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RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University baseball team will close out the 2011 regular season this weekend with a three-game series at future Ohio Valley Conference opponent SIU Edwardsville. The start time for Friday’s doubleheader, originally scheduled for 5:00 p.m. EST, has been pushed up to 2:00 p.m. EST because of impending weather.

The series concludes with a single game on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. EST.

EKU (21-31, 11-13 OVC) defeated Dayton, 10-5, in its home finale on Tuesday and has won seven of its last nine games. The Colonels, who are currently in sixth place in the OVC standings, need UT Martin to lose at least two games to Austin Peay at home or Eastern Illinois to be swept at Southeast Missouri this weekend to remain in sixth place and qualify for the OVC Tournament.

EKU is led offensively by junior Richie Rodriguez, who enters this weekend batting .377 and was one base shy of the cycle on Tuesday against Dayton, going 4-for-5 with a single, double and two triples. Junior Dustin Dunlop has also emerged recently, batting .412 (14-for-34) with a team-best 10 RBI during his current nine-game hitting streak to raise his season batting average to .315.

Senior right-hander Stephen Hefler (7-4, 3.48 ERA), who has gone five straight starts without allowing more than three runs, will start game one for EKU, while junior right-hander Matt Harris (2-2, 1.77 ERA), who went seven innings of one-run baseball against Jacksonville State last weekend, will start game two and sophomore right-hander Anthony Bazzani (1-8, 9.54 ERA) will start game three.

SIUE, which enters this weekend on a five-game winning streak and has posted a 12-4 record against OVC teams on the year, is paced offensively by Zack Hawkins, who leads the team with a .348 batting average, and Devin Caldwell, who has driven in a team-best 52 runs.

The Cougars will send right-hander Travis Felax (4-2, 2.77 ERA) to the mound in game one, right-hander Josh Malin (5-4, 4.28) in game two and right-hander Spencer Patton (8-3, 2.66 ERA) in game three.

EKU swept SIUE in a three-game series at Turkey Hughes Field last year in the programs’ inaugural meeting.