March 30, 2004

St. Louis, Mo. - The Southeast Missouri Softball team is set to travel to St. Louis, Mo. to face the Lady Billikens this Tuesday, March 30 at 2:00 p.m. to wrap-up their non-conference slate. Southeast will look to get back into the swing of things with two wins before returning home to open conference competition on Thursday. The Otahks host Eastern Illinois for a double dip March 1 at 3:00 p.m. and then host Tennessee State for a three-game weekend series.

Scouting Southeast... The Otahks (5-18) come into the week on a six-game slide as they have faced stiff competition and stellar pitching. Despite falling 3-0 and 3-1 against SIU last week, the squad showed confidence on the mound and the field as they just struggled at the plate. However, senior Suzi Lair had a tremendous hitting week, lighting up on five-of-seven at-bats against Evansville and posting another hit against SIU. She hit .462 on the week totaling seven hits, including one double, and three runs.

Lair leads the squad at the plate on the season as well, batting her way to a .318 average on 21 hits. She is followed by third baseman Victoria Torrez who is hitting .256 on the season. On the mound, Kelly Birk leads the staff with a 2.32 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 45.1 innings of work.

Scouting SLU... Last time out, the Lady Billikens used late rallies in both ends of a double header to sweep UMKC. They scored to in the top of the seventh to top the Kangaroos 4-2 in the first game and pushed on run over the plate in the ninth for the 4-3 victory. The win gave SLU head coach Jim Malloy his 100th career victory.

Sophomore catcher Tiffany Thurow is leading the offensive attack for the Bills, with 30 hits on 91 at-bats, including three home runs and seven doubles. She is also the squad's RBI leader, driving in 16 thus far. She is followed by Junior outfielder Adrienne May, batting .312, but posting an impressive .402 on-base percentage as she has drawn a team-high 13 walks.

The bullpen is led by freshman Elizabeth Nielson who has posted a 9-11 record with an ERA of 3.94. This hard hurler has also put together 71 strikeouts in 117.1 innings on the mound.

On Deck... a seven-game conference home stretch at the friendly confines of the Southeast Softball Complex. Southeast takes on Eastern Illinois April 1 for a doubleheader a 3:00 p.m. Then the Otahks welcome the Tennessee State Tigers to Cape Girardeau for a double dip on Saturday, April 3 at 1:00 p.m., with a follow-up contest on Sunday scheduled for 1:00 p.m. The home stretch will then be concluded with two games against Austin Peay April 7 at 3:00 p.m.