HARD WORK PAYS DIVIDENDS FOR SEMO IN SWEEP OF EKU

The Southeast Missouri State University baseball team worked hard Saturday to earn a doubleheader sweep of Ohio Valley Conference foe Eastern Kentucky.

Of course, most of the hard work started seven hours before the first pitch at 2 p.m.

"We pulled the tarp at 7 this morning," said Southeast head coach Mark Hogan with a smile, following the final game that ended near 6 p.m.

With a week of wet weather saturating Capaha Field, the entire team arrived at the park early in the morning in an attempt to prepare the field for the scheduled 1 p.m. start. With the help of groundskeeper John Kelly and volunteer Truman Smith, the doubleheader started just an hour off schedule.

"The field played very well," said Hogan. "Of course the outfield was soggy, but after the rain we had there was no other way."

For all their effort, the Indians were rewarded with two league victories that improved their record to 11-9 overall and 5-3 in the OVC. EKU fell to 6-11 overall and 1-4 in the OVC.

"We just didn't generate much offense today," said Colonels' head coach Jim Ward. "Our kids were pretty baffled at the plate. The pitchers kind of took control of both games."

Southeast aces Jason Swearingen and Ryan Spille pitched seven-inning complete games with Swearingen winning the first game 3-2 and Spille the second 7-1.

Swearingen, a righthanded senior, struck out four with no walks in improving his record to 4-1. Spille, a lefthanded junior, totaled 12 strikeouts to remain undefeated at 5-0.

"Spille just overpowered us," said Ward. "You can't generate any offense striking out that many times."

With the wind blowing in from the outfield most of the day, offense was hard to come by for both teams until Southeast scored six runs in its final two at-bats of the second game.

Tied 1-1 in the fifth inning, the Indians touched EKU starter Eric Bess for two runs on three hits. Four more runs in the sixth finally chased Bess, who came in as the OVC's Pitcher of the Week.

Clutch hitting was key all day for the Indians. All of Southeast's 10 runs in the twinbill came on two-out hits.

"That was really big for our club and it was so good to see," said Hogan of the two-out RBIs. "It's a stat that coaches don't overlook. We had a lot of guys come through in some tough situations."

Freshman Jeff Bourbon went 3-for-3 with two RBIs in the nightcap, lacing two doubles. Junior Dave Sommerkamp, battling a hand injury, added two singles and three RBIs.

The biggest hit of Game 2 came in the sixth inning from Southeast junior Kyle Yount when he stretched his hitting streak to 16 games with a first-pitch home run well over the left-center field fence. The Blast also scored junior catcher Dan Berry, who singled to start the inning, and put Southeast ahead 5-1.

"I thought our pitchers did a good job until Yount hit the home run and then it got away from us," Ward said.

Two more hits off EKU reliever Shane Billau completed the scoring although the Colonels made things interesting in the final inning.

EKU loaded the bases against Spille on an error, single and walk, but the Indians' hard-throwing lefty struck out EKU's Brad Sizemore for the third time to end the game.

In the first game, Southeast took the lead with three runs in the second inning and then held on from there behind Swearingen's arm.

Sophomore Jeremy Johnson slapped an RBI triple down the left field line and junior Charlie Marino followed with a mammoth home run into the wind in right-center field to put Southeast on top 3-0.

The Colonels scored two runs in the sixth, Sizemore getting the big blast with an RBI double, but Swearingen set EKU down in order in the final frame to hold on for the victory.

"We were clicking on all the areas today," Hogan said. "It was just a good day of baseball for us."

Southeast and EKU will close out the three-game series today with a nine-inning contest scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.