April 17, 2002

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Southeast Missouri (9-22, 6-10 OVC)
vs. Eastern Illinois Panthers (14-16, 6-7)
April 18, 2002, 2:00 p.m.
Charleston, Ill. - Williams Field (300)
All-Time Series: Southeast leads 19-12.

About Southeast: A week of busy and important softball action continues for the Southeast Missouri State Otahkians. Fresh off a doubleheader split with Tennessee-Martin, Southeast heads right back to the road to battle Eastern Illinois.

The Otahks will look for some revenge against EIU, after the Panthers swept a doubleheader on Southeast's home field last week. The Otahkians blew a seventh inning lead in game one of that doubleheader and went on to drop game two by a 6-0 margin. The game is even more important when considering that both teams have six wins in conference play and both are fighting for playoff seeding.

On Tuesday, Southeast was able to convert when needed in two pitcher's duel's against UTM. In game one, senior outfielder Courtney Eklund hit a huge two-run homerun to give Southeast a three-run lead in the fourth inning and the Otahkians held on for a 3-2 lead. In game two, Southeast built a 1-0 first inning lead, but the Skyhawks were able to score two in the sixth inning to go on to the victory.

After facing the reigning OVC Pitcher of the Week in Kendra Kosco on Tuesday, Southeast will now battle the reigning OVC Player of the Week in Eastern's Kristin Lovering. Lovering was 5-8 in the doubleheader against the Otahkians last week. Jen Green still leads EIU in hitting with a .311 average and Kristin Becker is the Panthers ace on the mound, holding a 8-8 overall record and 2.48 E.R.A.

For Southeast, freshman pitcher Kelly Birk has been the ace of the Otahkian staff the past week. She threw a complete-game shutout versus Tennessee Tech last weekend and a four-hitter against the Skyhawks on Tuesday. She is 4-7 with a 3.42 E.R.A. this season.

Eastern Illinois has won the last three meetings in the series with Southeast, including eliminating the Otahks from the 2001 OVC Tournament. Southeast coach Lana Richmond and EIU coach Lloydene Searle enter Thursday's contest with 618 and 617 career victories apeice respectively.

About the Opposition: Eastern Illinois (14-16, 6-7)

Eastern Illinois enters Thursday in fourth place in the Ohio Valley Conference as the regular season begins to wrap-up. EIU brings a 6-7 record into the game, three games back of third place Eastern Illinois and just above Southeast, Morehead State and Austin Peay.

Last week, EIU took a doubleheader from Southeast at the Southeast Complex and has won three straight in the series, including eliminating the Otahkians from the 2001 OVC Tournament.

Eastern is being led by DP Jen Green, who is hitting .311 on the season. She leads the team in hits, doubles and slugging percentage. Kristin Lovering is the reigning OVC Player of the Week after blistering Southeast by going 5-8 in the doubleheader last week. She is at .266 on the season but leads the team in runs.

On the mound, Kristen Becker is the Panthers ace. She is 8-8 on the season with a 2.48 E.R.A. in 112.1 innings pitched. Becker owns 13 complete games on the season, while the Southeast staff has only eight combined complete games amongst their entire rotation.

EIU Statistical Leaders

Batting:	Jen Green (.311)
Hits:    	Green (28)
Runs:	        Kristin Lovering (16)
2B:		Green (9)
3B:		Amy Barr (2)
HR:		Jill Blackburn (3)
RBI:		Blackburn (17)
SB:		Dana Yocum (4)
E.R.A.:	        Kristin Becker (2.48)
IP:		Becker (112.1)
Wins:	        Becker (8)
K's:		Becker (75)

Coaching Comparisons

Southeast - Lana Richmond
At SEMO (20 yrs.) - 618-350-2


Eastern Illinois - Lloydene Searle
At EIU (5 yr.) - 108-136
Overall (22 yr.) - 617-506

Southeast Notes

Finally a Shutout: Freshman pitcher Kelly Birk threw Southeast's first shutout of the season, when the Otahkians blanked Tennessee Tech 2-0 on Saturday. Birk allowed just five hits and got great help from the Otahkian defense in picking up her 3rd victory of the season.

