Redhawks softball team heads into series of tests

Second-place Southeast plays at fourth-place Eastern Kentucky today and tomorrow.

The Southeast softball team is in second place in the Ohio Valley Conference, but coach Lana Richmond knows the true tests for the Redhawks are yet to come.

So far, Southeast (24-10, 11-1) has played its four OVC series against squads currently in sixth through 10th place in the standings.

The Redhawks, winners of 20 of their past 23 games, have not yet faced any of the top five teams in the standings, but that will change beginning today.

Southeast visits fourth-place Eastern Kentucky (23-18, 8-5) for a three-game series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader today and a 1 p.m. contest Saturday.

Also in the next few weeks, the Redhawks will play at first-place Tennessee Tech and host third-place Jacksonville State, along with facing fifth-place Eastern Illinois at home and on the road.

"We've been playing well and we're having a good season, but now we're really going to start finding out if we're a contender for the conference title," Richmond said.

Tennis still alive

The Southeast tennis team will close out its regular season today with a 2 p.m. home match against Eastern Illinois, as the Redhawks continue to chase an OVC tournament berth.

Southeast (11-11, 3-6), Morehead State and Jacksonville State are all fighting for the sixth and final spot in the conference tournament.

Jacksonville State has finished its league schedule with a 4-6 record, while Morehead State is 4-4 but finishes against favored Tennessee Tech on Saturday and Eastern Kentucky on Monday.

The Redhawks, having their best season since 1997 under third-year coach Jay Pacelli, will be favored to beat Eastern Illinois. If that happens, there is a chance of a three-way tie for sixth place in the 11-team league.

In the event of a tie, since Southeast beat Jacksonville State and lost to Morehead State while Jacksonville State beat Morehead State, head-to-head competition cannot be used to break the deadlock.

The next tie-breaker of how the squads fared against the other teams in the conference starting from the top would also be thrown out because they all would have beaten and lost to the same teams.

In that case, the tie would be broken by a vote among the other coaches in the conference.

"We just have to take care of business against Eastern Illinois and then hopefully we can get into a tie-breaker," Pacelli said.

-- From staff reports