Murray State to Participate in 76 Classic

ESPN has announced the Murray State men's basketball team will participate in next season's 76 Classic, an eight-team tournament to be played Thanksgiving weekend in Anaheim, Calif.

From the ESPN release ... "ESPN Regional Television has finalized the complete eight-team field for the fourth annual 76 Classic, to be held on Thanksgiving weekend at the Anaheim (Calif.) Convention Center adjacent to Disneyland. The 2010 76 Classic field includes five teams that played in the 2009-10 postseason: Cal State Northridge, DePaul, Murray State (NCAA Tournament), Oklahoma State (NCAA), Stanford, Tulsa (NIT), UNLV (NCAA) and Virginia Tech (NIT).

The 76 Classic features four games each day through three days, Nov. 25, 26 and 28. Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through a bracket-tournament format. The two teams that remain undefeated will face off in the championship game Sunday, Nov. 28."

Around the Ohio Valley: April 26

A list of stories from OVC schools for the week of April 26:

• APSU's junior Chelsea Harris won the 2010 Ohio Valley Conference women's golf individual championship after rain washed out the final nine holes of the tournament. She was also named tournament MVP, as well as OVC Player of the Year.
• EIU offensive tackle Otis Hudson was selected with the 21st pick of the fifth round of the NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. He was the first Panther selected in 11 years.
• EKU men look for third OVC golf championship in the last five years; have won 11 total, most of any OVC school.
• Jacksonville State’s Ryan Perrilloux and Torrey Davis have both signed free-agent contracts to play professional football; Women's golf team scores single day lowest score in OVC history during the second round Friday en route to a second-place finish.
• Morehead State Eagle football looks for next defensive leaders.
• Murray State women's golf won the OVC championship this weekend for the eighth time in school history; defensive end Austen Lane was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. That makes Lane the highest drafted player in Racer history.
• SEMO baseball (25-14, 10-4) swept Jacksonville State (20-18, 8-6) over the weekend to take over sole possession of the OVC standings.
• SIUe's Erika Taylor matched her career high with 13 strikeouts in the Cougars 5-1 win over Rhode Island.
  
• TSU's softball team scored three runs in the seventh inning to move past Tennessee Tech, 4-3, and pick up a crucial Ohio Valley Conference win Sunday afternoon at Tiger Field.
• Five home runs by Tennessee Tech baseball leads to a 5-3, 12-4 sweep Sunday afternoon over Morehead State, giving the Golden Eagles a tie for third in OVC standings.
• UT Martin softball hit five home runs in last weekend's double header vs. TSU, giving it 56 on the year and breaking the previous program record of 55 set just last year; Roren Thomas, a former UT Martin wide receiver, signed a free agent NFL contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars at the end of Saturday's 2010 NFL Draft.

OVC Insider - Episode 11 Now Available

The webisode companion to our blog, fans can now watch episode No. 11 of "OVC Insider" to catch-up on the latest news and information from around the league.

Below is the 11th episode hosted by OVC interns Grant Finley and Viki Arias.

Please let us know what you think and if you have any topics you would like to see covered in a future episode.

Baseball Players Who Are Making Their Mark

We love it when OVC players are able to stand out among all other Division I athletes, and last week several baseball players gave us something to talk about. Here are some news and notes about a few players that are hot right now in the OVC and players you should make sure to keep an eye on during the remainder of the season and postseason.

First off we'd like to congratulate Jacksonville State's Bert Smith, who last weekend set the conference record for career hits and at-bats. On April 17, the senior second baseman set the record for hits registering his 288th mark against Austin Peay and breaking the previous record of 287 held by Jeremy Johnson (Southeast Missouri, 1997-2000). Smith now has 289 career hits.

On April 7 against No. 19 Alabama, Smith became the OVC’s all-time leader in at-bats, passing the mark of 831 career at-bats previously held by Middle Tennessee’s Clay Snellgrove (1994-97). Smith now has 864 career at-bats. Smith has now played in 212 career games, just 12 away from equaling the OVC career mark of 224 held by MTSU’s Snellgrove (1994-97).

