FRAZIER KO's LIPSCOMB

On a team that is already loaded with pitching, Mark Frazier is giving Southeast Missouri State University baseball coach Mark Hogan some cause to assess his rotation for Ohio Valley Conference play.

Frazier, not regarded as one of the Indians' top mound prospects when the season began, turned in another stellar performance Tuesday afternoon in helping Southeast salvage a doubleheader split with non-league foe Lipscomb.

After the visiting Bisons -- a first-year Division I program from Tennessee -- surprised Southeast 3-2 in the opener, Frazier hurled a masterful four-hitter as the Indians captured the nightcap 7-1.

Southeast is now 12-8 while Lipscomb is 8-15.

Frazier, a walk-on right-hander who came to Southeast from Jefferson Junior College in Hillsboro, Mo., struck out 10 and walked one in going the seven-inning distance. He very nearly had a shutout, but the Bisons pushed across an unearned run in the final frame.

Still, Frazier saw his earned-run average on the season dip to 1.54 as he improved to 2-0. In 23 1/3 innings, he has allowed just 15 hits.

"I felt good out there. I had a lot of confidence," said Frazier, who is not overpowering. "The breaking ball and change have been there every day, and I depend a lot on my defense."

Frazier said he had scholarship offers to some lower-level programs but he was determined to play Division I baseball, so he walked on at Southeast.

As a walk-on, he said, "I feel I have to prove myself every day."

Frazier, who has not yet broken into the group of Southeast's top-line starting pitchers, is certainly proving plenty to Hogan.

"We're going to have to take a good look at Frazier, because he keeps doing it," said Hogan, whose squad has a stellar team ERA of 3.58. "He threw really well today. He really mastered the breaking ball and repeatedly had hitters in the hole."

As good as Frazier was in the second game, Lipscomb hurler Larry Nesbitt was nearly as solid in the opener.

The Bisons' regular shortstop, Nesbitt's primary mound duties are as a closer. But, after allowing two first-inning runs -- including Denver Stuckey's leadoff homer -- Nesbitt (1-1) pitched six straight shutout innings. He finished with a three-hitter, fanning six and walking four.

Tommy Thomas took the loss. The Indians' No. 1 starter allowed six hits and all three runs in 6 1/3 innings. He fanned five and walked two. Thomas, whose 3.64 ERA is far better than his 1-5 record, has pitched in his share of tough luck so far this season.

"Tommy pitched okay, but Nesbitt was wonderful," said Hogan. "He was the story of the game."

After being shut down by Nesbitt, the Indians found the going much better against Brett Pack (0-3).

Southeast had 12 second-game hits, including a 2-for-2 performance by Clemente Bonilla as he raised his batting average to an OVC-best .436.

Bonilla drove in four runs in the nightcap, including three with a bases-clearing double in the sixth inning that made it 7-0.

Stuckey, whose first-game homer was his second of the season, added two hits in the nightcap, as did Vern Hatton and Brad Beatty. Hatton, like Stuckey, had three hits on the day.

Zach Borowiak, who entered the day leading the OVC in batting, saw his 18-game hitting streak snapped in the opener. He did get a hit in the nightcap and is now at .411.

The Indians will have another non-conference game today when William Woods, an NAIA program from Fulton, Mo., comes to Capaha Field for a 3 p.m. single contest.

On the Williams Woods squad is Cape Girardeau Central High product Michael Minner, a pitcher who could see action on the mound today.