INDIANS 'PEN' UP BELMONT

Todd Pennington shrugged off his late-game misfortune about as routinely as he did Belmont's batters.

Pennington, Southeast Missouri State University's junior right-hander who is having a sensational season, turned in another dominating pitching performance Saturday afternoon as the Indians knocked off visiting Belmont 3-1.

But Pennington was denied the opportunity for a two-hit, complete-game shutout when second baseman Clemente Bonilla bobbled a routine ground ball with two outs in the top of the ninth inning.

Instead of having his day done with a 3-0 victory, the error kept the Bruins alive. And, when Pennington walked the next two batters, he was taken out of the game. After Mark Frazier gave up a single that plated Belmont's lone run, Greg Lunski got a fly ball to nail down the triumph and earn his first save.

Asked if he was disappointed at not being able to finish the contest, the soft-spoken Pennington said, "I always like to finish games, but things happen. I'm just happy we won the game."

Nothing -- especially not opposing hitters -- has bothered the former Shawnee (Ill.) High School standout so far this season. By allowing no earned runs in 8 2/3 innings Saturday -- he struck out 10 and walked four -- Pennington lowered his Ohio Valley Conference-leading ERA to 0.71 as he improved his record to 4-0.

In 38 innings so far this season, Pennington -- who has firmly established himself as Southeast's No. 1 hurler -- has allowed just 16 hits while fanning 44 and walking 17.

Those numbers are quite an improvement from his first two seasons at Southeast, when Pennington saw mainly spot duty out of the bullpen and compiled a 6.75 ERA as a sophomore and a 5.87 mark as a freshman.

Of the difference for him this year as opposed to the previous two seasons, Pennington said, "I'm pitching with a plan, the coaches are doing a great job and the team is doing a good job behind me. I feel great."

Even though Pennington did not distinguish himself during the past two seasons, Southeast coach Mark Hogan had high hopes for the strapping hurler all along and Pennington entered this year as the Indians' No. 3 starter.

"Todd has just matured," Hogan said. "Confidence is an overused word, but he's got that. He went through some growing pains the last two years. Last year he had some good performances and some rough ones.

"But he's always had the drive, he's a great kid, very intelligent, and he's got the physical attributes."

While Pennington throws fairly hard, his fastball is not overpowering by Division I standards. Hogan said Pennington's changeup has made the biggest different in his mound work this year.

"His changeup has been super," said Hogan. "People think it's a curve, but it's a change."

Pennington dominated non-league foe Belmont, located in Nashville, Tenn., as the Bruins fell to 18-9 while the Indians improved to 14-8.

And Pennington had to be as good as he was because Belmont starter Cody Fisher, a crafty left-hander, was not far behind.

Fisher, who shut out the Indians last year during a 1-0 Belmont victory, allowed six hits while fanning nine and walking two in seven innings. Fisher (2-3) allowed all three Southeast runs, but they were all unearned.

"The two pitchers today really dominated," said Hogan. "You have to take your hat off to them. It's not as easy as they made it look."

Southeast grabbed a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning. Bonilla, the only Indian with two hits on the day, led off with a single. With one out, he stole second, advanced to third on an error and scored when Fisher was called for a balk as he inexplicably stopped after starting his windup.

The Indians got two huge insurance runs in the seventh. With one out, Brad Beatty singled and Shane Allen reached on an error. With two outs, Denver Stuckey reached on another error, allowing pinch-runner Matt Baldwin to score. Bonilla then delivered a key RBI double.

It looked like Pennington was going to record a complete-game shutout as he breezed through the eighth and retired the first two batters in the ninth. Even though Bonilla's error foiled those plans, the Indians were able to hold on.

"It's not over in baseball until you get the last out," Hogan said. "It got interesting at the end.

"I'm sure Clemente felt worse than anybody about Todd not being able to finish. But those things happen. Clemente is having a great season for us and he had two big hits today."

The squads will conclude their two-game series today with a 1 p.m. start.