OVC tourney inspires both Southeast, Morehead St.

~ Redhawks seek first-round bye, while Eagles hope to make six-team field.

The stakes will be high for both Southeast Missouri State and Morehead State as they wrap up the regular season with a three-game series at Capaha Field.

There will be a 1 p.m. doubleheader today and a 1 p.m. contest Saturday.

Southeast (26-20, 12-8) is third in the nine-team Ohio Valley Conference. MSU (16-30, 9-10) is in sixth place.

The top two finishers earn a first-round bye for the six-team OVC tournament, which begins Wednesday in Paducah, Ky.

Southeast is just percentage points behind 11-7-1 Murray State in the battle for second place. Murray finishes with a home series against Austin Peay.

Morehead is only one-half game ahead of 9-11 Eastern Kentucky, which closes with a series at OVC regular-season champion Eastern Illinois.

"It doesn't get any bigger than this," Southeast coach Mark Hogan said. "We're trying to finish second and get an important bye for the tournament, and they're trying to get into the tournament.

"It's going to be an exciting finish, like it always is in the OVC."

No matter what the Redhawks do against Morehead, they'll need some help from Austin Peay. Southeast has to do better than Murray in the final series to move ahead of the Thorougbreds and finish second.

"All we can control is how we play this weekend, and then we'll see how the math works out," said Hogan, whose squad has clinched its 15th straight OVC tournament berth since he took over the program, the longest current streak in the conference.

Hogan, along with senior first baseman Matt Wagner, won't be involved in today's opener after they were ejected from Sunday's 11-10 loss at Eastern Kentucky. The Redhawks dropped two of three in the series despite leading 10-0 and 8-2 in the defeats.

Under OVC rules for ejections, Hogan and Wagner must sit out the next league game.

"It was a tough series and things get emotional," Hogan said of the ejections. "If you're not emotional at this time of the year, something's wrong."

Hogan said he and Wagner will go through the normal pre-game routine and then retire to the dressing room at Houck Field House. They'll return to Capaha Field for today's nightcap.

"We can't be at the field," Hogan said. "We'll go through pre-game. Matt will take batting practice. Then we'll go back [to the locker room area] and I'm sure we'll listen to the game [on radio]."

Morehead has a high-powered offense that ranks third in the OVC with a .329 batting average and second with 81 home runs, although that latter figure is aided by a small home park.

Morehead is last in the league in ERA (8.44) and fielding percentage (.947).

Junior shortstop Drew Lee is having a monster season for the Eagles as he ranks near the top in most OVC offensive categories.

Lee is second with a .441 average, first with 17 homers, second with 62 RBIs, third with 58 runs and tied for fourth with 17 doubles.

In addition, Lee leads the league in slugging percentage (.828) and total bases (154), while ranking second in on-base percentage (.505).

"He's having a terrific year for them," Hogan said. "A lot of their hitters are having very good years."

The Eagles' top starting pitcher has been senior Tyler Bess (4-6, 5.28 ERA).

Southeast is sixth in the OVC with a .319 batting average. The Redhawks are seventh in ERA (6.61) and seventh in fielding percentage (.956).