Helping Her Own Cause: Kelly Birk helped her own cause in that Tech victory, knocking in the game-winning RBI with a bases loaded single in the second inning.

One More About Birk: Following the Tech performance, Kelly Birk threw a complete-game four-hitter against Tennessee-Martin in game one of a Tuesday doubleheader. The victory was her fourth of the season and second of the past week.

One Runs Games: Southeast could easily be 13-3 in OVC games this year, instead of their current 6-10. The Otahkians have dropped seven one-run games this year.

Scoring Too Early?: Southeast has a 6-9 record this season when it scores first in games. However, their record is only 1-10 when scoring in the first inning of games this year.

Hitting Streaks: SS Dawn Piantino has the longest current hitting streak at five games. Brooke Nett owns the longest streak at any point of the season, seven games.

Too Many Strikeouts: Offensively this season, Southeast has struck out 165 times at bat. That is an amazing 84 more times than their opponents have struck out this season.

Twice is Nice: Versus Tennessee Tech in game one on Saturday, Southeast turned an amazing three double plays, all to end innings and Golden Eagle scoring threats. The most impressive was a fly out to rightfield that Courtney Eklund grabbed an nailed the runner at home plate trying to score. On the season, Southeast has recorded 16 double plays, after turning only 10 all of last year.

Two Down, Five To Go: Southeast split with UT-Martin on Tuesday and has a game versus Eastern Illinois on Thursday and a three-game series with Morehead State this weekend. Southeast's place in the OVC Tournament should be determined after this stretch.

Avoid the Fifth: Southeast has been outscored 27-9 in the fifth inning this season. The Otahkians only hold a scoring advantage over their opponents in one inning, the first (20-18).

Injury Update: Both Alicia Loucks and Michelle Lunsford will miss most of this week's action with injuries. Loucks strained some ligaments in her leg after getting ran into at home-plate. Lunsford received a mild concussion after stealing second base against Tennessee Tech on Saturday.

The Otahkians are . . .

        6-9	When they score first.
	1-10	When scoring in the first inning.
	9-1	When leading after six innings.
	0-16	When trailing after six innings.
	7-1	When outhitting their opponents.
	4-7	When committing fewer errors than opponent.
	4-5	When hitting at least one home run.
	3-6	When turning at least one double play.
	5-2	When stealing more bases than opponent.
	5-8	When they steal at least one base.
	4-2	When they strike out less than opponent.
	4-10	When they draw at least two base on balls.
	3-9	When leaving fewer than five runners on base.
        2-9 	In one-run games.
	1-3	In two-run games.
	3-8	In five + run games.
	1-5	In shutout games.
	0-1	In extra inning games.
	9-18	In games starting before 5:00 p.m.
	0-4	In games starting after 5:00 p.m.
	6-16	When playing in a doubleheader game.
	2-0	On Monday.
	2-6	On Tuesday.
	0-2	On Wednesday.
	0-2	On Thursday.
	1-5	On Friday.
	4-4	On Saturday.
	0-3	On Sunday.

OVC Standings

	                OVC				Overall
	                W	L	T	Pct.	W	L	T	Pct.
Eastern Kentucky     	10	2	0	.833	24	11	0	.686
Tennessee-Martin	11	4	0	.733	22	23	0	.489
Tennessee Tech	        8	3	0	.727	25	19	0	.568
Eastern Illinois	6	7	0	.461	14	16	0	.467
Austin Peay	        5	7	1	.423	16	27	1	.375
Morehead State	        5	8	1	.393	9	24	1	.279
Southeast Missouri 	6	10	0	.375	9	22	0	.290
Tennessee State	        3	11	0	.214	9	25	0	.265