INDIANS TRY TO LIGHT UP CAPAHA; SE HOPES FINAL SERIES SECURES OVC TOURNAMENT

Southeast Missouri State University's baseball Indians appear to have everything going their way as they try to secure the host spot for the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

But Southeast coach Mark Hogan knows the Indians still have their work cut out for them entering the final weekend of the regular season.

"We've got our destiny in our own hands," said Hogan. "It's going to be an exciting weekend, but we have to make sure we take care of business."

The business at hand is to take care of Tennessee Tech in a three-game home series this weekend. The squads will have a 4 p.m. doubleheader today and a 2 p.m. single game Sunday.

Southeast enters its final regular-season games in second place in the OVC but in first place as far as the chase to host the league tournament is concerned.

Only teams whose fields have lights are eligible to serve as host, which leaves out five of the nine OVC squads, including Eastern Illinois, which has already wrapped up the regular-season championship with a 17-7 record. The Panthers are through with their league schedule and have locked up the No. 1 seed for next week's OVC Tournament.

The Indians, 13-7, are in a three-way battle with two other teams that also have lights. Middle Tennessee is a half-game behind Southeast at 13-8 while Austin Peay is another half-game back at 12-8.

While Southeast closes out the regular season against eighth-place Tennessee Tech (6-15), Middle Tennessee visits fifth-place Eastern Kentucky (12-9) while Austin Peay visits sixth-place Murray State (11-10).

So on paper, the Indians' chances of hosting the tournament for the second year in a row look good. But as crazy as the OVC has been during most of the season, Hogan knows better than to take anything for granted.

"Not in this league. It's been so balanced," he said. "It's exciting to know that we have the opportunity to host the tournament for the second year in a row, but we'll have to play well this weekend."

Hogan knows Southeast can't afford to take the Eagles lightly, even if they have had a disappointing season and have been eliminated from contention for a berth in the league tourney (the top six teams qualify).

"If we take them lightly, we'll be traveling (for the tournament)," he said. "You can look at it a lot of different ways. It's going to be the end of Tech's season and they're going to give every effort for the seniors and just to close the season strong."

Speaking of seniors, the Indians, who are 25-24 overall, will have quite a few playing their final regular-season home games this weekend.

Southeast has 10 seniors, many of them who have been the stars of the Indians' OVC resurgence over the past two seasons.

"We've got a lot of seniors who have meant so much to our program," Hogan said. "Regular-season wise, they're going to play their last games at home and they want to finish strong."

Part of Tennessee Tech's problems this season can be related to their pitching staff, which ranks last in the OVC in earned-run average at more than 7.00. Conversely, Southeast is first at just above 5.00.

But the Eagles, 16-34 overall, are solid offensively, ranking fourth in the league at close to .300.

A three-game sweep would mean that Southeast will definitely host the OVC Tournament next Thursday through Saturday. Anything less than a sweep and the Indians will need Middle Tennessee and Austin Peay to lose at least one game over the weekend.

INDIAN NOTES: The "Tiger" Joe Uhls Baseball Locker Room, which the Indians have been using all season, will officially be dedicated today with an open house.

Named for the former longtime Southeast coach, the dedication of the locker room will be held from 11 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Many of the late coach's family members will be on hand.

The locker room, located in Houck Field House, was made possible through donations by the Uhls family, former players and other contributors...

Today will be Kohlfeld Distributing Day at Capaha Field, with free beverages and hot dogs provided.