INDIANS WATCH TWO GAMES MELT AWAY

As far as Southeast Missouri State University baseball goes so far this season, if it's not one thing, it's another.

The Indians, who have been hampered by a variety of injuries, have been snowed out of two scheduled games early this week -- even though the weather has all of a sudden turned nice.

Southeast was slated to host Western Illinois Monday and Missouri-St. Louis today, but because of all the snow that has been on the field, both games were canceled.

"I guess that's the way it goes," said Southeast coach Mark Hogan. "The weather is supposed to be gorgeous (today), and it was pretty good (Monday), but there's no way we can get the field ready."

There is a possibility the Indians will play another team some time this week. If not, then Southeast's next action will be this weekend when the Indians open Ohio Valley Conference play with a three-game series at Eastern Kentucky. There will be a doubleheader Saturday and a single game Sunday.

Southeast, last year's OVC Tournament champion, has a 6-9 overall record after winning four of its last five games.

"I've been encouraged lately," said Hogan. "There have been some good signs the last few games."

Hogan was also encouraged by the news regarding the knee injury suffered by Charlie Marino, who set a school single-season home run record with 21 home runs last year.

Marino played in just four games before getting hurt. He was expected to miss the rest of the season but recent arthroscopic surgery revealed a lot less cartilage damage than previously thought.

"It was very minimal," Hogan said. "We have to just take it day to day, but Charlie could be back in a couple of weeks. So that's good news."

However, Robert Kern could miss the entire season. He had been slowed to start the year with an eye injury and then suffered a broken bone in his hand. There is a chance Kern, a senior, could still receive a medical redshirt season next year.

On the field, Jeremy Johnson continues to lead the Indians in several offensive categories. The junior center fielder, who has been drawing considerable interest from professional scouts, is batting .439 with three home runs, eight doubles and 16 runs batted in.

Johnson, the MVP of last year's OVC Tournament, recently broke the school's career doubles record. He now has 43. Johnson is also closing in on the career runs scored mark of 127. He has 119.

"Jeremy is off to a great start and it's not surprising to me," said Hogan. "He has the complete package. He's going to be an exciting guy for the professional scouts and it couldn't happen to a better kid."