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RICHMOND, Ky. – With three games left in the regular season this weekend, the Eastern Kentucky University softball team could still finish anywhere between second and sixth in the Ohio Valley Conference standings.  The Colonels play host to Murray State with a doubleheader on Saturday and a single game on Sunday at Gertrude Hood Field.

The Colonels are already assured a spot in the six-team league tournament that begins on Thursday.  Tennessee-Martin has clinched the No. 1 seed and will host the tournament.  Seeds No. 2 through No. 6 are still up for grabs with those five teams separated by only two games in the standings heading into the final weekend of the season.

EKU will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Colonel softball on Saturday with the doubleheader scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.  Sunday is Senior Day and the season-finale is also set to begin at 1 p.m.  A number of EKU softball alums will be in attendance throughout the weekend.

At 26-26 overall and 15-11 in OVC games, Eastern Kentucky currently sits in fifth place.  Murray State comes into the weekend at 30-18 overall and 17-10 in league games.  The Racers are tied for second.

Since losing both ends of a doubleheader at Tennessee Tech on April 12, that dropped Eastern to 8-9 in OVC play, the Colonels have won seven of nine against conference teams and are 10-4 overall.  EKU has won three straight OVC series.

The Racers are coming off a doubleheader split at ninth ranked Missouri, a team Eastern Kentucky beat earlier in the season.  Murray State is 10-2 in its last 12 games. 

This weekend’s series features the top two hitting teams in the conference.  Murray State leads with a .293 team batting average.  Eastern is second at .285.  The Racers sport the second-best team ERA (2.55) in the OVC while the Colonels are fifth with a 3.43 ERA.

Eastern Kentucky is led by Raquel Howes.  The junior leads the OVC in hits, RBIs (53), total bases and slugging (.737).  She’s second in average (.391), home runs (16) and doubles (14).