April 20, 2004

Cape Girardeau, Mo. - After a rough week at home, the Otahkians plan to hit the road for four games this week. First on the agenda will be a stop at Austin Peay on Wednesday, April 21, for a single game at 2:00 p.m. to conclude their three-game series. The squads have split one game a piece so far this season. Then the squad will travel on to Morehead State this weekend for a doubleheader, Saturday, April 24, and one contest on Sunday April 25, both scheduled for noon.

Scouting Southeast... The Otahks (11-27, 6-7 OVC) were swept by Jacksonville State in a three-game series last week. Kelly Birk led the squad, hitting .455 with four RBIs, three runs scored, two doubles and seven total bases over the three-game stretch. Junior Victoria Torrez and senior Alana Bagby-Leonard each hit .400 during the series. Torrez recorded three runs on four hits and two walks, while posting a .500 on base percentage. Bagby-Leonard pumped out four hits as well, including one double, and batted in five runners.

Torrez leads the squad at the plate on the season, batting .321, with an on base percentage of .433. Seniors Jaime Birk and Suzi Lair claim the next to spots, hitting .312 and .310 respectively. Freshman outfielder Florence Davidson continues to out hit the rest of the team as of late, batting .438 in conference competition.

On the mound, K. Birk is providing the squad with the most stable pitching threat. In 84.2 innings of work, she has compiled a 2.07 ERA, while posting 26 strikeouts. While junior Amy Fahnestock leads the squads in wins with five and has struck out a team-high 48 batters in 80.2 innings of work.

"These four games are must win games for us because they are below us in the standings. However, in order to look ahead to playing in the OVC tournament they are must win for our program," remarked Richmond. "We got our hits this past weekend, but we must sharpen up our defense."

Scouting Austin Peay... Last week the Lady Govs (16-29, 6-10) went 1-5, dropping a pair to non-conference opponent, Middle Tennessee, and taking one of three from Eastern Illinois. Sophomore infielder Brianna Venable hit .308 for the week with two doubles and four home runs. Including three in Saturday's EIU doubleheader. She also scored nine runs and drove in ten. Venable's four homers on the week brought her season total to ten, tying APSU's single-season record.

Freshman pitcher and infielder, Sarah Longmire, leads the squad with a .322 batting percentage as she as 39 hits in 121 at bats, driving in 21 runs. Sophomore catcher Amy Hale and freshman pitcher Natasha Anderson follow her, hitting .280 and .286 respectively.

On the mound, Anderson is the squad's stable arm posting an 11-8 record with an ERA of 2.41. In 148 innings of work, she has recorded 172 strikeouts which ranks third in the school's single-season record books.

Scouting Morehead State... In recent outings, the squad lost both ends of a doubleheader to Eastern Kentucky and was swept in a three-game series by Samford. Senior second baseman Summer McGill finished the week batting .467 with two home runs and three RBIs. While she also scored five of Morehead's ten runs over the week period.

Junior pitcher and shortstop Stephanie Hernandez leads the squad at the plate, batting .265 on the season. She has produced 22 hits and batted in 11. Junior first baseman Michelle McCrady leads the squad in RBIs with 13, while her sister freshman catcher Amy McCrady leads the team in homeruns with three. The eagles 15 home runs this season is the second-highest single-season total in school history.

The bullpen's top hurlers are Hernandez and freshman Lauren Cook. Hernandez claims the lowest ERA at 3.11 in 94.2 innings of work. Both pitchers have 43 strikeouts, while Cook has posted one more win with six on the season. She has a 3.60 ERA in 95.1 innings pitched.

On Deck... a four-game conference home series featuring contests with Tennessee-Martin and Eastern Kentucky. Southeast will pair-off with Martin at 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, April 27. Then they will play host to the Lady Colonels Saturday and Sunday, May 1 and 2. Saturday the two will play a double dip at 1:00 p.m., followed by a single game at the same time on Sunday to conclude the series.