Morehead State's Drew Lee is certainly one player to keep an eye on, as he was named Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week on Monday. Lee has 181 career RBI and is moving in on the OVC record of 208 (and has stood since the 1981 season). Lee is currently sixth in the nation in hits with 68 this season. He is also 20th in home runs per game at .38, sixth in RBIs per game with 1.56 a contest, 27th in slugging percentage, third in total bases with 128.
The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA)­ released the Pro-Line Athletic National Player of the Week awards for the period ending April 18 and Lee was named National Hitter of the Week.

Lee hit .550 (11-for-20) with 12 runs scored, three doubles, five home runs, 14 RBIs, two stolen bases and a 1.450 slugging percentage in four Morehead State victories last week. Lee started a weekend sweep of OVC foe Eastern Kentucky by homering three times in game one of Saturday's doubleheader. He drove in two more runs in the second game of the twin bill, bringing Saturday's RBI total to six. Lee concluded the week by adding another homer and driving in five additional runs. During the week Lee broke the Morehead State career RBI record and now has 181 for his career (27 away from the all-time OVC mark).

TTU's A.J. Kirby-Jones has 18 home runs, which leads all of Division I and is hitting .49 home runs a game, also leading the nation. He also has the nation's best slugging percentage at .899, is fifth in OPB at .561 and is third in hits with 69.

Not hitting related but still some other honors for OVC players: EKU’s junior closer Ryne Purcell is one of 45 players named to the NCBWA’s Stopper of the Year Award Watch List. The award is given to the top relief pitcher in college baseball. Purcell has an OVC-best eight saves this season, which is currently ninth in the country. At the conclusion of the regular season, the Division I national saves leader and four other relief pitching standouts will be selected as finalists and released Wednesday, June 2, prior to start of NCAA regional tournament competition. The NCBWA's All-America Committee then will select the winner, with this year's recipient to be announced on the opening day of the College World Series on June 19.

Southeast Missouri State senior catcher Jim Klocke is 1 of 10 finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS award. Klocke, who leads the Redhawks in RBI this season, has been a major reason why the Redhawks have the hottest bats in the Ohio Valley Conference and rank fifth nationally in batting average and sixth in hits.

The award, which stands for "Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School," focuses on the complete student-athlete on and off the field. Each candidate was chosen based on four criteria: classroom, character, community, and competition.

Also, make sure you vote on our poll to the left on who you think is the best hitter in the OVC. Plenty of good candidates! Comment and tell us why you think the player you voted for is the best.

This Weekend's NFL Draft Could Bring Pro Possibilities to OVC Players

Several OVC football players will look to realize their dreams of playing professional football this weekend when the National Football League (NFL) conducts its annual draft. There are some changes to the draft format this year, as the draft is a three-day event spanning Thursday through Saturday (instead of just Saturday and Sunday).

The first round will be held Thursday night (April 22, 7:30 pm ET) with Rounds 2-3 being conducted at 6 p.m. ET on Friday night. The final four rounds will be held on Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. ET.

All the action can be seen on ESPN.

That brings us to the question of what the draft brings for Ohio Valley Conference players who have now finished their careers. Last season the OVC had 14 players on NFL rosters, including former Tennessee State running back Javarris Williams, who was the lone OVC player to be drafted last season (7th round by the Kansas City Chiefs).

Since the league formed in 1948, 137 total players have been selected in the Draft, with four players being taken in the first round (lastly Tennessee State's Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in 2008). In 1973 an all-time high seven OVC players were selected, including EKU's Wally Chambers, who was the No. 8 overall by the Chicago Bears.

So who will be picked from the OVC this year? Let's take a look at a few of the top candidates who have the best chance of hearing their name called this year.

Austen Lane, DL - Murray State

Lane was the 2009 OVC Defensive Player of the Year after ranking among the national leaders in sacks (11.0) and tackles-for-loss (19.5) and earning multiple All-American honors. A 6'6, 274-pound physical specimen, he still has room to grow.

