INDIANS LOSE GRIP ON 1ST; SOUTHEAST SPLITS DOUBLEHEADER WITH MURRAY ST.

Southeast Missouri State University baseball coach Mark Hogan is realistic enough to believe that the Indians were not likely to win the remainder of their games this season.

That's why Hogan, while a bit disappointed, was still more than willing to accept the Indians' doubleheader split with Ohio Valley Conference foe Murray State Saturday afternoon.

A season-high crowd of just over 1,400 fans at Capaha Field saw the Thoroughbreds win the opener 5-4 and the Indians capture the nightcap 4-1.

The Indians, who had their nine-game winning streak snapped in the opener, are now 30-11 overall and 13-3 in OVC play. Leading the league standings by percentage points before Saturday, Southeast now trails Eastern Kentucky (15-3) by one game.

Murray State, in fourth place in the nine-team OVC, is 18-23 overall and 9-7 in league play.

"People saw two super ballgames today," said Hogan. "We're disappointed we lost the opener, but in baseball, you're not going to win every game. And Murray State has a good ballclub, no matter what their overall record is.

"Even though we're technically out of first place (in the OVC) now, what we want to do is go into that last series of the season (at home against Eastern Kentucky) with a chance to win the title. Hopefully we'll be able to get two out of three (this weekend) and today won't hurt us."

Southeast and Murray State will close out their three-game series with a 2 p.m. single contest today at Capaha Field.

"They were two good ballgames," said Murray State coach Mike Thieke. "We knew we had to pitch well. SEMO has a tremendous offensive club and to hold them to four runs a game is a task. It's a feat."

After dropping Saturday's opener, Southeast turned to its most consistent starting pitcher all season in the hopes of salvaging a split -- and Lanson Debrock didn't disappoint.

Debrock, who is no doubt a serious contender for OVC Pitcher of the Year honors, hurled his fifth complete game of the season as he improved his record to 9-3 and lowered his earned-run average to an impressive 2.74.

A senior right-hander, Debrock scattered five singles while striking out 10 and walking two in seven innings as he moved to within two wins of tying the school's single-season record for pitching victories.

"Lanson was just overpowering, and he's done it all year," said Hogan. "He struggled the first couple of innings with his curve, but once he found his breaking ball about the fourth inning, he was something."

Southeast, which never led in the opener, jumped in front early in the nightcap. The Indians scored a run in the first inning as Kevin Meyer singled and scored on Charlie Marino's double, then got three more in the second on Meyer's two-run double and Marino's sacrifice fly.

John David Poynor was able to shut the Indians down without a hit over the final 2 1/3 innings after relieving starter Preston Hesley (4-6), but Debrock made sure the Thoroughbreds would not rally.

Meyer and Zach Borowiak each had two of Southeast's eight hits in the second game.

In the opener, the Indians had just four hits against three Murray State hurlers. The Thoroughbreds had only six hits off Dan Huesgen, but two home runs Huesgen gave up loomed large.

Huesgen (4-4), who has pitched in his share of tough luck this season, worked all seven innings. He fanned four and did not issue a walk. One of Murray State's runs was unearned.

"Dan pitched well," Hogan said. "Take away two pitches and he probably gets a win."

Chris Johnson's three-run homer just inside the left-field foul pole gave the Thoroughbreds a 4-0 third-inning lead. Ronnie Seats' solo blast in the fourth put Murray State up 5-1 and wound up as the game-winning hit.

Stellar relief pitching was the story of the first game for the Thoroughbreds. Starter Aaron Russelburg ran into control problems in the fourth as the Indians, trailing 5-1, mounted a serious threat.

With one out, a hit batsman and three consecutive walks forced in a run and left the bases loaded. Chris Gray, normally a starter, replaced Russelburg and did a splendid job to maintain the Thoroughbreds' lead.

Facing two of the most dangerous hitters in the Southeast lineup, Russelburg got a force out on a ground ball by Marino that drove in a run and then retired Jeremy Johnson on a fly ball to right to end the inning with Murray State ahead 5-3.

Jeff Bourbon's eighth homer of the season -- it was Southeast's lone home run of the day -- leading off the sixth pulled the Indians to within 5-4.

But the Indians had no more baserunners the rest of the way. And, in the seventh, Thieke pulled an unusual switch that ended up working like a charm.

Ace reliever Jason Glosser came on to face Marino leading off the bottom of the seventh, with Gray moving to right. Glosser fanned Marino and then came out of the contest as Gray returned to the mound. He promptly got a ground ball to first by Johnson and a fly ball to center by Darin Kinsolving to nail down the win.

Gray (4-6) allowed just one hit and one run in 3 1/3 innings.

Johnson was the only Southeast player with two hits in the opener. He also became the school's all-time runs batted in leader with a third-inning RBI, giving him 168 for his career.

Meyer was the only Indian with three hits on the day while he and Marino both had three RBIs. Seets was the only Thoroughbred with three hits.