FENCE BUSTER: MARINO TIES SOUTHEAST HR RECORD, NEARS OVC MARK

Charlie Marino led the Ohio Valley Conference in home runs this season, has tied Southeast Missouri State University's single-season homer mark with a few games left to play and is within reach of the OVC's single-season home-run record.

And all this from a guy who, before the 1998 season, really was never very much of a power hitter.

"I never expected it," said Marino prior to the Indians' Tuesday afternoon practice at Capaha Field as they prepare for this weekend's NCAA play-in series against Southern. "I really haven't hit for power all my life. Both my years in junior college, I think I hit like four home runs each season."

That might come as a surprise to anybody who has seen the powerfully built Marino, a Californian who stands 5-feet-10, weighs about 210 pounds -- and has forearms that look like sledgehammers.

Marino, a junior in his first season with the Indians, said working with a hitting coach toward the end of his junior-college season last year made a big difference.

"He basically helped my swing, then I really worked with it over the summer," he said. "I haven't perfected it yet, but I can always tell when I'm doing something wrong so I can correct it."

Maybe the swing isn't perfect, but it's helped the right-handed-hitting left fielder produce 20 homers, which ties the Southeast mark set by Danny Patterson in the 1985 season.

Patterson played at Capaha Field when its dimensions were considerably more hitter-friendly than the present major-league-like distances of 330 feet down the lines, 380 to the power alleys and 400 to dead center.

Marino, while already winning the OVC home-run title this year, is three blasts away from tying the OVC's single-season homer record of 23, set in 1980.

But all the records appear to matter little to the soft-spoken Marino, who seems to personify the laid-back lifestyle of the stereotypical Californian.

"I guess the records are nice, but I really don't like thinking about that stuff," he said. "It's a great honor, but winning is the main thing."

Despite his power numbers that also feature a team-high 47 runs batted in, Marino is far from a one-dimensional player. He has a .326 batting average, which is fourth-best on the squad, is a capable if not spectacular outfielder and has excellent speed, leading the Indians with 15 stolen bases while being caught just four times.

"Charlie has been a tremendous power hitter for us, but his skills go way beyond power," said Southeast coach Mark Hogan. "He has a lot of tools."

People must wonder why a guy with so much baseball talent left California to travel halfway across the country and attend college.

Marino said much of it had to do with an arm injury and something of a sub-par junior-college season last year.

"Oklahoma was recruiting me, but they gave up on me when they found out about my arm," he said. "Then I didn't have the type of season I really wanted and so I didn't get the kind of (scholarship) offers I wanted."

It just so happened that Southeast assistant coach Mark Wasikowski, also a native Californian, had at one time played for Marino's junior-college coach.

"He (Wasikowski) called me. I had never heard of SEMO or Cape Girardeau," said Marino with a laugh. "But I just wanted to play Division I baseball. I didn't care where it was."

Marino, one of six Californians on the Southeast roster, admits to having had some apprehension upon arriving in Cape Girardeau prior to the school year. He and pitcher Tim Larsen, a juco teammate, made the long drive together.

Recalled a grinning Marino, "I think the very first night, Tim and I just got here, and I couldn't get in touch with my landlord or coach Hogan. I said `that's it, I'm going home.' But everything has worked out."

Marino, from LaPalma, Calif., which is near Anaheim, said it didn't take very long for he and the rest of the Californians on the squad to fit in.

"At the beginning everybody kind of looked at us weird. I guess they thought we were different," he said. "But in time everything was fine. This is a good group of guys. Everybody seems to get along real well."

An accounting major, Marino was a 50th-round draft choice of the Phillies out of high school but did not sign. He hopes to eventually get another shot at pro baseball.

"That's my dream. I guess it's pretty much always been," he said.

But first things first. Marino and the Indians have their sights set on Southeast's first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament berth in baseball. Beating Southern this weekend would do the trick.

"Winning the OVC Tournament (last weekend) was great. That's what we've been playing for," he said. "And getting to the NCAA Tournament would definitely be an experience for us."