RICHMOND, Ky. - Coach Jim Ward's Eastern Kentucky University Colonels, riding a two-game win streak, head to Murray State University for an important three-game Ohio Valley Conference series with the 'Breds.

Eastern, winner of 14 of the past 19 games, stands 22-13 overall and 5-4 in the OVC, good enough for a tie for third place, while Murray State is 21-10-1 overall and 6-3 in the conference and in second place.

"This is a crucial series for us, as they all will be the rest of the way," said Ward. "We're playing well right now with a high level of confidence. We have three starting pitchers who have been very consistent of late and that always helps. We're anxious to see how we stack up against one of the better teams in the conference."

Junior shortstop Jason Sharp and senior rightfielder Sean Murray continue to tear the cover off the ball for the Colonels as Sharp leads the team with his .416 batting average and Murray is close behind at .396.

Sharp has seven home runs and 22 runs batted in, while Murray is tied with first baseman Lee Chapman for the team leadership with nine home runs and is second to Chapman in RBI's with 35.

Other starters for the Colonels include junior Adam Basil (.336, 5 HR's, 27 RBI's), Chapman (.324-9-37), senior second baseman J.D. Bussell (.319-2-16), junior centerfielder Brad Sizemore (.300-3-18), freshman third baseman Kiley Vaughn (.270-1-16), senior catcher Joe Smith (.270-5-28) and junior leftfielder Tom White (.253-4-19).

One of the big reasons Eastern has enjoyed success of late has been the emergence of the Colonels' pitching staff. Two newcomers and one senior lead the way for this unit as freshman righthander Chip Albright is 6-3 with a 2.93 E.R.A., while junior lefthanded reliever Mike Martini is 4-0 with three saves and a 3.56 E.R.A. Senior righthander Eric Bess is 6-3 with a 5.61 E.R.A.

Eastern and Murray State trail Austin Peay who leads the league at 7-1 in conference play. Eastern Illinois is tied with EKU at 5-4, while Southeast Missouri is next at 4-4 and Middle Tennessee is sixth at 3-3.

Rounding out the standings are Tennessee Tech at 3-6 and Morehead State and UT Martin at 1-5 each.