March 28, 2001

Southeast Missouri State Indians (16-8; 2-1 OVC)

vs.

Saint Louis Billikens (11-13; 2-4 C-USA)

March 28, 2001 o 4 p.m.

Cape Girardeau, Mo. o Capaha Field

About the Indians: St. Louis, Mo. - Southeast Missouri State offense exploded for 15 hits as the Indians pounded Saint Louis, 13-1 at SLU's Billiken Sports Center.

The Indians, who started the game off with a bang posted one run off three hits, punched on four more in the fourth after CF Vern Hatton and RF Tristen McDonald smacked back-to-back doubles to post the first run. 3B Denver Stuckey's sacrifice brought in McDonald and 2B Clemente Bonilla added the Indians third double of the inning to notch two more runs.

With one run in the fifth and two in the sixth, added the final blow in the eighth as McDonald blasted a grand slam to left-center.

McDonald finished the day 2-for-5 with five RBIs and two runs scored. Two other Indian's posted extra-RBIs with C Jeff Bourbon two and Bonilla two. Bonilla also finished with three hits.

Rookie DH Brad Beatty continues to improve his offense with three hits today and scored once.

Southeast was able to take full advantage of six Billiken errors. The Indians scored two runs off of two SLU miscues in the sixth and one of the runs in the eighth was off a fielding mishap.

Tommy Thomas was finally able to notch a win, after getting losses out of hs last four appearances. He allowed just four hits and stuck out six batters.

Brandon Smith also made an appearance in the game for three innings. He allowed two hits and struck out three.

SLU starter Zach Placzek was given the loss. He allowed nine hits and was charged with five earned runs.

Indian pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts and walked just one.

SLU scored their lone run in the bottom of the 9th when Steve Moss homered off of Indian reliever Andy Davidson.

The Series: This is the 30th meeting between the two teams from Missouri, including yesterday's 13-1 Southeast victory. The overall series now falls to the Indians 15-14. The Billikens are 8-3 since the series was restarted in 1994, the year prior to Coach Hogan's appointment. SLU swept the closely knotted series last year, winning 5-4 at The Billiken Sports Center and a 10-9 decision in Cape.

Just Win, Baby: In 1996, SLU notched its first winning season in 19 years under coach Bob Hughes.

Just Win, Baby, Again: SLU has recorded 20 or more wins in its last seven of 11 seasons.

Put Me In Coach: SLU has placed 30 batters at the plate this season and are producing a batting average of .282.

Always Put Me In Coach: Two Billkens have played every game for Coach Hughes this season ?- RF Jim Brendenkoetter and DH Mike Orrico.

Double Duty: Southeast has stretched for 56 doubles this season, while SLU has hit just 34.

Double-Double: The Indians are averaging 2.3 doubles per game.

We've Got You Beat On Paper: Southeast owns a better team ERA at 3.22 vs. Saint Louis's at 4.77

Eqaulity: Both teams enter today's contest with 24 games played.

God Bless The Conference USA: Pitcher Ben Hutton was named C-USA Pitcher of the Week for a 2-0 shutout vs. Louisville. Hutton allowed just four hits and struck out six batters. Hutton leads SLU with an ERA of 3.12 in 49 innings. He has not allowed an earned run in his last 15.2 innings.

Nice Eyes: The Billikens have walked 111 times this season vs. Southeast's 89 passes.

Top-5 Southeast Notes No Person Should Be Without:

#1 - Hump Day: Southeast is 2-0 on Wednesdays.

#2 - Trifecta: Southeast hurler Todd Pennington was named the OVC Pitcher of the Week after tossing 8.2 innings of shutout baseball against Lipscomb. He allowed just three hits and stuck out 10 batters. Pennington has now won the award the last three out of four weeks. This is the first week he has earned the honor outright.

#3 - Movin' On Up: Senior catcher Jeff Bourbon continues to climb up the Southeast all-time statistics boards. The following are a list of his standings:

Games: 184 5th

o Needs 36 more games to take over No.1 spot held by Jeremy Johnson.

Doubles: 52 2nd

o Needs 16 more to take over No. 1 spot also held by Johnson.

Hits: 185 3rd

RBI: 125 5th

Homers: 30 6th

At Bats: 649 3rd

#4 - Iron Man Rusts: SS Zach Borowiak will miss his first game in an Indian uniform due to strep throat. After banging out two hits vs. the Billikens yesterday, Borowiak was diagnosed with the throat ailment early this morning. He will be evaluated later this week.

And #5 - Streaking: Leadoff hitter Denver Stuckey is in the midst of a eight-game hitting streak.

Other Notes Receiving Votes:

Protecting the Turf: Southeast dropped just its second home contest in game one against Lipscomb.

Seventh Heaven: The Indians score more runs - 27 - in the seventh inning than any other.

Pain in the Ankle: LF Brice Nicolas sprained his ankle during warm-ups prior to the doubleheader vs. Lipscomb. He is expected to return to the lineup this week.

