The opening weekend of the Ohio Valley Conference season has come and gone, and surrounding battles with the weather, some good baseball was played.

One thing the OVC can always be counted on is a darkhorse in the pack who was not expected to be as good as it becomes. While that team does not always present itself in the first weekend, coaches always know that it is expected and prepare for when that underdog team starts to play well.

“There always is a wild card team out there, and there will be another this year,” Southeast Missouri State manager Mark Hogan said.

Eastern hopes to be that underdog team this year but came out of its weekend series against Morehead State with one victory in three games.

The Eagles came into the weekend with the best team batting average in the OVC at .339. However, the team’s weakness is its pitching staff, which has a team ERA of 8.19.

Surprisingly though, with the Panthers coming into the series hitting the ball well, Morehead State was able to shut out Eastern in one game and hold the Panthers to five runs in another. The third game on Sunday was a return to form for the Eagles as they gave up 10 runs to Eastern.

Another team who fared well this weekend was the expected favorite to win the OVC, Southeast Missouri State. The Indians were projected to win in the preseason coaches poll, and the team’s offense is leading the way in their charge to first place in the OVC.

Winning two games against a solid Tennessee Tech before rains washed out the third game of the series, the Indians started their conference season the way they wanted to.

Besides the offense, which exploded in the second game for 14 runs, senior pitcher Tim Alvarez has been the best pitcher for the Indians this season. After pitching well in his junior year, Alvarez has taken his game to a new level this year by posting a perfect 8-0 record and an extremely minimal 1.19 ERA.

The frontrunners for the OVC conference are fielding a team this year that have much more team speed than they used to have. Instead of depending upon the power hitters in the middle of the lineup, the Indians have found other ways to score this year.

“The club is quicker up and down the lineup this year,” Hogan said. “We are not as powerful of a team as the 1999 or 2000 teams.

“We are a fine defensive ballclub, but the question mark is how we are going to replace two 12-game winners that left the team last year.”

Alvarez seems to be doing that job as the ace of the Indian pitching staff, but the team does lack depth in its pitching staff. The second lowest ERA on the team jumps nearly 4 runs higher than Alvarez’s ERA.

Another team who started well in the OVC’s opening weekend was Austin Peay. The Governors finished one game with a victory, and their second game was tied 10-10 before the rains came and stopped play.

Austin Peay doesn’t have a team that stands out with either its offense or its pitching, but the team has found a balance between their offense and their pitching.

Their .263 team batting average and 5.33 team ERA aren’t remarkable on either count, but together they make for a balanced team.

Overall the OVC will have a number of solid teams from top to bottom. The first weekend, which has just been played, will serve as a gauge as to how these teams will play for the rest of the season.