COUGARS POUNCE ON GIMPY INDIANS 4-2

Gary Collins, coach of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville's baseball team, maintains that his squad "could probably win the Ohio Valley" Conference.

"That's how good we are," Collins proclaimed after his Cougars, ranked No. 9 in Division II, shut down Southeast Missouri State University 4-2 Tuesday before 255 fans at Capaha Park.

Lest he stir up unwanted ill-will, Southeast coach Mark Hogan declined to comment about Collins' pronouncement, other than to say that "I'm glad he feels that good about his ballclub."

And although Southeast, the defending OVC Tournament champion, slipped to 2-7, Hogan also remains confident in his squad. But lately, "We're like a M*A*S*H unit," Hogan said.

Outfielder Charlie Marino, Southeast's single-season home run record holder, likely is lost for the year after suffering torn cartilage in his right knee last week. Infielder Steve Lowe sat out Tuesday's game with a hamstring strain, and Robert Kern, who is slowly recovering from an eye injury, left after hurting his right wrist in his first at-bat.

Those casualties left some Indians filling unaccustomed positions, a situation that at least partly accounted for some of Southeast's six errors, one of which resulted in a SIUE run.

"It's just a tough time right now," Hogan said. "And it makes it really tough when you don't have everything intact. But our guys are battling, and they're not happy."

Southeast, which was limited to five hits by Corey Blackwell (1-1), SIUE's No. 4 starter, and reliever Jason Guest, posted its two runs in the sixth inning.

With one out, Jeremy Johnson, who went 2-for-4, reached on second baseman Chad Opel's error, and Darin Kinsolving was hit by a Blackwell pitch.

Jeff Bourbon then sent a laser beam down the left-field line, a double that scored Johnson. Kinsolving came home on Kyle Yount's groundout.

The Indians cut their 3-0 deficit to 3-2 in the sixth, but any further offensive proved elusive, while the Cougars (5-3) tacked on another run in the seventh.

"The offense is going to come and go," Hogan said. "Today we had a couple pitchers that threw the off-speed stuff real well, and that takes a big adjustment. This time of year it's hard to make that adjustment."

Danny Schiltz made his first start this season for Southeast and lasted five innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits. Chad Bogenpohl came on in the sixth and allowed a run in four innings.

For SIUE, which scored twice in the first and once each in the sixth and seventh, Travis Dawson, Mark Bugger and Tory Tate each had two hits. Bugger had two RBIs and Dawson, who had a triple, stole two bases.

Southeast travels to Arkansas State today for a 3 p.m. game.