OTAHKS ATTEMPTING EXORCISM ON BLUE DEMONS OF DEPAUL

To advance to the biggest stage in school history, Southeast Missouri State University's softball team will have to overcome its biggest obstacle this season -- the DePaul Blue Demons.

For the second straight year, the Otahkians will face DePaul, the Mid-Continent Conference champion, in an NCAA play-in series. Last year in Chicago, the Blue Demons swept Southeast 9-1 and 5-3.

This year Southeast will play host to the best-of-three series.

Today's doubleheader at Parker Field will begin at 2 p.m. A game will be played Friday if needed.

The Otahkians (38-11-1) blasted Eastern Illinois 13-4 Monday night in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship game. But it appears DePaul is far superior to the Panthers.

DePaul (41-6) is ranked No. 13 in the USA Today/NFCA coaches top 25 poll. Southeast's only games against ranked teams this season -- a doubleheader split -- were against No. 22 Missouri.

Of the Blue Demons' 41 wins, 26 were shutouts. DePaul's pitching trio of Liza Brown, Nicole Terpstra and Julie Luna have a combined earned-run average of 0.51.

The challenge appears daunting. But it hasn't dampened Southeast coach Lana Richmond's spirits.

"With the play-in being at home, that's tremendous for us," Richmond said. "If we can make it out to the first round of the NCAAs, then I think that's a tremendous jump for our program. And we've got the opportunity to do that at our place."

To have a chance, Southeast, which has won four of the last five OVC Tournaments, will need several players to boost their production like tournament Most Valuable Player Jenny Oermann did this weekend.

Oermann, a junior shortstop, batted .631 (12-for-19) in the tournament, and played brilliant defense. Entering the tournament, Oermann was batting .400. Five games later her average is a team-leading .428.

"What she did offensively, defensively during the whole tournament -- she just had a tremendous tournament," Richmond said. "What can I say about her?"

Richmond can say Oermann has played every inning of Southeast's 155 games the last three years. She was named the all-OVC shortstop each year.

"She's our Cal Ripken," Richmond said. "When the pressure's on, Jenny Oermann steps it up. This young lady comes to play every game."

While Oermann said it was "a big honor" to be named tournament MVP, she deflected any praise showered her way.

"It wasn't just me; it was everybody," she said. "I knew I had a good tournament, but I also think there were some other people on our team that were just as deserving -- (Chris) Shetley and (Kim) Palmer. Their bats were huge."

Shetley set a school record with seven RBIs in the championship game Monday night. The senior right fielder's .351 batting average is third on the team and her seven home runs rank second.

Palmer, a senior center fielder who was the OVC player of the year last season, leads the team with a school-record 10 home runs and 43 RBIs, and her .397 batting average is second on the team. Palmer is also Southeast's career record-holder for homers with 15.

Oermann, Shetley and Palmer and pitchers Debbie Schmelz and Christine Engelhardt were named to the OVC all-tournament team.

Schmelz, a junior right-hander and the team's ace, is 19-5 and has a 1.27 ERA. Engelhardt, a junior right-hander who got the win in the tournament title game, is 16-5 with a 2.56 ERA.

Schmelz and Engelhardt will try to contain a DePaul offense led by Yvette Healy and Karen Stewart. Healy leads the Blue Demons with a .456 batting average, and Stewart has hit 11 home runs and has 53 RBIs.