Welcome Back: RHP Mike Robinson made his first start in two years today as he took the mound for the Indians. He ended with two hits, no runs charged, two walks and four strikeouts over three innings. Robinson was a victim of a shoulder injury and has been steadily making a comeback after being red-shirted last year at Chemeketa C.C. in Oregon.

Producing Under Pressure: Mark Frazier had a career-best outing in the nightcap win over Lipscomb in game two. He ended the game with a career-high 10 strikeouts, while allowing just four hits over seven innings. This was his second win of the season.

Snapped!: Zach Borowiak's 18-game hitting streak was broken in game one against Lipscomb. The All-American short stop wasted no time starting a new one as he stroked a single in the first inning of game two.

Lots O' Lunski: In his past three appearances, Greg Lunski has been nearly unhittable. He has tossed 12.1 innings of work, while giving up three hits and just one run, walking eight and striking out 10. His ability to record the final out against Lipscomb assured Todd Pennington of the win in the 3-1 squeaker.

Special K: Todd Pennington has notched 33 strikeouts in his last three appearances. He has tallied 44 total K's this season.

More Special K: Pennington has now tossed more strikeouts, 44, this season, than his two previous combined.

Southern Comfort: Catcher Jeff Bourbon's first four RBIs this season were off two-out hits.

Pour Another: Thirteen of Bourbon's 19 RBI have come with two outs.

Put Him On The Mound: Southeast is 5-1 when Pennington starts.

Taking One For the Team: Vern Hatton has taken a team-high seven hit-by-pitches this season. He also leads with five stolen bases and three homers.

Leader of the Pack: Clemente Bonilla is currently in his fourth-consecutive week of leading the OVC with his .431 batting average.

Killer B's: Clemente Bonilla has a team-leading 12-multi hit games.

More on Zach: Borowiak leads the team with seven-multi RBI games.

Killer B's Spread: Borowiak, Bonilla and Bourbon have combined to hit 29 of the 56 team doubles this season.

More on Brad: Beatty has hit in the two-spot and from the 5-hole through nine. He is 4-for-10 when hitting out of the nine spot.

League Kudos: In the first week of conference awards, Zach Borowiak and Todd Pennington picked up Player and Pitcher of the Week honors respectively. Borowiak went 5-for-9 last week with four doubles, four RBI and two runs scored. Pennington gave up just one hit and no runs in the 7-0 win vs. Arkansas State.

League Kudos II: For the second-consecutive week, Todd Pennington picked up Co-OVC Pitcher of the Week honors. He earns the award after shuting-out Central Oklahoma over nine innings without issuing a run and whiffing 12 batters.

Senior Michael Mitchell Leaves: Catcher and DH Michael Mitchell has left the Southeast Missouri State baseball team. Mitchell started on game this season, while going 0-for-2 from the plate. Mitchell opted to the leave the team for personal reasons. Senior catcher Jeff Bourbon will now be backed by freshman Brad Beatty and rightfielder Tristen McDonald.

I Don't Know Is On Third, But We Want Borowiak at the Plate: With a runner on third and two outs, short stop Zach Borowiak is 12-for-16.

Pitching Prowess: With blankings against ASU, Harris Stowe and Central Oklahoma, Southeast pitching recorded 27-consecutive innings without allowing a run.

Still No Free Passes: Reliever Andy Davidson through three appearances has yet to yield a walk.

No Match For the Southpaw: Bourbon is 9-for-16 this season against lefties.

Fielding of Dreams: Senior Kenny Gaebler brings a perfect fielding average into this season's campaign. In 71 career games, Gaebler has yet to commit an error.

Two-Bagger: Bonilla, prior to this year had hit 20 doubles. He has hit 11 this season and now needs two more to jump on to the all-time list.

Walk-On: Bonilla needs just seven more walks this season to become the program's all-time walks leader with 118. Jeremy Johnson currently resides in the No. 1 spot.

Doing the Dishes: Short stop and All-American Zach Borowiak recorded 146 assists last season. The number ranks him fifth on Southeast's season assist list.

Take a Bow: Last year against Iowa State, Jeremy Johnson became the all-time hits champions with a single in game one of the doubleheader against the Cyclones. The fourth inning hit against Cyclone righty, Charley Bigwood, broke Kyle Yount's career total of 215. Johnson ended his career with 287 hits. Yount's mark of 215 was set just a year prior in 1999.

Bigwood, Big Problems: ISU righty Charly Bigwood would probably like to never pitch against Southeast again. In Southeast's opener he served up junior Tristen McDonald's first career hit, which equaled an RBI double.

"Spille"ing Over: Southeast's only other win over Mississippi was a 1-0 win back in 1999. All-American Ryan Spille picked up his second win of the season in the two-hitter.

The Whammy: Ole' Miss has been a part of just 45 1-0 games over its 100-year history. The Rebels are 22-25 in those games, including last weekend's 1-0 win over the Indians.

De-clawed: Before Southeast got ahold of Jackson State hitters, the Tigers were batting an impressive .321. Between Mark Frazier and reliever Andy Davidson, JSU went 9-for-35 from the plate.

Next Up: The Indians return to conference play this weekend as they travel to Murray State for a doubleheader at noon on Saturday and a single on Sunday at 1 p.m.