Indians win, escape first round of OVC baseball tournament

PADUCAH, Ky. -- When Mark Hogan says his Southeast Missouri State University baseball team is mature, he counts being able to handle pressure as one of the Indians' prime attributes.

That's why Hogan was still confident the Indians could come through Wednesday, even though he admitted to being worried when they fell behind underdog Morehead State 5-0 in the early going of a first-round Ohio Valley Conference Tournament game.

"To be down 5-0 in a tournament like this, with so much on the line, and facing such a scary offense, it was a tough spot for us," Hogan said. "But this club is so seasoned. They just seem to handle pressure situations so well."

Hogan's faith was rewarded as the top-seeded Indians (33-17) rallied past the sixth-seeded Eagles (29-26) 9-6 in a game that was very much in doubt through the final inning.

Southeast, the OVC regular-season champion, will play fourth-seeded Murray State (19-32) at 3 p.m. today as the double-elimination tournament continues.

"This club will just not give up," Hogan said. "It was a great win."

Especially since Southeast's previous experience at Brooks Stadium had been so sour. Last year, when the conference tournament was moved to Paducah for the first time, the second-seeded Indians were eliminated in two games.

"The first game is always the hardest," catcher Tristen McDonald said. "We knew it would be a tough game, especially because they're such a good-hitting ballclub.

"But we came in pretty confident and now we're even more confident, getting that first win after what happened last year."

McDonald helped jump-start the Indians' offense after Morehead touched Southeast ace Brad Purcell for four runs in the top of the third inning -- the key blow was Kevin Matuszek's three-run homer -- and one more in the fourth.

In the bottom of the fourth, after Clemente Bonilla walked and Vern Hatton singled with one out, McDonald drilled a home run well beyond the 335-foot sign in left field. All of a sudden the Indians were within 5-3 and their dugout was alive.

"I wanted to give us a spark and I felt that home run did it," McDonald said.

Said Purcell (11-2), who wound up getting the victory after he settled down and worked eight innings, "Tristen picked everybody up with that bomb."

The Indians tied it with a two-run fifth, getting RBI singles from Bonilla and Hatton.

"We battled back," Hatton said. "It was tough, but we knew we could come back."

Southeast went ahead for good with a two-run sixth. Dave Lawson led off with a double and Brice Nicholas bunted safely with one out, sending Lawson to third. Denver Stuckey's sacrifice fly scored Lawson to break the tie and, after Nicholas stole second, Zach Borowiak plated him with an RBI single.

The Indians turned in the game's key defensive play in the seventh to preserve their 7-5 lead.

With Bubba Lavender on second and one out, Cary Page singled to center. Hatton's throw to McDonald on the fly was a bit up the third-base line and Lavender got around McDonald but slid past home. Just before Lavender got back to the plate, McDonald scrambled to his feet and put on a diving tag for the second out. McDonald then fired to second to double up Page, who had been trying to advance, to end the inning.

"What an athletic play Tristen made," Purcell said.

After the Eagles pulled to within 7-6 in the eighth, the Indians tacked on two big insurance runs in the bottom of the frame, on two-out RBI singles by Bonilla and Borowiak. Eric Hoffman also had a huge hand in the eighth as, after leading off with a single, he took second on a two-out delayed steal -- his first stolen base of the season.

"We noticed they weren't paying attention to Eric and that steal set up the whole inning," Hogan said.

Hatton had three of Southeast's 13 hits. Bonilla, Borowiak and Nicholas all added two.

"The first one is always the toughest in a tournament like this," Nicholas said. "You never know what to expect."

mmishow@semissourian.com

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