Otahkians to host six-team tourney

Southeast Missouri State University's first home action of the softball season will come in the form of a six-team, round-robin tournament.

The annual Southeast Classic will take place today through Sunday on two fields at the Southeast Softball Complex. There is no admission charge.

"We're looking forward to what should be a very good tournament," Southeast coach Lana Richmond said. "It's going to be nice to finally play at home and hopefully we can make some noise in our own tournament, but all five games will be very competitive for us."

Each of the six squads will play five games. There will be just one game today as the Otahkians (2-4) face Southwest Missouri State (10-9) at 4 p.m.

There will be eight games on Saturday and six on Sunday. Also in the tournament are Indiana State (10-7), Bradley (5-7), Iowa State (2-10) and Valparaiso (2-3).

"We've got three Missouri Valley Conference teams in Southwest Missouri, Indiana State and Bradley, and Iowa State is from the Big 12 Conference," Richmond said. "Most of the teams have already played quite a few games, a lot more than us, so it should be an interesting tournament."

Tournament favorite

Richmond regards perennially strong Southwest Missouri State as probably the tournament favorite.

"They're a very strong club, an excellent hitting team, and they have good pitching. If their defense comes in and plays well, I'd look for them to be the strongest team in the tournament," she said. "But the other teams should also be solid. Iowa State, even though their record is not good, they're always strong. They play in such a tough league.

"I think it's a very competitive tournament. It should be a great weekend for Division I softball. If area kids want to come out and watch some Division I softball, this is the place to be."

Richmond said the tournament will continue to be a sorting out process for her squad as it prepares for the start of Ohio Valley Conference play early next month. With 21 more non-conference games on the schedule, the Otahkians should have more than enough time to get ready for the OVC.

"We're trying to get as many games in as possible to try and get ready for the conference season. We set up the schedule to do that," Richmond said. "We have some people platooning and we're still trying to sort out starting positions for once the conference season rolls around."

A bright spot for the Otahkians so far has been the pitching of junior Kelly Birk, who has an 0.61 earned-run average in 14 2/3 innings. The squad's top returning hitter, Birk is batting .312.

"Kelly has been pitching really well at the beginning of the season," Richmond said.

Senior Suzi Lair, after hitting just .174 in limited at-bats last season, is off to a .357 start. Senior Alana Bagby-Leonard joins Birk at .312. Junior-college transfer Victoria Torrez is at .667 but she has just six at-bats.

Southeast Softball Classic

Today

4 p.m. -- Southeast vs. Southwest Missouri

Saturday

10 a.m. -- Southeast vs. Valparaiso; Bradley vs. Indiana St.

noon -- Iowa St. vs. Southwest Missouri; Valparaiso vs. Indiana St.

2 p.m. -- Southeast vs. Iowa St.; Valparaiso vs. Bradley

4 p.m. -- Indiana St. vs. Iowa St.; Southwest Missouri vs. Bradley

Sunday

10 a.m. -- Southeast vs. Indiana St.; Valparaiso vs. Iowa St.

noon -- Bradley vs. Iowa St.; Valparaiso vs. Southwest Missouri

2 p.m. -- Southeast vs. Bradley; Indiana St. vs. Southwest Missouri