NFL.com's Gil Brandt said of Lane ... "At the Racers' pro day, he was 6-foot-6 1/8, 274 pounds, but his frame indicates he could very easily go up to 295 pounds and remain effective. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.89 and 4.98 seconds, had a 4.44-second short shuttle and did 20 bench-press repetitions at 225 pounds. He stood on his vertical jump and broad jump from last month's NFL Scouting Combine. In total, six players worked out outdoors on FieldTurf for 10 team representatives."

Look for Lane's name to be called before the end of round four.

Check out this story on Austen from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Lane is a Wisconsin native).

Ryan Perrilloux, QB - Jacksonville State
Perrilloux took home OVC Offensive Player of the Year honors after leading the Gamecocks to the best record in the league. He passed for 2,350 yards and 23 touchdowns (and only two interceptions) while rushing for eight additional scores during the year. With a cannon for an arm, Perrilloux has all the physical tools to be a success. After getting into some trouble and transferring from LSU, the Louisiana native (who was considered the top high school player in the country) put trouble behind him in his last two years with Jax State.

For more on Ryan, take a look at this article by Cecil Lammey (DraftGuys.com) from the New York Times NFL Blog.

Derek Hardman, OL - Eastern Kentucky
Hardman started 46 consecutive games on the offensive line for the Colonels and was selected to the All-OVC team twice. He made the switch from right tackle to left tackle before the start of the 2008 season. As a senior in 2009, Hardman earned first-team Associated Press All-American honors after grading out at over 80 percent for the season.

Anthony Blake of Blitz Nation recently wrote this article on Hardman calling him an under the radar player.

Chris Campbell, OL - Eastern Illinois
Campbell (6'6, 328 pounds) was a second-team All-OVC selection this past season at offensive tackle. After a solid year he started gaining looks when he was selected to play in the Texas vs. the Nation All-Star game in El Paso, Texas in February.

Tony Pauline of TFYDraft.com wrote that "Campbell could be the best kept secret in this year's draft." According to reports the Lions and Seahawks have all shown interest in Campbell.

There are some other names to look out for, rather they get drafted or sign free agent contracts, including Tennessee State's Anthony Levine, Austin Peay's Daniel Becker, Eastern Illinois' Otis Hudson and UT Martin's Mike Hicks to name a few.

The OVC and the Harlem Globetrotters

Last Wednesday the Washington Generals, (ya know, that team that always loses to the Harlem Globetrotters?) signed Willie Veasley, Avery Jukes and Nick Rodgers, three members of the Butler Bulldogs, to one-day contracts to play with them as the Generals and Globetrotters faced off at Conseco Fieldhouse.

The Generals were hoping to turn around their losing ways by enlisting some players that have experience being successful as underdogs.

The three played about five minutes each and made one shot and two free throws combined as the Generals would go on to lose the game 71-50.

As many players on the Globetrotters once played in college, ESPN.com's Page 2 column compiled a list of schools that have produced the most of these basketball standouts.

And a little bit of OVC trivia for you, the school with the most is Tennessee State with 13.

The complete list:

School: Number of Globetrotters players produced

Tennessee State: 14

Wendell Phillips Academy High School (Illinois): 13

Houston: 11

Michigan State: 8

Temple: 7

Langston (Oklahoma), Fresno State, Florida A&M, Cal State Bakersfield, Savannah State: 6

Detroit Mercy, Arizona State, Arizona, UCLA, Arkansas: 5

North Carolina State, Cincinnati, LSU, Jackson State, Villanova, Long Beach State, Wilberforce, Wayne State (Michigan), Pepperdine, Indiana, Kansas, Grambling, Miller High School (Michigan), Memphis, Texas-El Paso: 4

Pittsburgh, Philander Smith, Louisiana-Lafayette, Illinois, Woodward High School (Ohio), Texas Southern, Kentucky Wesleyan, Southern, Minnesota, Iowa, Cass Tech High School (Michigan), Virginia Union, West Virginia, UNLV, DePaul, New Mexico State, Providence, Bradley, Nebraska, California, Seton Hall, San Diego State, Cal State Fullerton, Virginia State, San Jose State, Louisville, Mississippi State, Niagara: 3

