May 19, 2005

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (Thursday, May 19, 2005) The Redhawks concludes the 2005 regular season with a pivotal three-game series against Ohio Valley Conference rival Tennessee-Martin. The teams will play a doubleheader on Friday with the series and season finale on Saturday; the first pitch for both games is set for 1:00 p.m. Saturday's game will be Senior Day as the Redhawks will honor 10 players who will play their final regular season game before and after the contest.

The Redhawks (21-30, 12-12 OVC) postseason lives depends on there match-up against the visiting Skyhawks (12-40, 6-17 OVC). The Redhawks are currently in a three-way tie with Samford and Eastern Illinois for the sixth and final spot for the 2005 O'Reilly Auto Parts Baseball Championships in Paducah, Kentucky. The Redhawks will earn the berth if the sweep the Skyhawks as they own the tie-breaker with Eastern Illinois who play last-place Tennessee Tech. Samford on the other hand will host fourth place Murray State.

THE MATCH-UP

The Redhawks leads the all-time series with a 42-11-1 record. The Redhawks are 15-2 against the Skyhawks since the 2000 season including a perfect 5-0 record at Capaha Field during that span.

Last season the Redhawks swept a doubleheader in Martin, Tennessee with a combined score of 21-6 before dropping the series finale 17-16 in 10 innings. Frank Montiel went 7-17 in the series with two homeruns and six RBIs. Ernie Bracamonte also hit two homeruns and collected five RBIs.

SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS

The Redhawks were swept by in-state rival Southwest Missouri State in a non-conference mid-week series. The losses snapped the Redhawks season-high four-game winning streak. However the Redhawks still own a four-game OVC winning streak and have won five of their last six games in OVC play. During that span the Redhawks offense has came alive as they have averaged over 11 runs per game including a season high 20 runs against Tennessee Tech last weekend.

The offense has been keyed by lead-off hitter Eric Horstman who has hit safely in 21-straight games and has reached base safely in 43-straight, the nation's longest active streak. Horstman leads the team with a .356 average.

Junior Jordan Payne has been carrying a hot stick as well as he has gone 15-27 over his last six games for a .555 batting average. Among those games was a 6-6 day at the plate vs Tennessee Tech to tie a school record for hits in a game.

Sophomore Brent Lawson has homered in two-straight games to tie Freddy Lopez for the team-lead with five homeruns on the year.

Lopez leads the team in RBIs with 39 while touting a .296 batting average.

Freshman Joey Evans looks to bounce back from two rough starts to regain his form on the mound. Evans leads the team with a record of 7-4 and leads all starters with a 3.89 ERA. He will start the series opener with Jamie McAlister (3-6, 4.22 ERA) and Derek Herbig (4-2, 4.97 ERA) projected to pitch games two and three respectively.

SCOUTING THE SKYHAWKS

The Skyhawks enter the series losers of five of their last six games including their last three. They lost both games of a mid-week doubleheader to Mississippi State this past Tuesday.

Zach Dean is the lone Skyhawk with a batting average over .300 as the team is hitting a combined .234 for the season.

Nick Bruner leads the team with 31 RBIs.

Both Dean and Bruner head into the series with 11-game hitting streaks.

The projected rotation for the series is Adam Ledlow (1-8, 5.10 ERA) pitching game one and Justin Bryant (3-7, 4.63 ERA) and Scott Massey (3-6, 3.91) starting games two and three respectively.

THE SENIORS

10 seniors will play their final collegiate game at Capaha Field on Sunday. The seniors will be honored before the game and the team will hold a cookout afterwards for the departing seniors and their families. Here is a brief synopsis of the 10 seniors and their careers as Redhawks:

Ernie Bracamonte: A 2004 OVC All-Tournament and honorable mention All-OVC selection...shares the club record for single season at bats (229) and ranks second in assists in a season (168 assists)...two-time Southeast Scholar Athlete.

Bill Clayton: A three-year member of the club...4-7 career record on the mound in 19 appearances including 14 starts...recorded a hit and two RBI in his first collegiate at bat vs Morehead State

Ryan Forsyth: Ranks in the top-five in career appearances...has a career record of 12-7.

Eric Horstman: A 2004 All-OVC and All-Tournament selection...two-time OVC Player of the Week this season...currently riding a 21-game hiiting streak and has reached base safley in 43-straight games, the nation's longest active streak...has started every game the last two seasons, 108-straight games...ranks in the top-ten in career batting average...two-time Southeast Scholar Athlete.

Bo Jenkins: One of the top-fielding infielders in SEMO history...his 152 assists last season ranks sixth on the single season charts...two-time Southeast Scholar Athlete.

Freddy Lopez: Has three multi-homerun games including two this season...leads the team in homeruns with five and has 13 for his career...leads the team in RBIs

Bryan Kurt: One of the top reserves on the club...is tied for third on the team in stolen bases...has started 40 games in his career.

Frank Montiel: 2004 OVC All-Tournament and 2nd Team All-OVC selection...led the OVC in doubles last season with 22, which ranks 2nd on the club's single season charts...second on the team in RBIs.

Brady Noll: Last year's starting catcher has turned into one of the teams valuable utility player seeing time at DH and in the outfield...last season started 53 games behind the plate...recorded 359 putouts last season, ranking 8th on the single season list...batting over .300 this season in non-conference games.

Keith Wollis: One of the team's top defensive players off the bench...has appeared in 61 games including 14 starts...batting .318 in OVC games this season.