Southeast Missouri State baseball team puts OVC title hopes on the line

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team hopes to derail Austin Peay's anticipated march to the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title while keeping alive its own championship aspirations.

First-place Austin Peay and second-place Southeast meet in Clarksville, Tenn., for a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday and a 1 p.m. contest Sunday.

"It should be a real battle," Southeast coach Mark Hogan said about the three-game series.

Austin Peay has put some distance between itself and Southeast thanks to sweeping two straight OVC series, including last weekend against defending regular-season champion Tennessee Tech.

"That says it all, to sweep a good team like Tech. They're going to be sky high," Hogan said. "They've been real hot. Somebody needs to slow them down. I hope it's us."

The Governors (25-20, 13-4 OVC) lead Southeast (28-17, 10-6) by 2 1/2 games. Both squads have six league contests left.

"With what they've done, it's put them in a strong position," said Hogan, whose club ends the regular season next weekend with a home series against Eastern Illinois. "Mathematically we're still there. Our job is to keep them from closing it out against us and take it to the last weekend."

While the Redhawks lost ground in the OVC title race when they were idle last weekend, they made gains in their quest to grab at least second place. Southeast leads its nearest pursuers by 1 1/2 games.

The top two finishers earn byes for the first round of the six-team conference tournament, which sends its winner to the NCAA tournament. Four of the six winners had byes since the current league tournament format began in 2005.

"It's really important to get one of those byes," Hogan said.

Austin Peay is having a resurgent season after missing the OVC tournament the past two years. The Govs had earned 10 straight tournament berths before the last two seasons.

The Govs have three regular-season titles in the last eight years (2003, 2004, 2007), the most in the league during that period. They captured two OVC tournament crowns during that stretch (2005 and 2007).

Austin Peay coach Gary McClure recently notched his 700th win at his alma mater, second-most in OVC history.

"They've had a really good program and he's done a great job," Hogan said. "It's hard to be a top-end club every year."

While the Govs were picked just seventh in the OVC's preseason poll, the Redhawks were tabbed for second.

The Redhawks are closing in on extending their league record of 16 straight OVC tournament berths. Southeast has made the postseason event every season under Hogan, winning titles in 1998 and 2002.

"The main thing is, I want us to finish strong. We've been playing well," said Hogan, whose squad has won 12 of its last 15 games and most recently beat 16th-ranked ranked Arkansas on the road.

Austin Peay had an overall seven-game winning streak snapped Wednesday at Evansville. The Govs have posted seven straight OVC victories and captured five consecutive OVC series. The Govs split their first conference series against Murray State, with one of the games rained out.

The Govs lead the league in batting (.340), runs (138) and ERA (4.11) during conference games, but they are tied for last in fielding percentage (.957).

In overall statistics, Austin Peay is hitting .307 and has a 5.74 ERA. The Govs lead the OVC in runs with 315 and stolen bases with 86 out of 113 attempts.

Southeast ranks first in batting (.312) and fielding (.971), is second in runs (310) and third in ERA (4.74). The Redhawks also have hit a league-high 46 home runs.

Austin Peay freshman Jordan Hankins ranks fifth in the OVC with a .370 batting average.

Sophomore Reed Harper is hitting .351 and leads the squad in conference games at .420. He has a 23-game hitting streak, the longest in the OVC this season.

Sophomore John Hogan leads the league with 46 RBIs. Junior Michael Blanchard is tops in stolen bases with 24 in 29 attempts.

The Govs' three OVC starters are all left-handers and rank among the league's top 10 in ERA.

Junior Jeremy Dobbs is tied for first in wins at 8-2 along with a 4.07 ERA, followed by senior Jack Snodgrass (2-5, 4.36) and sophomore Zach Toney (4-2, 4.58).

Ole Miss added

Southeast has added another Southeastern Conference opponent to its schedule. The Redhawks will travel to Oxford, Miss., to take on Mississippi at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The Rebels, who are ranked second in the nation in attendance with more than 8,000 fans per game, are 27-21.

"If we happen to make it to the NCAA regionals, playing a team like Ole Miss will better prepare us for the task," said Hogan, whose squad split two games at 16th-ranked Arkansas of the SEC last week. "They are a top-notch team, playing in a top-notch venue and it gives us a great opportunity to showcase our talent."