair of midweek games at home this week as they host Freed-Hardeman at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday and 3 p.m. on Wednesday. They return to OVC action at Murray State this weekend.