Evansville finds the right combination, drops Indians

Evansville sparkled defensively, moved runners along and came up with key hits.

Southeast Missouri State University struggled in the field and left too many men on base.

That combination spelled defeat for the Indians in their first home action of the season Wednesday, 7-5 in front of an announced crowd of 675 at Capaha Field.

The Indians, who had three previously scheduled home games wiped out by bad weather, fell to 3-7. The Aces improved to 7-4.

"Our defense early killed us," Southeast coach Mark Hogan said. "We kind of handed the ballgame to them early and had to play catchup."

Southeast committed three errors while Evansville had none. The Indians left nine runners on base to the Aces' three.

Two errors in particular put the Indians in an early hole. After Evansville jumped on top with a run in the first inning, the Aces took control with three unearned runs in the second.

Second baseman Clemente Bonilla and third baseman Denver Stuckey made consecutive miscues on infield grounders. One out later, Michael Snyder ripped a two-run double and Courtney Campbell added an RBI double.

The Indians, despite battling back several times, could never recover from that early deficit.

Southeast had plenty of fireworks, outhitting Evansville 12-8 and belting the game's only two home runs, a two-run blast by Tristen McDonald in the second inning and a solo shot by Eric Hoffman in the sixth. It was the first career homer for Hoffman, a redshirt freshman.

Ryan Govek and Zach Borowiak each had three hits for the Indians. McDonald and Stuckey added two apiece.

Campbell and Joey Vandever both had two hits for the Aces.

Brad Purcell (1-2) took the loss. Working on three days rest for the second straight outing, he allowed six hits and six runs (three earned) in four innings.

The Indians used three more hurlers. Mark Frazier was impressive with four strikeouts in 1 2/3 scoreless frames.

Zach Brinson (3-0) gave up 10 hits and three runs in six innings for the victory.

Trailing 7-3 entering the ninth, the Indians scored twice but came up short.

"We hit the ball hard and we had opportunities, but we didn't capitalize," Hogan said. "They played errorless and really executed. They'll be one of the better teams we play."

mmishow@semissourian.com

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