By Aldo Soto

Assistant Sports Editor | @AldoSoto21

Tennessee Tech and Morehead State had the two longest winning streaks in the Ohio Valley Conference, as both teams were coming off of three-game sweeps of Jacksonville State and Tennessee-Martin, respectively.

The Golden Eagles remained in second place in the conference standings, winning five games in a row, while Morehead State is now one game back of Jacksonville State for third place. The Eagles are 10-8 in the OVC and the Gamecocks are 11-7.

Tennessee Tech had its winning streak snapped Tuesday, when it lost 15-13 to Kentucky.

However, Morehead State stretched its winning streak to six, as the Eagles beat Ohio 12-4 Tuesday.

Southeast Missouri remained atop the conference standings, winning two of three against Eastern. The Redhawks are now 17-4 in the OVC this season.

The Panthers remained in 10th place after losing the series and are only ahead of the Skyhawks, who are in last place with a 3-18 conference record.

Eastern improved to 6-12, following its 10-3 win over the Redhawks Saturday. Despite being near the bottom of the standings, the Panthers are three games behind Murray State for the sixth spot in the conference. The top six teams advance to the conference tournament.

Eastern finished seventh last season and missed out on the postseason, ending with an 11-17 OVC record.

The Panthers have four conference opponents remaining on their schedule, with the first being Belmont.

Out of Eastern’s final four series in the OVC, only Morehead State has a winning record in conference play. Belmont is 8-10 in the OVC, but the Bruins have played better away from home, going 7-2 on the road.

Eastern will host Belmont, with game starting at 3 p.m. Friday at Coaches Stadium.

In the other two series, the Panthers play on the road at Eastern Kentucky, which is 9-9 this season in the OVC. Eastern ends its regular season, going to Martin, Tenn., starting May 15, to play the last-place Skyhawks.

Players of the week

Southeast Missouri’s Matt Tellor and Tennessee Tech’s Dylan Bosheers were named Ohio Valley Conference co-Players of the week.

Tellor hit .636 (7-for-11) in four games for the Redhawks and scored seven runs. The senior also hit two home runs and had seven RBIs, while knocking in a double that brought his slugging percentage to 1.091 for the week. Tellor has reached base in 17 straight games for Southeast Missouri.

Bosheers also hit two home runs during his week, driving in six RBIs and scored eight runs. In four Tennessee Tech wins, the junior hit .533 (8-for-15) and had a slugging percentage of 1.000. Bosheers also had an on-base percentage of .550 for the week.

Alex Robles, Austin Peay’s right-handed starting pitcher, was named Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the week, following his win Thursday night against Belmont.

He became the first Austin Peay pitcher to throw a complete-game, one-hitter since 1997, as he shutout Belmont 3-0 on the road.

The freshman retired the first seven batters he faced before allowing a single in the third inning.

Robles walked batters in the fourth and sixth innings, but finished the game by retiring the final 11 batters he faced.

Robles struck out a season-best nine batters and threw 117 total pitches, winning his third straight decision and improving to 5-2 this season.

Aldo Soto can be reached at 581-2812 or asoto2@eiu.edu.