Southeast women's soccer picked 3rd in poll

Samford has been picked to win the 2004 Ohio Valley Conference women's soccer title as voted on by the league's nine head soccer coaches.

The Bulldogs, who won the regular-season title in 2003, received seven of the nine first-place votes and 63 points.

Eastern Illinois, the 2003 OVC tournament champion, grabbed the last two first-place votes and 56 points.

Southeast Missouri State University is picked to place third with 48 points, followed by Jacksonville State (47), Tennessee-Martin (36), Tennessee Tech (27), Murray State (24), Morehead State (12) and Austin Peay (11).

In its inaugural season in the league last year, Samford posted a 12-4-5 overall record and a 7-1 OVC mark. The Bulldogs return nine starters.

Eastern Illinois, which made a third straight NCAA appearance last season after claiming its fourth OVC tourney crown, went 11-6-5 overall and 6-0-2 in the league. The Panthers also return nine starters.

Southeast finished last year with a 10-5-5 overall record while going 4-3-1 in the OVC. Coach Heather Nelson's squad returns nine starters as well and has added a strong freshmen class.

The Otahkians have the first of two home exhibition games Friday as Memphis visits Houck Stadium for a 6 p.m. match. Southeast opens the regular season Aug. 27 at home against Arkansas and its first OVC contest is set for Sept. 24 at Tennessee Tech.

Baseball signs player

Southeast baseball coach Mark Hogan has announced the signing of another freshman as catcher-first baseman, Jimmy Clayton from Springfield, Ill., recently committed to play for the Indians.

Clayton, the brother of Southeast senior pitcher Bill Clayton, was chosen to the Illinois Coaches Association All-Star Team and was named to the Illinois State Register All-Star game, where he won the home run derby during his senior year.

"Jimmy is a very talented left-handed hitter with power," Hogan said. "He is a middle of the lineup type of guy who could contribute this year for us. Having he and Bill on this club is going to be a special experience."

Football to scrimmage

Southeast's football team will hold its first scrimmage today at 5 p.m. at Houck Stadium as the Indians wrap up their initial week of preseason practice.

The scrimmage will be played with officials and will probably last between 90 minutes and two hours, coach Tim Billings said. The public is invited to attend and there is no admission charge.

"We don't have a lot of depth so we won't go too long, but we're looking for a good scrimmage," Billings said. "We encourage fans to come out and watch."

--From staff reports