HUESGEN AVOIDS HOOK, GETS WIN

Dan Huesgen figured he might have been precariously close to being knocked out of the game in the fourth inning.

Instead, the Southeast Missouri State University sophomore wound up righting his ship and pitching all nine innings Sunday as the Indians grabbed a big 8-4 victory over Middle Tennessee State.

Huesgen, a righthander, was touched for two runs in the third and two in the fourth as the Raiders grabbed a 4-1 lead. They still had the bases loaded in the fourth and appeared on the verge of making Southeast coach Mark Hogan go to his bullpen.

But Huesgen got out of that jam and then blanked the Raiders the rest of the way.

"I was struggling (in the fourth) and I figured a few more hits and maybe I'd come out," said Huesgen, who improved his record to 4-2 by scattering 10 hits, walking two and striking out six. "But I usually get stronger as the game goes on."

Even though Huesgen, who has firmly established himself as Southeast's No. 3 starter with some recent strong outings, appeared to be on the ropes in the fourth, Hogan said he had no real intentions of bringing in a reliever.

"We got into our staff more than we wanted to Saturday (as the teams split a doubleheader), so we were going to ride Danny out," said Hogan. "He's really shown he has some staying power. He's a tough competitor."

Nearly 600 fans on a picture-perfect day at Capaha Field saw the Indians finish the weekend by taking two out of three from the Raiders.

Southeast is now 22-18 overall ad 11-7 in Ohio Valley Conference play. MTSU fell to 15-23 overall, 7-10 in the league.

"It was a tremendous victory," Hogan said. "We're thrilled to get two out of three."

The victory vaulted the Indians ahead in the chase to host the OVC Tournament later this season.

Eastern Illinois, which swept a three-game weekend series from Tennessee Tech, is 14-3 in league play and all but assured of winning the championship, which would normally earn the Panthers the right to host the tourney.

But since they have no lights at their park, they are ineligible to serve as the tournament host. Southeast and Tech do have lights, so the battle to host will apparently come down to those squads.

Southeast is now in second place in the OVC, a half-game ahead of 12-9 Tech.

"We've got six (OVC) games left and we've got to finish strong," said Hogan. "But we've got the situation in our own hands now."

Charlie Marino hit his 14th home run of the season Sunday, a solo shot in the second inning that gave the Indians an early 1-0 lead.

Marino, a junior-college transfer, is now tied for seventh place on the school's single-season home run chart. The school record is 20.

"This was a big win for us," said Marino. "We play really well at home and we'd love to host the (OVC) tournament."

Robert Kern belted his 12th homer of the season. The former Cape Central High standout is now tied for the eighth-best single-season home run performance in school history.

Jeremy Johnson doubled and tripled to drive in two runs while Marino and Darin Kinsolving both added two of Southeast's nine hits off MTSU pitcher Ken Bedwell (2-3), who went the distance.

MTSU's Jeremy Owens hit his fifth homer of the season in the third inning, a two-run shot that put the Raiders ahead 2-1.

The Raiders then went up 4-1 in the fourth before Huesgen escaped further damage.

Southeast made it 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth, then took the lead for good with three in the fifth, the ultimate winning run provided by Kinsolving's single that plated Marino, who had doubled.

Huesgen had to work out of major jams in the sixth and eighth. In the sixth, MTSU had runners on first and third with no outs. In the eighth, the Raiders had runners on first and second with no outs.

The Indians got three insurance runs in the eighth, the big blow being Kern's two-run homer.

MTSU threatened again in the ninth, putting two runners on with two outs, but Johnson's diving catch in center field ended the game.

"We got out of some big jams and made some very good defensive plays," Hogan said. "It was just a great win."

Southeast will host St. Louis at 6 p.m. Tuesday in a non-league game.