April 25, 2008

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - (Friday, April 25, 2008) The Southeast Missouri State Redhawks host fifth place Tennessee-Martin for a key three-game OVC series this weekend at the Southeast Softball Complex. The teams will play a afternoon doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1:00 before concluding the series on Sunday at 1:00. The Redhawks dropped to sixth-place in the OVC standings and begin a stretch of six crucial home games as they jockey for seeding for the OVC tournament.

Last Week in Review

The Redhawks (23-23, 10-11 OVC) dropped a key OVC game to rival Eastern Illinois 4-3 on the road on Wednesday. The loss dropped them into sixth-place. Despite the loss the Redhawks won the series from the Panthers and hold four OVC series victories this season. Megan McDonald collected a first-inning three-run homerun to account for all the Redhawks runs. Michelle Summers went 1-3 with her 13th double of the season which tied her with McDonald for the team lead. Fisher took the loss with a complete game effort that saw her give up four runs on nine hits and two walks.

McDonald dropped to second in the OVC batting despite a .410 batting average. Summers is third in the OVC with a .386 average including a .413 average in OVC contests. Summers has hit eight of her team-high 12 homeruns in OVC play and sports a .889 slugging percentage against OVC foes. Alex Ramirez leads the team with 23 walks. Fisher sports a 18-16 record from the circle and a 2.20 ERA. She leads the OVC in innings pitched, shutouts and appearances while ranking second in wins and strikeouts. As a team the Redhawks rank fourth nationally in homeruns per game with an average of 0.78 per game.

Scouting the Skyhawks

The Skyhawks (24-23, 8-8 OVC) head into the match-up as one of the hottest teams in the OVC having won eight-straight games. They swept Tennessee State last weekend and started the week with a doubleheader sweep of non-conference foe Southern Illinois-Carbondale on the road before defeating Austin Peay 2-1 on Thursday to complete a series sweep of the Lady Govs.

Paij Lintz is the reigning OVC Pitcher of the Week after going 3-0 last week. She's 7-7 with a 2.56 ERA this season. The Skyhawks have three pitchers including Lintz that have started 15 or more games. Offensively they are led by Ashley Benbow who leads the team with a .347 average. Laurie Lindow has 25 RBIs and 10 doubles to lead the team.

The Series

Last season the Redhawks took 2-3 from the Skyhawks on the road. Summers hit for the cycle in the series last season, collecting a homerun in game two and hitting a double and triple in the series finale.

The Redhawks lead in the all-time series, 58-32.