April 22, 2005

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo- (Friday, April 22, 2005) Southeast Missouri State University welcomes the Panthers of Eastern Illinois. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday with the series finale to be played on Sunday; the first pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on both days. Last season the Redhawks lost three of four games to the Panthers. The Redhawks hold a 16-15 advantage all-time against the Panthers.

Scouting Southeast

On Tuesday the Redhawks dropped another close game to regional rival Arkansas State, 3-2. Freshman James Clayton drove in both runs for the Redhawks with a sixth inning single off Blake Ring.

Frank Montiel led the team with a 2-4 night against Arkansas State, his 14th multi-hit game of the season. On the season Montiel leads the team with a .348 batting average, 26 RBIs and 11 doubles. In conference play Montiel is hitting .289, with one homerun and nine RBIs.

Ernie Bracamonte is hitting .321, with 17 RBIs and 3 home runs. In conference play Bracamonte leads the Redhawks with a .413 batting average, 11 runs scored and 4 doubles.

Freddy Lopez is hitting .287, with 17 RBIs and 2 doubles. In conference play Lopez is second on the team with a .395 batting average and six RBIs in 10 games played.

Probable starters for the Redhawks are Derek Herbig, Joey Evans and Andrew Johnson. Herbig (2-2) has an ERA of 4.31 with 48 strikeouts in 11 appearances. Evans (5-4) has an ERA of 3.18 with 47 strikeouts in 15 appearances. Johnson (0-3) has an ERA of 4.54 in eight starts this season.

Ernie Bracamonte and Eric Horstman have started in 92 consecutive games for the Redhawks. Both players have not missed a game during their career at Southeast.

Coach Mark Hogan nears another career milestone as he nears the 700 win plateau. Coach Hogan has a career record of 698-512 in his 24th year as a college head coach. In his 11th year at Southeast Coach Hogan has a record of 321-255.

Following the weekend series against Eastern Illinois the Redhawks will travel to Carbondale, Illinois on Wednesday for a single game against Southern Illinois. The first pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at Abe Martin Field.

All games can be heard live on 1220 KGIR or online at www.kgir.com.

Scouting Eastern Illinois

The Panthers enter the weekend series having lost five of their last six games. In OVC play the Panthers are 6-6 and most recently lost 2 of 3 to Samford in conference play. The Panthers have been outscored 291-173 on the season.

The Panthers are led offensively by Erik Huber. The senior outfielder is hitting .352, with 25 RBIs and 18 runs scored.

Sophomore catcher Jason Cobb is hitting .289, with 18 RBIs and 4 home runs on the season. In conference play Cobb is hitting .350, with 10 RBIs and 2 home runs.

Kyle Widegren, Ted Juske and Mike Budde are the probable starters for the Panthers. Kyle Widegren (2-5) has an ERA of 6.75 with 26 strikeouts in 45.1 innings pitched. Southpaw Ted Juske (0-6) has an ERA of 7.85 in six starts on the season. Mike Budde (3-4) has an ERA of 3.79 with 18 strikeouts in 35.2 innings pitched.

Jim Schmitz is in his 11th year as head coach at Eastern Illinois with a record of 291-274.