Redhawks need to bolster OVC hopes against visiting Colonels

~ Southeast enters the weekend in a tie for seventh place in the conference.

It has been more than a month since the Southeast Missouri State baseball team captured its one -- and only -- Ohio Valley Conference series win of the season.

If the Redhawks are going to make a late push to qualify for the OVC tournament, it is imperative they add some series victories to their resume.

Southeast's next chance will come this weekend, as they host hard-hitting Eastern Kentucky in a three-game set at Capaha Field. There will be a 3 p.m. doubleheader today and a 1 p.m. contest Sunday.

The Redhawks (16-26, 7-11) are tied for seventh place in the 10-team OVC, while the Colonels (21-20, 10-7) are in third place. The top six finishers qualify for the league tournament.

Southeast is two games out of sixth place with nine games remaining. The Redhawks have made the OVC tournament in each of coach Mark Hogan's previous 11 seasons.

"We really need to pick things up," junior reliever Josh Parham said. "I think we still have a good chance to make the tournament, but we have to start winning some games."

The Redhawks won their only conference series when they swept visiting Murray State the first weekend in April, which evened their league record at 3-3.

But since then the Redhawks have gone 1-2 in four straight OVC series, including last weekend at Eastern Illinois, when they salvaged the finale behind five hitless innings from Parham. The 4-3 victory broke a five-game Southeast losing streak.

The Redhawks can perhaps draw some inspiration from last year, when they were also 7-11 in the OVC and in danger of not making the conference tournament. Southeast rallied by winning eight of its final nine league games.

For the Redhawks to begin a strong finishing kick this weekend, they'll have to overcome the OVC's most dangerous offensive team -- and one that has beaten Southeast seven straight times.

Eastern Kentucky leads the OVC with a .307 batting average, and that mark is even higher in conference games at .335. The Colonels are also first in home runs with 48.

"They've always got a very good team, particularly offensively," Hogan said. "And they've always given us a lot of problems."

Charlie Yarbrough, on the watch list for national player of the year, is hitting .366 while leading the league in home runs (15) and RBIs (54).

Tony Wells leads the Colonels with a .381 average -- fifth in the OVC -- while 12 of Chris O'Dell's 18 extra-base hits have come in conference play, giving him a league-high .815 slugging percentage against OVC opponents. He has 10 home runs overall.

In addition, the Colonels' Lucas Waters leads the conference in stolen bases with 25, as he has been thrown out just six times.

Eastern Kentucky also features one of the OVC's premier pitchers in freshman left-hander Christian Friedrich, who is 7-1 with a 2.25 earned-run average.