Oklahoma State, Miami (Ohio), Kentucky, Sam Houston State, Washington, Washington State, Ohio State, Kentucky State, East Tennessee State, Long Island, Farragut High School (Illinois), Illinois-Chicago, Texas A&M, Texas, Lemoyne-Owen College (Tennessee), Crispus Attucks High School (Indiana), Portland, Tennessee, Wisconsin-Whitewater, Austin Peay, Winston-Salem State, Missouri, Miami, Oklahoma City, Maryland, New Orleans, Murray State, Lincoln (Missouri), Mississippi, Texas-San Antonio, Auburn, Lamar, Colorado State, Northern High School (Michigan), McNeese State, South Carolina State, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Colorado, Xavier (Louisiana), Indian Hills JC (Iowa), Texas-Pan American, Azusa Pacific, Drake, Georgia Perimeter College, Clark (Georgia), Duquesne, Cal State Northridge, Scott High School (Ohio), Oregon, Huston-Tillotson, North Carolina Central, North Carolina, Cleveland Central High School (Ohio), Illinois State, Libby High School (Ohio), Loyola (Illinois), Western Kentucky, George Washington: 2

Around the Ohio Valley

Due to the OVC Tennis Championships taking place this weekend, we weren't able to film this week's episode of OVC Insider. However, we want to introduce a new feature we will bring you each week called "Around the Ohio Valley," where we share the latest happenings from each of our schools. So, here are some stories to tie you over until next week's episode!

• Austin Peay men's basketball signs JuCo standout Josh Terry, National Junior College Athletic Association all-tournament team.
• EIU junior pitcher Amber May earned a complete game shutout and helped her team sweep SEMO Wednesday to improve the Panther's record to 10-4 in conference.
  
• Eastern Kentucky rolled to a 10-0 rout in a sweep over Marshall to bring its second place conference record to 18-15.
• Jacksonville State's women's tennis team won the regular season OVC championship with a win over Morehead State over the weekend, and head into this weekend's tennis championships with a No. 1 seed.
• Morehead State's women's golf team won the EKU Lady Colonels Classic, beating 4 other OVC teams. Two of their players finished in the top 5 of the event.
• The Murray State football team hosts the Blue and Gold Bowl tonight as an ending to the team's spring practices.
• SEMO catcher Jim Klocke is one of the 10 national finalists for the LOWE'S Senior CLASS Award.
• SIUe baseball pounded 17 hits and took advantage of 6 Saint Louis errors to defeat the Billikens 17-10.
• TSU's men's and women's track and field teams posted top finishes at their only home meet of the season, the Boston-Moon Classic.
• With a 6-1 conference record, Tennessee Tech heads into this weekend's OVC Tennis Championships with a No. 2 seed.
• UT Martin softball used a 6-run second inning to secure an 8-0 win over Murray, to keep its conference record at 11-3 and its standing in first place.
  
  

OVC Insider - Episode 10 Now Available

The webisode companion to our blog, fans can now watch episode No. 10 of "OVC Insider" to catch-up on the latest news and information from around the league.

Below is the 10th episode hosted by OVC interns Grant Finley and Viki Arias.

Please let us know what you think and if you have any topics you would like to see covered in a future episode.

Behind the March to Music City Madness

Allow me to start this post by apologizing for the delay in getting this "behind the behind the scenes" post out to the masses. One of the things I have learned while interning with the OVC is that even when an event as large as our basketball tournament comes to an end and I think I'm finally going to have a little down time to get caught up on tasks for other sports, I still am left with hardly enough time to complete everything and new tasks pop up frequently. That being said, the time has come to dive into our behind the scenes look at the 2010 OVC Basketball Championship.


