CAPAHA FIELD: OVC'S FIELD OF DREAMS; SIX TEAMS SETTING SIGHTS ON OVC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT

The way Southeast Missouri State University baseball coach Mark Hogan sees it, everybody is dangerous in the 1998 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

That means any of the six teams figure to have a solid chance to win the tourney that opens today and runs through Saturday at Capaha Field in Cape Girardeau.

"I think this is the most balanced tournament from top to bottom since I've been in the league," said Hogan, the Indians' fourth-year coach. "I respect every ballclub that will be here. Everybody has good players and it should be an excellent tournament."

Regular-season champion Eastern Illinois (35-14 overall, 17-6 OVC) and runner-up Southeast (27-22, 15-9) are the top two seeds, thus earning first-round byes and moving right into the semifinals.

Action will get under way at 10 a.m. today with a game between fourth-seeded Murray State (19-32, 13-11) and fifth-seeded Eastern Kentucky (22-26, 12-12).

At 1:30 p.m., third-seeded and defending tourney champion Tennessee Tech (28-23, 14-10) faces sixth-seeded Morehead State (19-32, 12-12).

The losers of those first two games are eliminated from the tournament, but after that the four-team bracket becomes a double-elimination affair.

Today's first semifinal, at 5 p.m., will pit Eastern Illinois against the Murray State-Eastern Kentucky winner.

Then at 8:30 p.m., the other semifinal will feature Southeast against the Tennessee Tech-Morehead State winner.

The two semifinal losers will play an elimination game at noon Friday, with the semifinal winners meeting in the winner's bracket final at 3:30 p.m. The loser's bracket final will follow at 7 p.m.

Saturday's championship game is set for 3 p.m. If a final contest is needed to determine the tourney winner, that would follow.

Hogan believes Eastern Illinois, which led the OVC standings virtually wire to wire and topped the league with a .352 batting average, deserves to rate as the pre-tournament favorite. The Panthers are not hosting the tourney because their field has no lights, which made them ineligible to host.

"They had very good year. Going in, you have to give them the nod," he said. "They're tough from top to bottom. They don't have any apparent weaknesses."

But Hogan said no tourney team can be overlooked.

"Everybody is dangerous," he said. "That's why this tournament should be so much fun."

Most of the top talent from around the OVC during the regular season will in Cape Girardeau for the tournament. In fact, every player who was selected to the 12-member All-OVC first team plays for one of the six tourney squads. And all told, 24 of the 25 players on the first and second all-league teams will be in the tourney.

The top four offensive teams in the league are Eastern Illinois (.352 team average), Tennessee Tech (.341), Eastern Kentucky (.322) and Murray State (.317).

Southeast leads the league in earned-run average at 4.96, with Eastern Illinois a distant second at 6.28.

Seventeen of the OVC's top 20 hitters by average will be in the tournament, led by Murray State's Craig Delk (.419) and Tennessee Tech's Ryan Browning (.408).

Eastern Illinois has five of the league's top hitters, all with an average of at least .375. And the Panthers placed five players on the All-OVC first team, including sophomore third baseman Matt Marzec, who was selected OVC Player of the Year.

Marzec missed nearly all of last season with a shoulder injury, but returned in 1998 to rank among the OVC leaders in several categories. He batted .383 with 15 home runs, 12 doubles, 49 runs scored and an OVC-leading 57 RBIs. He ranks third in home runs and fourth in batting average. He also committed just six errors in 112 chances.

Jim Schmitz of Eastern Illinois was also named OVC Coach of the Year.

Southeast's Charlie Marino leads the OVC in homers with 18 while. Eastern Illinois' Mark Tomse has 16 homers, second in the league. All told, nine of the conference's top 10 home-run hitters will be in the tourney.

In the pitching department, Eastern Illinois has by far the OVC's dominant reliever in Bobby Castelli, who has a 6-1 record and 10 saves along with a league-best 1.82 ERA. Castelli, who has been clocked close to 95 miles per hour, has 65 strikeouts in just 49 1/3 innings.

Southeast has the league's top starter in Ryan Spille, who is 9-1 to lead the OVC in wins and has a 1.96 ERA to rank second in the conference. The left-hander's 114 strikeouts are also second in the OVC. He was named the league's Pitcher of the Year.

Castelli and Spille were named the OVC's two first-team pitchers while the two second-team hurlers -- Southeast's Jason Swearingen and Morehead State's 6-foot-9 Jon Rauch -- will also be in the tournament.

"I think people in this area are going to have the opportunity to see some great baseball," said Hogan. "I think every team here will have some pitching and a decent defense. Whoever swings the bat will have the upper hand."

The OVC tourney winner will host the Southwestern Athletic Conference champion next week in a play-in series to determine an NCAA Tournament berth.

* Ticket prices for the OVC Tournament are as follows:

A one-day pass is $6 for adults and $3 for students and children; a complete tourney pass is $15 for adults and $6 for students and children; and admission for the last game of each day is $3 for adults and $1 for students and children.