SE WATCHES ANOTHER LEAD EVAPORATE

The good news for Southeast Missouri State University's baseball Indians Wednesday afternoon was that they belted five home runs.

But the bad news took precedence because the Indians lost yet another late lead as Southern Illinois squeezed out a 9-7 victory in front of about 150 fans at Capaha Field.

Southeast fell to 2-6, but that record could certainly be a lot better because the Indians have held late leads in all of the defeats. The Tribe has lost three games by one run and one by two runs.

"Our ballclub is struggling right now to close games out. That was evident today," said Southeast coach Mark Hogan. "It's very frustrating for the players and the coaching staff.

"The positive thing is we're in every game. I believe these games will eventually turn around. There is a lot of talent on this club; we just haven't jelled. But there's a lot of time left. This is no time to panic."

The Salukis from Carbondale notched their first win after six losses to start the season, but that record is somewhat misleading because SIU has played a rugged early schedule, including three games against national power Oklahoma State.

"They've got a good ballclub, a very good ballclub. That's probably one of the best 1-6 teams you'll see," Hogan said.

Southeast's home runs came from Charlie Marino (his fourth of the season), Jeremy Johnson (second), Darin Kinsolving (second), Robert Kern (first) and Dave Sommerkamp (first).

All were solo shots except for Johnson's two-run shot in the opening inning.

Kern's blast was particularly impressive. The former Cape Central High standout ripped a shot that traveled about 430 feet over the center-field fence.

"We're hitting the ball well overall and we're playing pretty well, but we're just losing a lot of close games," said Kern. "But I think if we stay positive and stay together, we'll start to win these games."

Marino, Kinsolving, Kern and Phil Warren all had two of Southeast's 12 hits.

SIU also had 12 hits, three from Joe Schley. Dave Pohlman had SIU's only homer of the contest.

The teams combined to use nine pitchers, including five by SIU.

Chris Schullian (1-0) was the winner with two innings of scoreless relief while Jerry Wolsey (0-1) took the loss, although he certainly could have had a better fate.

In a back-and-forth game, the Indians grabbed a 6-5 lead in the fifth and they carried that advantage into the eighth.

Wolsey came on to start the sixth and he pitched two impressive scoreless innings before running into trouble in the eighth. With one out, Joel Peters walked and Brian Phelan doubled, putting runners on second and third.

Dan Huesgen then replaced Wolsey on the mound and Marty Worsley immediately greeted Huesgen with a two-run double (both runs were charged to Wolsey) that put the Salukis ahead for good. Schley added an RBI single in the frame to make it 8-6.

SIU tacked on another run in the ninth off Huesgen, which canceled out Kinsovling's two-out homer in the bottom of the ninth.

Huesgen, who pitched impressively in a starting role against Iowa State on Sunday, has now blown three save opportunities already this season, although in fairness to the hard-throwing righthander, he has been put in tough spots all three times.

"Dan has a good arm," said Hogan. "Closer is such an important role and we really want him to fill that role because he throws really well. I think he'll bounce back."

The Indians, who came into the contest with only eight total errors in seven games, committed six against SIU, several of them throwing errors.

"We've played five games in five days and I'm sure we're mentally tired," Hogan said. "But at the same time, we're glad to be able to play all these games at this time of the year."

The Indians will return to action Saturday when they play host to Bradley in a noon doubleheader. The squads will have a single game at 1 p.m. Sunday.

"Right now we're close but we just can't pull it off," said Hogan. "Hopefully we can bounce back against a good Bradley program."