Kyle came to me with the idea of a behind the scenes look at our basketball tournament over the summer when we first toured Pringles Park for our upcoming baseball championship. I loved the idea and was anxious to get started even though it was still months away. While I was rich in motivation to film a quality documentary, I was lacking in equpiment. We have a mini DV camera which works well by all accounts for the amount we use it but since I tend to think big when it comes to the ideas I have for our videos, I was worried the documentary wouldn't turn out well enough or capture everything to its full extent and while I am pleased with how it turned out, there are definitely things that did not make the final cut that I will discuss in this piece.


A professional film crew would be ideal...and expensive, so it was never really an option. I'm not really into reality tv myself, but I do think following an event like this would make great entertainment.


There were instances throughout the tournament that would have been worthy of making the final cut but we just didn't have the man power to pull it off. For instance, during a friday shoot around session, the power in the arena failed. Evidently, the construction crew working next door cut the power without telling anyone, or maybe they weren't told that we were hosting a tournament there that weekend... Regardless, those practicing were not happy, those of us hosting the event were not happy, and the least happy of all of us was probably Kyle, who now had to deal with power issues all morning. The power at the scorer's table was not re-established until 5 minutes or so before the first tip. I wanted to get footage of Kyle and what he was going through because these are the dramatic things that make for good entertainment but I'm also smart enough to know that I wouldn't be welcome if I was shoving a camera in his face while he was understandably busy.


We toured the facility when it was still the Sommet Center to map out where we would set up our hospitality room, training room, interview room, etc and while there we were told that in a move to increase branding efforts of the venue, any entity using their basketball court would no longer be able to cover the logo at mid-court. We were also told that the floor would at least be half way set up when we arrived at 3am Friday morning. Not only was the floor not assembled until literally only minutes before UTM, the first scheduled shoot around, began their practice but it was lacking our biggest branding opportunity at half court. Due to tardiness of the floor, we weren't able to set up the scorer's and media tables until the first game warm ups were underway. Also another worthy segment that we didn't have footage of. Also, there was a little tournament the following week at the same arena hosted by the SEC in which they did, in fact, have a logo at half court...interesting.


I was in charge of the our Youth Media Challenge and as I was seeing to that portion of our tournament, I was faced with a sticky situation that would have been good entertainment as well, but we were not able to get footage of that either. Also, since the program sellers were under my direction, I had to see to them periodically which kept me from my filming duties as well. The Friday segment of the video is missing a few key components to the weekend for sure but it what was in the video, does capture the majority of what friday was like.


Saturday morning we met as a staff at 11:00am, which was another thing I would have liked to have on film, but we weren't able to capture that as well. It was interesting, as most meetings are (at least to a intercollegiate conference sport junkie like me) but again, some things are better left in house. It was determined at our meeting that the only problems we had encountered were the floor assembly and power outage and its domino effect.


The rest of Saturday ran very smoothly which made for a very exciting championship day. My Youth Media portion of the tournament had ended and I spent my Saturday behind the camera.

In all, the tournament was a rousing success. Maybe next year we can spring for a film crew that will follow each of us around so we can truly capture ALL that goes on behind the scenes of our tournament. Plus we'll be at a new venue for a longer time frame, which will surely bring new challenges that will be well worth watching.


P.S. we are now accepting donations for a film crew...

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Men's Basketball Final Four

As everyone knows the Division I Men's Basketball Final Four was held in Indianapolis this past weekend. The event is the culmination of "March Madness" as the 65-team men's field is ultimately whittled down to one national champion. This year featured an exciting title game that came down to a last-second half court shot.



What you may not know is all the other stuff that goes on behind-the-scenes. The Final Four is more than just a basketball game. For example, the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) has its national convention in the host city each year and nearly every basketball coach in the country (at all divisions) comes to network, participate in meetings and look for jobs.

You will also find organizations that host awards ceremonies to give away National Player and Coach of the Year awards like the Naismith, USBWA and Rupp Awards. So seeing Ohio State's Evan Turner, Kentucky's John Wall or Syracuse's John Boeheim (some of this year's award winners) - even though they were not participating in the Final Four with their teams - is definitely not out of the ordinary.

