May 1, 2006

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University softball team heads into the final week of the 2006 regular season with hopes of qualifying for the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. With three wins over Tennessee-Martin and four losses by Eastern Illinois, the Bulldogs could slip into the sixth-place position in the conference.

Samford (19-36, 9-14 OVC) currently sits in the eighth position in the league standings and has three games remaining in the regular season.

This weekend, the Bulldogs will play a key three-game series on the road against fifth-place Tennessee-Martin (32-23-1, 13-11 OVC). With a sweep, Samford would keep its OVC Tournament hopes alive, as long as Eastern Illinois (30-24-1, 12-11 OVC) loses all four of its upcoming games.

As the current sixth-place team in the conference, Eastern Illinois will host third-place Southeast Missouri (27-18, 14-9 OVC) at 4 p.m., on Wednesday. The Panthers will then welcome fourth-place Eastern Kentucky (30-24, 13-10 OVC) to Williams Field in Charleston, Ill., this weekend.

With one victory in the aforementioned four games, Eastern Illinois would stifle Samford's OVC Tournament hopes.

Austin Peay (21-29-2, 10-14 OVC), the seventh-place team in the conference standings, could also play spoiler in the Bulldogs' postseason lives this weekend.

The Lady Govs are a half game ahead of Samford in the rankings, but will have to play a three-game set against first-place Tennessee Tech (45-13, 22-2 OVC) to close out the regular season. As long as highly-favored Tennessee Tech defeats Austin Peay twice, the Bulldogs would move ahead of the Lady Govs with a sweep of UT Martin.

The Samford University softball team will begin its critical three-game series against the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. The teams will then play the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m.