By RANDY HAMMERICKSEN

His father traveled 2,500 miles to see him make history for Morehead State University's baseball team.

Josh Cox, a former North Medford High player and starting second baseman for four years for the Eagles, knew the moment was huge.

He was on the cusp of breaking the school record for career hits in a game. It's a record he worked long and hard to achieve.

Cox tied the record for career hits at Morehead State, which plays out of the Ohio Valley Conference in Morehead, Ky., two days prior to April 10, the day he would break the record.

Knowing Cox's father, Steve, would be arriving on campus on April 10 to see his son play, Morehead State head coach John Jarnagin opted to hold Cox out of the second game of a doubleheader on April 8 so that Steve Cox could be in the stands to see his son break the career hits record against Eastern Illinois.

"I knew he would get a hit in the next game he played," says Jarnagin. "I wanted his dad to see it. So I held him out. Sure enough, we lost the game without Josh, but it was still worth it."

Cox struck quickly in the first game against Eastern Illinois on April 10. In his second at-bat, he struck a blow for the ages by hitting a two-run homer.

That gave him hit No. 242 of his career. And the school record.

As he rounded the bases, Cox looked up into the stands to see his father standing and cheering. As he crossed home plate, he gave his dad the thumbs-up sign.

And dad broke down. "I'll admit I cried," says Steve Cox. "How could you not?"

"He cried so hard, he made my cry," says Josh. "But I was so glad my dad got to see it."

Currently, Cox's career hits record stands at 245 as the Eagles prepare to ply in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, which starts Wednesday.

"I've been hitting over .500 since my dad came down to watch me," says Cox. "I've gotten hot every time he's come down here the last three years.

"I feel like I'm on a rampage right. I'm real confident I can hit anything.

"I think I relaxed when dad got here. I wanted to go have fun, and I felt real comfortable with him in the stands.

"My mom came down a week later to be with my dad, and then I really went crazy at the plate."

Cox played a prominent role in helping the Eagles (19-31) qualify for the Ohio Valley Conference playoffs with three wins last weekend over Southeast Missouri State. He was 3-for-8 in three games, and drove in four runs.

About a week ago, Cox blasted a two-run home run in a game the Eagles needed to win to keep their postseason playoff hopes alive.

"We were playing Middle Tennessee State on the road, and we were behind 6-0 in a game we had to win to make the playoffs," says Jarnagin. "We got a rally going to cut the lead to 6-4 earlier, and then Josh hit a two-run homer to cut the lead to 7-6.

"That was a clutch hit, typical of Josh," says Jarnagin. "It might have been the biggest hit of our season. We hit another two-run homer in the ninth to win the game."

Cox, who is currently batting .337, with 55 hits in 163 at-bats, says he developed a new philosophy for hitting during his freshman season at Morehead State. "We had a different coach then (Frank Spaniol)," says Cox. "He really changed my approach to hitting.

He said no matter what you do, you have to have an approach to hitting.

"You have to know what to look for (pitches) and when you see it, you jump on it. I decided I want to look for a first-pitch fastball each time. If I get it, I'm on it. If I don't, I know I can do it again tomorrow and I don't worry."

Cox put himself on pace to become Morehead State's career hits leader with a spectacular sophomore season in 1996. He batted. 395, with eight home runs and drove in 48 runs.

"He works real hard at his hitting," says Morehead State designated hitter Patrick Wooton, who is called Pete by his teammates because of his resemblance as a hitter to Pete Rose. "He works harder than anybody in the (batting) cage. Everybody looks up to him."

"I like to go to the batting cage and hit," says Cox. "It's not hard work. It's fun."

Also on the Morehead State team is starting first baseman Cameron Langham, another graduate of North Medford High. Langham is batting .307 for the Eagles.

Cox, a former Southern Oregon Conference all-star as a catcher for North Medford, was converted to a catcher at Morehead State.

"When I got there, they had a freshman All-American (Brad Allison) as a catcher," says Cox. "So, they put me as second base because I could hit."

After Allison signed a professional contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks two years ago, Cox asked Jarnagin if he could catch.

"He said he wanted me to stay at second base," says Cox. "Part of it was he felt he couldn't afford for me to get hurt catching since I was hitting so well."

Says Jarnagin: "Josh offers us so many intangibles, I feel like we can't afford to take a chance that he might be hit or bumped and get hurt. When we lose him, we lose our best hitter.

"I'm going to miss Josh when he's gone," says Jarnagin. "He's been so valuable to us as a clutch hitter and a leader.