With representatives from every conference in town, ESPN holds meetings with leagues to talk about television deals and games that will be broadcast for the upcoming year. Conferences also hold meetings with their administrators and/or basketball coaches, and different groups (like league commissioners) get together to share ideas and go through agenda items.

With so many people in one downtown location, you are bound to bump into some celebrities too, whether it be former players like Magic Johnson, or media "celebrities" like Dick Vitale, Stephen A. Smith, Jim Nantz or CBS College Sports announcer Wally Szczerbiak (pictured).




As a conference media relations director, I was credentialed and helped out with the media operations for the event, including credential distribution as well as numerous activities related to the games. More specifically I helped with player participant seating on Saturday and on Monday I was a band liaison for the post game awards celebration.



It takes a lot of people to run a championship event as big as the Final Four, so being a small part of that is a fulfilling thing, especially since I will need lots of help in 2014 when the Ohio Valley Conference hosts the Division I Women's Final Four in Nashville.



So what were some of the highlights of the weekend? Getting to work and share ideas with fellow conference administrators is always great, as is the chance to talk to a lot of national media members face-to-face, something I rarely get to do during the year. I also got to meet Butler Blue II (right), the real-life Butler University bulldog mascot; what a handsome fellow Blue is and very well-behaved too. Butler Blue II is a busy boy as he has his own Twitter, Blog and Webcam. If you have some time, I suggest you check them out.

Also did you know the Final Four was shot and broadcast (in select movie theaters) in 3-D this year? 3-D seems to be the "next big thing" as it is already in most movies theaters and now TV shows and sports are trying to broadcast things in the technology.

Pictured to the left is one of the 3-D camera used to record the Final Four this year. This camera was behind the basket and weights nearly 75 pounds. It was quite impressive to see in person.


Finally below are just some of the other photos I was able to capture. They were taken with my BlackBerry, so they are high-resolution, but hopefully they give you an idea of some of the things that went on at Lucas Oil Stadium.


A view from the floor (in an empty Lucas Oil) prior to Monday's Championship Game. This was right before the trophy presentation practice. Although it is small, that is former OVC Sr. Associate Commissioner Ron English, who is now the NCAA's Director of the Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

This is a view from the media overflow seats on Saturday night. This was the first row of permanent seating behind the Duke student section. Notice the huge CBS camera on a crane. These were actually pretty good seats.

Three former OVC players open season on MLB Rosters

Shawn Kelley/Austin Peay/Seattle Mariners -

2007 OVC Pitcher of the Year Shawn Kelley graduated from Austin Peay in 2007 and was drafted in the 13th round of the MLB draft. Beginning in 2009 he was placed on the Mariners 25-man roster after spending the past two seasons in the Mariners' minor league system. He made only 61 appearances in the minors before being promoted. He made his major league debut on April 10, 2009, pitching the 7th inning against the Oakland Athletics, striking out two.


Jon Rauch/Morehead State/Minnesota Twins -

Jon Rauch was drafted in the third round of the 1999 amateur draft by the Chicago White Sox. At 6' 11" he is the tallest player in the history of the major leagues. In 2002, he made his MLB debut for the Sox. He moved in and out of the majors and minors for the next few years and was traded to the Montreal Expos in 2004. In 2006 had his best season posting a 4-5 record, a 3.35 ERA, and appearing in 85 games, second most in the NL. In 2007 Rauch led the Major Leagues in appearances with 88. He finished the year with a 8-4 record, four saves, and a 3.61 ERA.

In 2008 he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks and on August 29, 2009 he was traded to the Minnesota Twins. After Twins closer Joe Nathan was injured to begin the current season, Rauch was named the team's closer. He earned his first save with the Twins on April 6 striking out two in the ninth.

