OVC VISITS CAPAHA; TOURNEY BEGINS TODAY

If what happened during the regular season is any indication, then the 1999 Ohio Valley Conference baseball tournament should be something.

The six teams who will begin play at Capaha Field today were separated in the final OVC standings by a mere four games. That should make for quite a wide-open shootout when the tourney kicks off this morning.

"The tournament is so evenly matched, it should be a great tournament, another typical (OVC) tournament," said Southeast Missouri State University coach Mark Hogan, whose team is hosting the event. "It should be a very entertaining tournament, really tough."

Eastern Illinois coach Jim Schmitz, whose squad won the regular-season title and is the No. 1 seed ahead of Southeast, agrees with Hogan.

"I'm not a betting man, but I sure wouldn't put money on anybody," said Schmitz, who earlier this week was named OVC Coach of the Year for the second straight season. "We feel confident going in there, but I'm sure the other five people also do.

"It should be a great tournament. It sounds like a cliche, but whoever plays the best the next three days will come out as champion."

As the top two seeds, Eastern Illinois (29-21 overall, 17-7 OVC) and Southeast (27-25, 15-8) earned important first-round byes to move directly into the semifinals.

Action will get under way at 10 a.m. today with a game between fourth-seeded Middle Tennessee (26-29, 14-10) and fifth-seeded Austin Peay (29-26, 13-10).

At 1:30 p.m., third-seeded Eastern Kentucky (33-23, 14-10) faces sixth-seeded Murray State (30-24, 13-11).

The losers of those first two games are eliminated from the tournament, but after that the four-team bracket becomes a double-elimination affair.

Today's first semifinal, at 5 p.m., will pit Eastern Illinois against the Middle Tennessee-Austin Peay winner.

Then at 8:30 p.m., the other semifinal will feature Southeast against the Eastern Kentucky-Murray State winner.

The two semifinal losers will play an elimination game at noon Friday, with the semifinal winners meeting in the winner's bracket final at 3:30 p.m.. The loser's bracket final will follow at 7 p.m.

Saturday's championship game is set for 1 p.m. If a final contest is needed to determine the tournament winner, that would follow.

Tickets for each day's session are $6 for adults and $3 for students with a Southeast ID or anyone 18-and-under. For tonight only, there will be a twilight special, with tickets to the final game costing $3 for adults and $1 for Southeast students and those 18-under.

"Hopefully fans will come out to see some great baseball," Hogan said. "It should be really exciting. Eastern Illinois has had a very good year, very consistent, and they probably deserve to be the favorite. We feel good about our chances, but everybody is dangerous and can win it. That's why the tournament should be so good."

Most of the top talent in the OVC will be in Cape Girardeau for the tournament. Twelve of the 13 players who were named first-team all-OVC play for one of the six tourney teams. All told, 23 of the 28 players on the first and second all-league squads will be in the tournament.

Following is a brief look at the tournament's five visiting teams in order of their seeding:

Eastern Illinois

The Panthers, who also won last year's OVC regular-season title before falling to Southeast in the tourney finals, lost their first 11 games this season but they recovered well by winning 29 of their last 39.

"I'm very happy with the year," said Schmitz. "Last year we had a lot of good things happening, but to come back and repeat says a lot about the quality of these kids."

First baseman Mark Thomse (.357, 8 HR, 42 RBIs) leads the Eastern offense, with support from all-OVC catcher Ryan Bridgewater (.323, 7 HR, 40 RBIs) and third baseman Matt Marzec (.315, 12 HR, 36 RBIs). The Panthers bat .295 as a team.

Eastern has two dominating pitchers in starter John Larson (10-2, 2.61 ERA) and reliever Jeremy Sanders (8-1, 3 S, 2.06 ERA). Larson is the OVC Pitcher of the Year while Sanders also made the all-league team. The Panthers' other primary starters during the season, Matt Gage (1-8, 7.58 ERA) and Mike Ziroli (3-4, 7.60 ERA), have struggled, but Eastern's team ERA of 5.47 is second in the OVC.

Asked how frustrating it is for his team to have earned the right to host the OVC Tournament on the field the last two years by winning regular-season titles -- only to be ineligible to host because Eastern's field has no lights -- Schmitz said he really didn't want to go there.

"As a team, we don't even address the issue," he said. "We can't do anything about it. We go in as the No. 1 seed and hopefully we can win the tournament."

