Otahks face hot-hitting Gamecocks

Southeast Missouri State University's softball team hosts one of the nation's top offensive squads this weekend in a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series.

OVC newcomer Jacksonville (Ala.) State provides the opposition in today's 1 p.m. doubleheader and Sunday's 1 p.m. single game.

The Gamecocks are second nationally in scoring with an average of 7.3 runs per game and they rank third in hitting with a .337 average. The official NCAA Web site does not yet list team home run leaders, but JSU tops the OVC with 70.

"They're a very good hitting team," Southeast coach Lana Richmond said. "I feel like they're going to get their hits. The key for us is don't give them any extra opportunities, like walks and errors, that kind of thing.

"A lot of their OVC games have been slugfests, so we should have the opportunity to score some runs."

Southeast (11-24, 6-4) is in fourth place in the 10-team OVC while JSU (26-16, 5-6) is sixth. Eastern Kentucky leads the league at 12-1, with Tennessee Tech and Samford tied for second at 8-5.

While the Gamecocks are potent offensively, their pitching has struggled as they rank last in the OVC with a 3.96 earned-run average. The staff suffered a major blow in the offseason when ace Tera Ross was killed in an automobile accident.

Southeast is averaging just 2.9 runs per game and has a .238 batting average, but the Otahkians ERA is much lower than JSU's at 2.74.

Suzi Lair (.311), Victoria Torrez (.310) and Jamie Birk (.309) lead the way offensively. Kelly Birk (4-8, 1.98), Jessica Hunter (2-7, 2.29) and Amy Fahnestock (5-7, 3.53) are the top pitchers.

For JSU, Melinda McDonald (.453) and Daniela Pappano (.403) lead seven regulars who are hitting better than .300. Pappano has 13 home runs while Rachel Countryman has homered 14 times.

Primary JSU pitchers have been Breanne Oleman (7-3, 2.06), Emily Espenel (5-2, 3.00) and Katy White (12-9, 4.28).