Hogan nears win No. 300 at Southeast

As the season heads into its home stretch, Southeast Missouri State University's baseball Indians are not enjoying their typical success under coach Mark Hogan.

But, entering this weekend's three-game series at Morehead State, Hogan is still closing in on a career milestone at Southeast as the 10th-year coach is just three wins away from 300 with the Indians.

Hogan, since taking over the program at his alma mater in 1995, has a record of 297-228-1. Overall, in his 23rd season as a head coach -- including eight at the junior college level and five at Division II Livingston (Ala.) -- the Cape Girardeau native is 674-484-3.

"I've been fortunate to have had a lot of great players and assistant coaches," Hogan said.

The Indians, after graduating virtually all of last year's top players from a team that went 31-20 overall and finished second in the Ohio Valley Conference at 14-6, are just 18-23 overall and a sixth-place 8-9 in the 10-team league.

Hogan has had just one losing overall record at Southeast, a 24-33 mark in 1997. Under Hogan, the Indians have won two OVC titles, made two NCAA regional appearances and played in the OVC tournament championship game five times. They have won at least 31 games each of the past four seasons.-- Marty Mishow