SE TAKES PLAY-IN OPENER; INDIANS HOLD OFF GAME JAGUARS 5-4

If today's action in the NCAA play-in baseball series being held in Cape Girardeau is anything like Friday's, then fans are in for another real treat.

Southeast Missouri State University and Southern University put on quite a show, displaying stellar defense, strong pitching and clutch hitting to delight a crowd of more than 1,100 on a summer-like night at Capaha Field.

And delighting the pro-Southeast crowd even more was the outcome -- a thrilling 5-4 victory by the Indians that puts them in the driver's seat in the best-of-three series to determine an NCAA Tournament berth.

"What a game. It was just outstanding," said Southeast coach Mark Hogan. "Southern has some tremendous athletes. I have total respect for their team and I know our players do too."

And Hogan was quick to point out that, even though the Indians have the upper hand, the series is far from over. The teams will square off again at 1 p.m. today at Capaha Field. If Southern wins, another game would follow to decide the series champion.

"It's great to win the first game, but we can't take anything for granted. I know our players won't," Hogan said. "There is no way we won't respect this opponent, not with the performance they had tonight."

Southern (31-15) outhit Southeast (31-22) 13 to 9, and the Jaguars had the only two home runs of the game.

The Jaguars also had the game's defensive star in shortstop Javier Witherspoon, who turned in several gems, including a dazzling diving backhand stop in the hole that he turned into a force out at second.

"It was a very good game," said Southern coach Roger Cador. "Southeast Missouri has a wonderful team. I can see why they lead the (Ohio Valley) conference in defense."

Southeast, while not making as many spectacular plays as Southern, was extremely steady in the field. The Indians turned three double plays in the first four innings to help keep the Jaguars at bay after they had plenty of early scoring opportunities.

"Those double plays were huge," Hogan said.

And the Indians needed every one of them, because Southern rallied from an early 4-0 deficit to force a 4-4 tie thanks to a three-run seventh that featured consecutive home runs by Alva Thompson and Franco Blackburn to start the frame.

When Witherspoon and Melvin Anderson followed with singles to put runners on first and third with nobody out, Hogan went to his bullpen.

Jason Swearingen, Southeast's only senior, had pitched six strong innings, but Southern's explosion in the seventh knocked him out of the game.

In came Dan Huesgen, the Indians' No. 3 starter. He allowed a ground ball out to Alexander Collazo that scored Witherspoon with the tying run, but Huesgen struck out the final two batters of the inning.

The Indians immediately broke the deadlock in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Phil Warren had an impressive at-bat against Terrance Hill as he fouled off two tough two-strike pitches before drawing a walk.

Charlie Marino, the Indians' top power-hitter with 20 homers, then drilled a double to the left-center field fence that scored Warren.

"I was just wanting to get a pitch I could drive," said Marino. "I didn't expect to drive him (Warren) in, but it worked out well for us."

Huesgen took care of the rest. He gave up just one hit over the final two innings and finished with a flourish by fanning two in a one-two-three ninth.

A sophomore righthander, Huesgen improved to 7-3. In three official innings, he allowed just one hit and no runs while fanning five and walking none.

Although Huesgen began the season as a reliever, he has been a starter virtually the entire campaign. But he said coming out of the bullpen Friday was no problem.

"I knew I had to be ready in case I was needed," he said. "When I came in, I really didn't worry if the (tying) run scored. With our offense, I just needed to keep us in the game."

Swearingen, just one win away from Southeast's career record of 28, allowed 12 hits and was charged with all four runs in six innings.

"Jason ran out of gas, but he kept us in the game," Hogan said. "And what a job by Danny."

The lefthanded Hill (6-4) fanned eight and walked three in taking the loss.

Kyle Yount, Southeast's top batter with a .346 average entering the game, had three hits. Marino added two.

Blackburn led Southern with three hits. Witherspoon, Thompson and Lincoln Williams both had two.

Southeast scored single runs in the first and second, then got two in the fourth to go up 4-0 before Southern stormed back.

"It was a great game tonight and I think it's going to be exactly the same (today)," said Hogan.

If so, then fans are in for another treat.