George Sherrill/Austin Peay/Los Angeles Dodgers -

George Sherrill graduated Austin Peay in 2000 was not drafted out of college. He played in Independent leagues from 1999-2003 in Evansville, Winnepeg and Souix Falls among others. In 2003 he was finally given a chance by the Seattle Mariners who signed him to a minor league deal. Sherrill made his MLB debut on July 16, 2004, against the Cleveland Indians and joined the Mariners active roster in 2006. In 2008 he was traded to the Orioles to pitch in the closing role. That year he earned a spot on the American League All-Star team where he pitched an inning in the game and struck out two.

On July 30, 2009 he was traded to the Dodgers and named the team's closer. He appeared in 30 games for the Dodgers, finishing with an 0.65 ERA and 22 strikeouts.

Power Hitting Helps OVC Lead The Nation in Several Categories

As the OVC continues to build its baseball tradition, conference players are certainly giving the rest of the nation reason to take notice.

The OVC currently leads all DI conferences in scoring and home runs per game. In scoring, the OVC is averaging 7.67 runs per game followed by the ACC with 7.74, Sun Belt with 7.62, Atlantic Sun with 7.58 and SEC with 7.52.

In home runs per game, the OVC is averaging 1.18 followed by the SEC with 1.14, 1.13 by the WAC, 1.12 by the SoCon and 1.09 by the ACC.

In these offensive categories Tennessee Tech's A.J. Kirby-Jones, Murray State's Wes Cunningham and Morehead State's J.D. Ashbrook are certainly contributing to the statistics. Perhaps most impressive for the OVC is its lead in the home run category. Kirby-Jones leads the nation with 15 home runs as he hit his 15th Tuesday in a win against Lipscomb. Cunningham is second in the nation with 13 dingers while Ashbrook sits in the sixth hole and has belted 12 HR's.

Cunningham is leaving his mark in other categories as well as he leads the nation in slugging percentage with a .955 while standing in second in the nation in total bases with 105.5. He is also third in the nation in home runs per game, averaging .48 a contest.

Kirby-Jones leads the nation in home runs a contest hitting .5 and is tied with East Tennessee's Paul Hoilman.

Right now SEMO leads the conference with a 5-1 OVC record and 18-10 overall record. Morehead State is also 5-1 in conference with a 16-12 overall record and sits in second. The top two teams are followed by Murray State in third with a 4-2, 16-12 record and Austin Peay in fourth with a 3-3, 16-12 record.

Baseball Championship Tickets Now on Sale. You Know You Want To Be There

Tickets for the 2010 Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Championship are now on sale!!

The event is May 26-29 (30) and will feature the top six teams in the OVC playing in a double-elimination format.

Tickets for the event will be $10 per day or $30 for an all-session pass (up to 11 total games). There is also a $8 a day rate for students/faculty of OVC-member schools or groups. All seats at the 6,000-seat park are general admission for the OVC Championship.

Fans can purchase tickets in person at the Diamond Jaxx box office or by calling (731) 988-5299. A link to order tickets online will be available within the next week and posted at OVCSports.com.

This is the first year the tournament is being held at Pringles Park in Jackson, Tenn. Pringles Park is the home of the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx, the AA affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.

The success of OVC baseball in the past few years has allowed us to move our location to the shiny Pringles Park. A few of us were talking the other day how the OVC doesn't have as rich of a tradition in baseball as some of the other sports. But, we think that is all changing and moving the Championship to Pringles Park is just one more step in the right direction. Last year Tennessee Tech won the finals in 10 innings over Jacksonville State in a back-and-forth game. And in the 2009 MLB Draft, the OVC had two first round-picks in Eastern Illinois’ Tyler Kehrer and Jacksonville State’s Ben Tootle, which marks a first for the OVC.

This year we are hoping for an even more exciting game, but we need you help! We need the fans to fill the stadium and help us build that tradition we know we are heading for.

As if you weren't already thinking you wanted to be in Jackson, Tenn. on a beautiful Memorial Day weekend, here are some behind the scenes pictures of the stadium the staff took when they made their announcement that Pringles Park would be the new host. Next Tuesday, we are headed back there for the Austin Peay vs. Memphis game to do a run through of the championship.

So look at the pictures, and then buy your tickets! Or, do it the other way around.