Southeast rides hot stretch into conference tournament

For a variety of reasons, the regular season did not go quite as well as Southeast Missouri State University had hoped.

But the Indians have a chance to rectify that this week as the six-team Ohio Valley Conference tournament begins at Brooks Stadium in Paducah, Ky. The winner of the double-elimination event advances to the NCAA regional playoffs.

The Indians (26-26, 15-11) finished tied for fourth place among 10 squads and are seeded fifth. They open play at 11 a.m. today against second-seeded Eastern Illinois (25-28, 17-9). The winner advances to a 7 p.m. game Thursday while the loser plays at 11 a.m.

"I think the tournament is really going to be wide open," Southeast coach Mark Hogan said. "It should be interesting."

Southeast, which has won eight of its last 11 games, has played virtually the entire season without projected top two starting pitchers Bill Clayton and Jon Nourie, who both had arm surgery and hope to be back healthy next year.

Throw in the fact that the Indians faced a brutal nonconference schedule that featured some of the nation's premier programs and Hogan said he's almost surprised his squad has been able to keep its head fairly above water.

"With the injuries and everything, I'm amazed we did as well in the conference as we did," Hogan said. "It's been a tough year for a lot of reasons, but I think we're playing some of our best ball now, and I like our chances in the tournament."

If today's first-round game is as entertaining as the three regular-season contests between Southeast and Eastern Illinois, then fans should be in for a treat.

All three of the games in Charleston, Ill., were decided by one run, with the Panthers taking a pair of 6-5 decisions and the Indians prevailing 4-3. Eastern Illinois, featuring a young lineup, began the season 1-14 before turning things around.

"They're well coached, and they've got some quality people. It should be interesting because all three games were nail-biters," Hogan said.

Statistically, Eastern Illinois appears to have a slight advantage offensively. The Panthers are batting .305 to .299 for the Indians, but Southeast has a much lower earned-run average at 5.73 compared to 7.37.

The Panthers' top three hitters are freshmen, led by Kevin Carkeek (.360), Ryan Campbell (.351) and Mark Chagnon (.333). Senior Kyle Haines has nine home runs and 47 runs batted in.

Junior college transfers are Southeast's top hitters, led by Eric Horstman (.359), Frankie Montiel (.346), Ernie Bracamonte (.340) and Freddy Lopez (.329). Gary Gilbert, the lone senior regular, has used a recent hot streak to push his average up to .310., and he is also the OVC player of the week. Lopez leads in homers with eight, while Bracamonte has 47 RBIs.

Montiel's 20 doubles are tied for second place on the school's single-season list. Horstman is also moving up the school's single-season charts in several categories. His 18 doubles are tied for ninth and just one away from a third-place tie; his five triples are tied for fourth; and his 74 hits are tied for sixth. Horstman leads the Indians in batting average, runs scored (54), hits and triples.

Hogan said he is leaning toward starting Anthony Maupin (7-6, 5.74) today. Maupin beat the Panthers during the regular season. Mike Fitch (5-4, 5.38) and Derek Herbig (4-4, 4.15) are the Indians' other starters, with Brad Smith (3-2, school-record 10 saves, 2.10) their ace reliever.

"Right now I'm leaning toward Maupin because he'll be most rested and also because he beat them, and I think he matches up well with them," Hogan said.

The Panthers' top starters have been Kyle Widegren (7-4, 7.12) and Ted Juske (4-2, 5.40).

All-conference honors

Smith is the only Southeast player to make first-team all-OVC, as announced Tuesday night.

Montiel and Horstman both made second team while Bracamonte was honorable mention.

The entire all-OVC list appears in Scoreboard on Page 3B.