SPORTS NEWS -- Special MAY 5, 1998 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RICHMOND, Ky. -- Eastern Kentucky University's baseball Colonels have made the six-team Ohio Valley Conference Tournament field and will play the Murray State University Racers Thursday in the opening round.

In the tourney format, EKU finished fifth with a 12-12 league record and will face Murray State who placed fourth with a mark of 13-11 in the single elimination round at 10 a.m. (CST) Thursday at OVC Tourney host Southeast Missouri State University. Should the Colonels defeat Murray State, EKU would then advance to the double elimination round of the tourney, Thursday night through Saturday.

EKU made the tourney field after sweeping league-leading Eastern Illinois, 6-4 and 12-4, last Saturday. Eastern Illinois came back Sunday to take the measure of EKU, 12-6, in the series finale.

"Our team came into this last series in a good frame of mind, " said EKU head coach Jim Ward. "Even though we had to go inside, we had a couple of good practices and our team wanted to compete and to win. We're still hitting the ball and getting adequate pitching, but we've got to find a way to improve our defense. We're giving up way too many runs through our inconsistent fielding."

Junior rightfielder Sean Murray remains atop the EKU batting chart with his .395 batting average. He also leads the team in hits (75) and runs scored (55) and is second in home runs (13) and third in RBI's with 40.

Sophomore designated hitter Matt Mason is the team's top home run hitter with 15 and RBI man with 57. He also leads the club in slugging percentage (.726) and is second in batting average (.383).

Other .300 hitters for the Colonels include sophomore shortstop Jason Sharp (.351), sophomore first baseman Lee Chapman (.338), junior third baseman J.D. Bussell (.333) and sophomore leftfielder Brad Sizemore (.330). Rounding out starters for the Colonels are sophomore second baseman Adam Basil (.299), junior catcher Joe Smith (.289) and senior centerfielder Jeff Wellman (.248).

Junior righthander Eric Bess is expected to pitch the opener against Murray State. Bess leads the Colonels with his 8-4 record and 6.45 ERA.

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