Eastern Kentucky

The Colonels led the OVC in batting at .329, in home runs with 92 and in runs scored with 441, but their pitchers rank next-to-last in ERA at 6.75.

Third baseman Jason Sharp (.387, 8 HR, 34 RBIs), all-OVC first baseman Lee Chapman (.358, 19 HR, 63 RBIs), all-OVC outfielder Sean Murray (.353, 11 HR, 54 RBIs) and designated hitter Adam Basil (.338, 12 HR, 45 RBIs) head up an offense that features several other dangerous weapons.

Leading the hurlers are Chip Albright (8-5, 4.04 ERA), Corey Eagle (7-4, 6.35), Eric Bess (7-5, 7.74 ERA) and relief ace Mike Martini (6-1, 5 S, 4.31 ERA).

"I feel good about the way we're playing," said Eastern coach Jim Ward. "This should be a really competitive tournament."

Middle Tennessee

The Raiders boast the league's Player of the Year in third baseman Josh Pride (.376, OVC-best 20 HR, 49 RBIs, OVC-best 65 runs).

Other Middle offensive standouts are first baseman Ty Curley (.371, 10 HR, 43 RBIs) and all-OVC second baseman Bryan Peck (.348, 16 HR, 52 RBIs). The Raiders hit .294 as a team and their 70 homers rank second in the league.

Middle's team ERA of 6.11 is fourth in the OVC. The Raiders' pitchers are led by Jamie Powers (5-6, 4.37 ERA), Dewon Brazelton (7-5, 4.44 ERA), Kris Lammers (4-3, 4.58 ERA) and reliever Aaron Barnett (2-2, 5 S, 5.44 ERA).

"I think the tournament is wide open," said Middle coach Steve Peterson. "Eastern Illinois proved they're the champion of the league, but that doesn't mean they'll win it.

"It always goes back to pitching. I think everybody has a pitcher that can beat somebody, then it comes down to depth."

Austin Peay

The Governors of coach Gary McClure hit .317 as a team, second best in the league, led by all-OVC outfielder Buddy Dubois (.402), whose average ranked him second in the conference.

Other offensive standouts for the Govs are outfielder Pat O'Sullivan (.368, 16 HR, OVC-best 65 RBIs), all-OVC designated hitter Joe Lancaster (.366, 11 HR, 38 RBIs), first baseman Aaron Hempel (.359, 10 HR, 36 RBIs), shortstop Jess Sayre (.350, 41 RBIs) and second baseman Greg Troy (.336, 40 RBIs).

Austin Peay used a variety of starting pitchers during the season, with George Sherrill (5-6, 3.44 ERA) having the most success. A weapon in relief is Nathan Stecker (5-0, 4 S, 4.40 ERA). The Govs have a team ERA of 6.29.

Murray State

Todd Fox is a multi-dimensional weapon for the Thouroughbreds of coach Mike Thieke.

Fox made the all-OVC team as a utility player based on his prowess offensively (.350, 39 RBIs) and as a relief pitcher (2-2, OVC-best 6 S, 1.09 ERA).

Other major offensive weapons for the Thoroughbreds, who hit .293 as a team -- which ranked eighth in the league -- are first baseman Dan Loyd (.330, 12 HR, 50 RBIs), outfielder Chris Williams (.324) and designated hitter Robert Weatherly (.276, 13 HR, 46 RBIs).

Murray's team ERA of 5.70 ranked third in the OVC. Top starters have been Greg Harvey (8-6, 4.42 ERA), Preston Hesley (4-2, 5.91 ERA), Aaron Russelburg (4-4, 6.23 ERA) and Shawn Burns (3-0, 8.10 ERA).

OVC Baseball Tournament

(at Capaha Field)

Today's Games

10 a.m. (Game 1) -- Middle Tennessee vs. Austin Peay

1:30 p.m. (Game 2) -- Eastern Kentucky vs. Murray State

5 p.m. (Game 3) -- Eastern Illinois vs. Game 1 winner

8:30 p.m. (Game 4) -- Southeast Missouri vs. Game 2 winner

Friday's Games

Noon (Game 5) -- Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser

3:30 p.m. (Game 6) -- Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner

7 p.m. (Game 7) -- Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 loser

Saturday's Games

Championship

1 p.m. (Game 8) -- Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner

(If Game 8 winner has one previous tournament loss, then Game 9 will be played 30 minutes after Game 8)