May 17, 2007

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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - (Thursday, May 17, 2007) Southeast will conclude regular season play with a three-game OVC series at Tennessee Tech. Due to next week's 2007 O'Reilly/ OVC Baseball Tournament, the three-game set has been moved up one day earlier than usual. The Redhawks and Golden Eagles will play a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Friday. The series and regular season will come to a close Saturday with a 1 o'clock first pitch.

LAST TIME OUT: The Redhawks' final non-conference game at Saint Louis was rained out Wednesday. Last weekend, Southeast hosted Morehead State for a three-game conference series. SEMO swept the Eagles in the Saturday doubleheader, 4-3 in game one and 3-2 (eight innings) in game two. On Sunday, Southeast gave up six runs in the seventh inning en route to a 9-8 loss. Sophomore 1B Matt Wagner was 8-for-11 during the threegame series, with a double, one RBI and two runs scored. He has hit safely in his last four game.

NOSE-TO-NOSE: Southeast, at 15-8 in conference play, is currently in third place in the OVC, but they trail second place Jacksonville State by just one-half game and are only one and one-half game behind conferenceleading Austin Peay. In order to claim the OVC regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in the OVC tournament, the Redhawks must win three games at Tennessee Tech AND Austin Peay must lose at least two games against Eastern Kentucky AND Jacksonville State must lose at least one game against Murray State. Southeast could also win the title if they win two of three games against the Golden Eagles AND Austin Peay is swept by Eastern Kentucky AND Jacksonville State loses at least two games against Murray State. The Redhawks can clinch the No. 2 seed in the tournament and a first-round bye by winning one more game than does Jacksonville State this weekend.

ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER: Each of the Redhawks' last five games have been decided by one run, during which Southeast has posted a 3-2 record. The Redhawks are 7-7 in one-run games this season, and 6-5 in one-run games against OVC opponents. During the current five-game stretch of one-run contests, Southeast is hitting just .218 as a team and slugging just .246, as they have just four extra-base hits. However, the pitching staff has allowed just 16 runs (14 earned) and boasts a 3.23 ERA.

SHUTOUT RECORDS: The Redhawks tied a school record with its eighth shutout victory of the season in game one of a doubleheader at EKU on May 6. Southeast, which had eight shutouts previously in 2001 and 1976, is currently ranked third in the nation behind leading Nortch Carolina-Charlotte (10) and Virginia (9). Meanwhile, senior LHP Asif Shah, who leads the OVC with three shutouts after game one Sunday, is jsut the fifth pitcher in Southeast history to throw three or more shutouts in school history. He trails the single-season record holder, Trae Hastings, by just one; Hastings tossed four shutouts in 1976. Shah ranks in a tie for third nationally with the set of shutouts, and he is one of just six pitchers in the nation with three or more heading into the weekend. The career record for shutouts is five (Hastings, 1975-78); Shah has just this year's three in his two-year career at SEMO.

AGAINST TENNESSEE TECH: Southeast leads the all-time series against the Golden Eagles, 32-16. Dating back to and including the 2000 season, the Redhawks are 18-4 against Tennessee Tech. In each of the last two seasons, Southeast has exploded for at least 20 runs in one of the three games. Last season at Capaha Field, the Redhawks won the first and third games of the series while losing the middle contest (10-5, 5-9, 21-10). The last time Southeast visited Cookeville, Tenn., in 2005, it swept the Golden Eagles in the three-game series by scores of 20-10, 10-1 and 16-12.

RADIO: Every Southeast baseball game can once again be heard live on the Redhawks Radio Network. Tune in to ESPN 1220 AM KGIR or listen to the live webcast available at www.espn1220.com Erik Sean will call the play-by-play in the games at Tennessee Tech this weekend while Jess Bolen will provide the color commentary.