MURRAY BOUNCES BACK, RIPS SEMO

What a difference a day made for Murray State's baseball team.

Just one day after being demolished in a doubleheader by host Southeast Missouri State University, the Thoroughbreds came back Sunday afternoon to stun the Indians 12-3 in front of about 125 fans at Capaha Field.

The Indians, who had won Saturday's games by scores of 9-5 and 19-0, fell to 7-7 overall and 2-1 in Ohio Valley Conference play as they had a five-game winning streak snapped.

Murray improved to 3-13 overall and 1-2 in the OVC.

"You have to give Murray a lot of credit," said Southeast coach Mark Hogan. "We didn't take them lightly. We came ready to play. You just have to hand it to them for bouncing back like they did."

Pitching has been the main problem area for Murray as the squad entered the weekend series with an earned-run average of nearly 9.00. And the Indians did little to help that by banging out 27 hits and seven home runs during Saturday's easy victories.

But Hogan figures the Thoroughbreds just might have found their ace in Todd Fox. The junior righthander, who entered the contest with a 9.39 ERA, limited the Indians to seven hits while striking out 12 and walking three over the full nine innings.

"I think maybe coach (Mike) Thieke found his No. 1," said Hogan. "Fox was outstanding. Nobody this year has had that much success against our offense.

"We were a hot ballclub but he really shut us down. He looks like a very good pitcher."

Hitting has not been a problem for the Thoroughbreds this year; they entered the weekend with a .332 team batting average.

And Murray added to that Sunday with 14 hits. Robert Weatherly, Brad Burns and Chad Vrbka all had three hits. Vrbka homered, doubled and drove in five runs while Burns had three RBIs and Weatherly also homered.

"They are a legit offensive team," Hogan said. "That .330 batting average coming in here was no fluke."

Kyle Yount, Steve Lowe and Marty Lane all had two hits for the Indians, but Southeast's top five batters in the order combined for only one hit.

Yount and Lowe had homers. Lowe's two-run shot in the third inning gave the Indians a 2-1 lead while Yount's solo blast came in the ninth after the Tribe had fallen behind 12-2. Yount raised his team-leading batting average to .389.

Trailing 2-1 entering the fifth, Murray broke the game open with eight runs on six hits. Vrbka had a three-run homer in the frame while Burns and Craig Delk both had two-run hits.

Southeast starter Chad Bogenpohl (1-3) was effective through four innings, but he ran into some trouble in the fifth and was replaced by Dan Huesgen, who could not put out the fire.

Bogenpohl was charged with five runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings. He fanned six and walked three.

"I was really proud of Bogie," said Hogan. "I thought he did a good job."

Huesgen allowed three hits and four runs in only 1/3 of an inning.

Lanson DeBrock hurled three impressive scoreless innings before running into trouble in the ninth. He wound up allowing six hits and three runs in four innings.

All in all, it was not a good day for the Indians. But, looking at the big picture, Hogan wasn't all that unhappy.

"If you win two out of three (OVC games) every weekend, that'll get you where you want to go," he said.

The Indians will return to action Tuesday with a 2 p.m. non-conference game as Missouri Baptist visits Capaha Field.