CATCHER, HITTER, LEADER: ENOS WILL LEAVE BIG SHOES BEHIND

Renee Enos is nearing the end of her impressive Southeast Missouri State University softball career, but she's counting on squeezing out as many extra games as she can.

Enos and her teammates will have their final regular-season contest today at Austin Peay, but their real focus will be on winning this weekend's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament in Cookeville, Tenn., which would be the first step toward qualifying for the NCAA tourney.

"That's our goal, to get back to the NCAA Tournament," said Enos, who participated on Southeast's only team to qualify for the NCAA Division I tourney, in 1999. "This team has a lot of heart and I think we can do it."

According to Southeast coach Lana Richmond, her senior catcher from Bakersfield, Calif., certainly isn't lacking in the heart department and she is a big reason why a win today will give the Otahkians their sixth OVC championship in the past seven years, although they would have to settle for a title tie with Tennessee Tech.

"What Renee has done for us is a tribute to all the hard work she has put in," said Richmond. "She's worked extremely hard to get to where she is."

Enos, a four-year starter who earned first-team all-OVC honors last season and made the second team the two previous years, is leaving her mark in the Otahkians' record book. She ranks fourth on the school's all-time hit list with 167, she is fourth in doubles (33), sixth in runs batted in (96) and seventh in games played (188).

And her final season has been particularly strong. A solid candidate for OVC Player of the Year honors, Enos is the conference's third-leading hitter with a .397 average. She is also among the league leaders in doubles with 10.

"She's had a great career for us," Richmond said. "To come in and start right away as a freshman...she's such a force in the OVC offensively and behind the plate. Her career numbers are outstanding and she's a real leader for us."

Enos, who always seems to be wearing a smile, considers herself fortunate to have had such an impressive career.

"I guess I've been real lucky. I've started every year," she said. "And the time has just flown by."

Enos, Southeast's only senior starter, came to Southeast all the way from Bakersfield, Calif., thanks in part because the Otahkians had recruited another Bakersfield native the year before. She's never regretted traveling halfway across the country to play softball and get a college education.

"It's been great," said Enos, who is majoring in athletic training and plans to be a student assistant coach with the Otahkians next year. "I love the school, the town, everything. And to be a part of such a great program...all the wins have really made it nice."

If the Otahkians can win today -- they're heavily favored -- then Enos will have been a part of three OVC regular-season championship teams. She counts all of her moments at Southeast as special, but she picks out that 1999 NCAA tourney appearance as her biggest sports thrill so far.

"That was probably the highlight," she said. "That was huge. I got to play with a great group of girls, and we even won a game (in the NCAAs, becoming the first OVC school to do so).

"Hopefully we can get back there (the NCAAs) again. That's what we're shooting for."