Indians stumble to MU in home opener

Garrett Broshuis didn't have his best stuff in his return to Capaha Field -- but the way Southeast Missouri State University's pitchers were missing the plate, he didn't have to.

Broshuis, an Advance High School graduate who called Capaha Field home while playing summers for Cape Girardeau's American Legion, was the winning pitcher as Missouri spoiled Southeast's twice-delayed home opener Tuesday night, the Tigers holding on for a 9-8 victory.

"It wasn't pretty," Broshuis said, smiling. "But it was nice to come back here and pitch. I have a lot of memories here, and I had a lot of my family here tonight."

Broshuis, a sophomore righthander, allowed six hits and five runs (four earned) in five innings. He struck out two and did not issue a walk as he improved to 2-2. The Tigers are 11-5 after winning for the ninth time in their last 10 games.

"My fastball location wasn't good, and I had some trouble with my curveball," said Broshuis, who led MU in wins last season when he went 5-6 as a redshirt freshman. "But they hit some pretty good pitches, and they have a good hitting team."

For the Indians, who fell to 3-8, the problem on this chilly night was wildness. Four Southeast pitchers combined to issue 12 walks, which allowed the Tigers to score plenty despite having just six hits.

Conversely, three MU hurlers did not issue a walk, which allowed the Tigers to overcome 11 Southeast hits.

"Disgusting," Southeast coach Mark Hogan said. "The 12 walks were the key to the game. There is no defense for that."

Southeast lost much of its pitching staff from last year's Ohio Valley Conference championship team and Hogan knew finding some capable replacements would be crucial.

The Indians have struggled on the mound so far this season. Tim Alvarez, the squad's top returning hurler, is 3-0 with a 1.80 earned-run average. The rest of the staff is 0-8 with an ERA of close to 10.

"We've got some guys with decent arms, but they have to throw strikes," Hogan said.

A big bright spot for the Indians was the continued strong play of senior second baseman Justin Christian, an Auburn transfer.

Christian went 4-for-5 with a home run, two triples and a double. He drove in five runs and scored three. Christian is batting a team-leading .372 and also leads the squad in home runs with four and RBIs with 11.

"He's a special player, a great athlete and a great person on and off the field," Hogan said. "We're lucky to have him."

Said Christian, who left Auburn after suffering a shoulder injury that required surgery, "I'm happy to be here. Coach Hogan gave me a chance to play after I got hurt. But when you come up with a loss, it doesn't matter how you're hitting."

Denver Stuckey and Zach Borowiak both added two hits for the Indians. Brian Hopkins had two RBIs.

Jeremy Hernandez led MU with two hits, while Jayce Tingler homered and had two RBIs.

Despite all the Indians' problems, they nearly staged a dramatic rally.

After falling behind 4-0 in the second inning and trailing 8-2 in the fifth, the Indians clawed back and found themselves down 9-7 entering their final chance in the bottom of the ninth.

Stuckey led off with a single and scored on Christian's one-out triple. With the infield in, Borowiak grounded out to third as Christian had to hold, then Hopkins struck out to end the game.

"Give our club credit for clawing back in it," Hogan said.

Bill Clayton (0-2) took the loss, although just one of the four runs he allowed in four innings was earned. Clayton walked four and gave up four hits.

Jon Nourie allowed four runs on no hits -- he walked four -- while retiring just two batters. Stan Skakalski also retired two batters while allowing no hits and walking two, but he was not charged with a run.

Ryan Forsyth was the Indians' most effective hurler, allowing two hits and one run over the final 3 2/3 innings. He fanned two and walked two.

"He took advantage and stepped up," Hogan said.

Southeast hosts St. Louis University at 4 p.m. today.

mmishow@semissourian.com

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