INDIANS WIN PAIR AGAINST COLONELS

Southeast Missouri State University baseball coach Mark Hogan could not have drawn up a better blueprint for Saturday afternoon's Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader against visiting Eastern Kentucky.

The Indians received stellar pitching from Todd Pennington and Brad Purcell, along with plenty of powerful offense, to hand the Colonels resounding 8-2 and 7-0 defeats in front of 833 fans at Capaha Field.

Southeast improved to 22-10 overall and 6-2 in OVC play while EKU fell to 11-19 overall and 4-6 in the league. The squads will close out their three-game series today.

"We were really impressive today," said Hogan, whose team vaulted into a second-place OVC tie with Tennessee Tech, both squads trailing leader Eastern Illinois (8-0). "It was really an outstanding performance by our ballclub.

"Our pitching was tremendous and we got production from up and down the lineup."

The Indians banged out 20 hits -- including four home runs -- while the defending OVC regular-season champion Colonels could manage just seven hits and one earned run.

"Eastern Kentucky has a good ballclub, with some solid hitters," Hogan said. "To allow one earned run, that's about all you can ask."

The opener featured another dominating performance by Pennington, a junior right-hander who has been by far the OVC's premier hurler so far this season.

A Shawnee (Ill.) High School product, Pennington allowed just two hits -- one a double that was misplayed in the outfield -- and one earned run while striking out 13 and walking four in going the seven-inning distance. Pennington is 6-1 with a 1.21 earned-run average, which leads the OVC by a wide margin.

"Penny just continues to pitch tremendous baseball for us," said Hogan. "And it's not a fluke. He's doing it consistently and against good ballclubs."

Purcell, also a junior right-hander, turned in his top performance of the season in the nightcap by scattering five hits to earn his first complete game and first shutout. The junior-college transfer, a native of Australia, improved to 3-1.

"It's always good to finish it off," said a grinning Purcell. "I didn't have my best stuff, but I got a lot of help from my infield."

Purcell, who fanned four and walked two while also hitting three batters, saw the Indians turn three double plays to help keep the Colonels off the scoreboard.

Pennington established the day's tone in the first inning of the opener. An error put the Colonels' leadoff batter at third base with nobody out, but Pennington proceeded to fan the next three batters.

The Indians took immediate control in the bottom of the first when Zach Borowiak drilled a three-run homer to right-center field. It was Borowiak's second home run of the season.

Southeast carried a somewhat tenuous 3-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth, but the Indians broke things open by scoring five runs, including Vern Hatton's team-leading fifth homer, a solo shot.

Jeff Bourbon had three of the Indians' 11 hits while Denver Stuckey and Brian Hopkins added two each.

Shane Allen was the offensive star for the Indians in the second game. The senior first baseman, who has struggled offensively for much of the season but has started to come on some in recent outings, belted a pair of solo homers, including a monster shot to left in the third inning that broke a scoreless tie.

Said a smiling Allen, who had been homerless on the season prior to Saturday, "It's good to get the first ones. I've been seeing the ball really good lately and hitting the ball hard, but sometimes they don't fall."

Bourbon added a two-run double in the third, part of a four-run Southeast uprising. The Indians added three in the fourth -- including Allen's second homer -- and coasted from there.

Stuckey and Clemente Bonilla joined Allen in getting two of the Indians' nine second-game hits.

Bourbon and Stuckey (who stretched his hitting streak to 16 games) both finished with four hits for the day while Allen added three. Borowiak drove in four runs and Stuckey scored four times.

For EKU, Josh Anderson had three hits -- all in the nightcap -- while Robby Price homered in the final inning of the opener.