INDIANS COMPLETE OVC ROAD SWEEP; SEMO MOVES CLOSER TO HOSTING LEAGUE TOURNEY

MARTIN, Tenn. -- Not even a change in venue could slow down Southeast Missouri State University's surging baseball team Sunday afternoon.

A broken water line which flooded the infield portion of Tennessee-Martin's Skyhawk Field early Sunday forced the final game of a weekend series to be played at the new Martin Recreation Complex.

But that didn't deter the Indians, who came away with an 11-7 victory to complete a three-game sweep.

Southeast improved to 26-19 overall and 14-7 in Ohio Valley Conference play. The Indians remained in second place in the nine-team league heading into next weekend's three-game home series with Morehead State that will close out OVC play.

The Indians will need to win only one out of three games against Morehead to clinch at least second place in the OVC and earn the right to host the league tournament.

First-place Eastern Illinois is not eligible to host the tourney because it does not have lights on its field. Third-place Tennessee Tech has completed its league season at 14-10 and needs the Indians to lose all three against Morehead in order to tie for second. In that case, Tech owns the tie-breaker over Southeast.

"We still need to take care of business at home (against Morehead), but we're in a lot better shape now than when the weekend started," said Southeast coach Mark Hogan. "One of our goals has been to host the tournament and we're getting close to it."

By winning all three games over the weekend -- Southeast captured Saturday's doubleheader 4-3 and 13-0 -- the Indians swept their second consecutive OVC road series.

Overall, the Indians have won eight of their last nine conference games.

"I'm very proud of my players," Hogan said. "For us to go on the road at this time of the year and to win all three games is just marvelous. And to have back-to-back road sweeps is especially tremendous."

Dan Huesgen, who has solidly stamped himself as Southeast's No. 3 starter, pitched all nine innings as he improved to 5-2 with his fourth consecutive OVC victory.

A sophomore righthander, Huesgen allowed eight hits and only two earned run as the Indians helped out the Skyhawks with three errors. Huesgen struck out two and walked three.

"Dan has kind of been the unsung hero of our staff," Hogan said. "He's kind of solidified us in conference play. (Jason) Swearingen and (Ryan) Spille have been consistent all year and Huesgen has also really turned into a consistent pitcher for us."

The Skyhawks' hard-throwing Jody Fuller, who leads the OVC in strikeouts, took the loss to fall to 3-7. Fuller allowed seven hits and 10 runs in 4 2/3 innings. He fanned four and walked six.

Southeast had eight hits, including two home runs from Jeremy Johnson, whose recent power surge has increased his homer total to 11. Johnson drove in three runs.

Jeff Bourbon also had two hits while Phil Warren had four RBIs.

Johnson, Bourbon, Robert Kern and Steve Lowe all scored twice to aid the Indians' cause.

Two errors helped the Skyhawks grab a 3-0 first-inning lead.

But Southeast came back with two in the second and then took the lead for good with a five-run third, the big blow being Warren's three-run double that broke a 3-3 tie.

The Indians were in control the rest of the way, building their lead to 10-3 before the Skyhawks were able to close the gap a bit.

Southeast will return to action Tuesday when Arkansas State visits Cape Girardeau for a 6 p.m. non-conference game.

The Indians will have another non-league contest Wednesday night when they travel to Columbia to face Missouri.