SE FACING NATIONALLY-RANKED SQUAD

Southeast Missouri State University's baseball team will be facing its stiffest competition of the season this weekend -- and coach Mark Hogan is looking forward to it.

The Indians and nationally-ranked Georgia Tech will square off beginning tonight in a three-game series in Atlanta. The squads will have a 7 o'clock single contest tonight and a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday.

Georgia Tech, sporting a 25-11 record, is ranked 25th in the Sporting News poll. Southeast is 20-13.

"They're a great team and it's going to be an extremely difficult challenge for us, but we're excited about the opportunity," said Hogan. "We're going down there with a positive attitude and we'll see what happens."

No matter what happens, Hogan figures the series will be a good experience for his players as they take a break from Ohio Valley Conference play. Southeast is tied for second in the OVC with a 9-6 record.

"We try to expose our players to some of the best baseball in the nation and Georgia Tech is one of those types of teams," Hogan said. "Regardless of what happens, I think these three games will help us the rest of the season."

The Yellow Jackets, who Hogan said have two of the nation's top-rated professional prospects, are led offensively by Heath Honeycutt. He is batting .392 with eight home runs and 46 runs batted in.

Southeast, which had a five-game winning streak snapped with Tuesday's 5-4 loss at Arkansas State, has recorded at least one win against a nationally-ranked opponent for four straight seasons.

The Indians knocked off Memphis in 1994 and 1995, beat South Alabama in 1996 and hammered Wichita State 14-6 last year.