INDIANS SCALP SALUKIS 19-1

If Wednesday afternoon's baseball game between host Southeast Missouri State University and Southern Illinois had been a boxing match, the referee would have stopped it well before the scheduled ending.

That's how big a mismatch things were.

But, probably much to the chagrin of the visitors from Carbondale, Ill., the contest had to go the nine-inning distance. And the Indians added another black mark to an already struggling SIU season with a 19-1 rout.

An enthusiastic crowd of more than 1,000 fans at Capaha Field (it was Organization Day, with fraternities and sororities out in full force) saw the Indians pound out 20 hits -- including two home runs -- and get another dominating pitching performance from Todd Pennington, among the nation's leaders in earned-run average.

The Salukis were limited to three hits and only an unearned run in the top of the ninth inning allowed them to escape Cape Girardeau without being shut out.

Southeast, which swept the two-game season series from the Salukis, improved to 26-14. SIU, rocked before the campaign even started when three of its top pitchers were declared academically ineligible, fell to 14-24.

"We've been on both sides of it. Everybody has," said Southeast coach Mark Hogan, showing some empathy for the Salukis. "I know it's been a tough year for them. Today our offense was clicking and Todd just basically erased their offense."

Which has been the case virtually the entire season. Pennington, a junior right-hander, improved his record to 8-1 by working six shutout innings and lowering his earned-run average to 0.97 (his 1.07 ERA entering the week ranked third nationally in Division I). Pennington struck out nine, walked one and allowed two harmless singles.

"It's just marvelous to watch Penny work," Hogan said. "He's in such a groove and he's been doing it all year."

Said the soft-spoken Pennington, who doesn't like to draw attention to himself, "That's what you hope for (a dominating performance), but it's not going to happen every time."

Added Pennington with a smile, "It was nice to work with a big lead."

Jeff Bourbon and Vern Hatton both went 4-for-5 to pace Southeast offensively. Bourbon drove in five runs, four coming on a sixth-inning grand slam. That was part of a nine-run uprising by the Indians that pushed their lead to 19-0.

"After last night, it was good to come out and play this way," said Bourbon, referring to Tuesday's 8-5 loss at Missouri.

As the Indians' catcher, Bourbon has gotten an up-close look at Pennington's magical work this season. He certainly appreciates it.

"Somebody must have hit him in the head with a bat this summer," said a grinning Bourbon. "He's just been dominating and it's great to be a part of."

Bourbon's homer was his fifth of the season, tying him with Hatton and Clemente Bonilla for the most on the squad. Bourbon also took over the team lead in RBIs with 40.

Brian Hopkins, who has slowly but surely been coming around offensively after a dismal start to the season, also homered -- his fourth -- and had four RBIs.

Denver Stuckey, Brad Beatty, Zach Borowiak, Tristen McDonald and Shane Allen all added two hits. Allen and Bonilla both had three RBIs.

The Indians wasted little time taking control as they scored six runs in the opening inning off Ryan Aird (2-5), the first of seven SIU hurlers.

Only two of the six first-inning runs were earned thanks to a pair of errors, but the Indians still battered Aird for six hits in the frame, the key blow being Allen's three-run double. Bonilla added an RBI double while Bourbon delivered an RBI single.

Given the way Pennington has pitched all season, the game was probably over at that point. But the Indians didn't stop there. They got a run in the fourth, three in the fifth -- all coming on Hopkins' homer -- and then officially made it a total laugher with their nine-run sixth that featured Bourbon's slam.

Jeffrey Hilz followed Pennington to the mound and had two scoreless innings, allowing one hit. Mike Robinson worked the ninth and gave up SIU's lone run even though he did not allow a hit.