Special to the Southeast Missourian

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. -- It didn't come easy, but Southeast Missouri State University baseball coach Mark Hogan got what he wanted Saturday.

In an early-season showdown between the top two teams in the Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll, the Indians split a doubleheader with host Jacksonville State. They earned the split by winning the nightcap 10-3 after dropping the opener 12-2.

The rubber game is 1 p.m. today.

"A split is very important because it gives us a chance to do what we wanted to do with the series: two out of three," Hogan said. "Their coach, Jim Case, and I were talking before the game. If I thought we could win two out of three, I wouldn't even have come here."

The Indians did come and have a chance for the second win today.

"It's important for the tiebreaker and several other things. You never know on a Sunday what might end up being the determining factor."

After almost being no-hit by JSU senior C.R. Palmer in the first game, the Indians (12-14, 3-2 OVC) found their stroke in the nightcap.

They broke on top with Freddy Lopez' solo homer in the fourth inning and scored three in the fifth. They broke it open for winning pitcher Mike Fitch with a six-run sixth, highlighted by two-run doubles by Eric Horstman and Frankie Montiel. Fitch (2-2) went all seven innings, allowing five hits while striking out four and walking four.

Lopez and Ernie Bracamonte both had three hits. SEMO's first four hitters went 8-for-14 with eight RBIs in the game after going 3-for-15 in the opener.

"Our bats were a little dead the first game, but in a short game we had to get them going quick," Bracamonte said. "In a seven-inning game you've got to score first and you've got to score many because you never know what can happen with the metal bats."

But for all the offense SEMO produced in the second game, it didn't start out real well. The Indians were denied a run in the third when Brady Noll was called out for missing third base as he tried to score from second -- without a throw -- on Bracamonte's single.

In the opener, it was almost a case of life imitating art.

The Indians spent part of the ride here watching the Kevin Costner character throw a perfect game in "For The Love Of The Game" as one of their in-bus movies, then almost got no-hit themselves.

They didn't manage a hit off Palmer until Aaron Fangman's leadoff double in the eighth.

"He was in complete control," Hogan said. "I didn't think about it, but the kids brought it up afterwards. It doesn't enter into a 50-year-old's mind, I'll tell you that."

The Indians, two points behind JSU in the OVC coaches' preseason poll, were out of the first game early. The Gamecocks scored two runs in each of the first three innings, then broke it open with a six-run fifth.

JSU (11-14, 4-1) came out so loose, it had six runs and 10 hits before the first out was registered in the third inning. By then, all nine of its starters had reached base and seven had hits. The Gamecocks finished with 14 hits off SEMO starter Anthony Maupin (3-4) and Stan Skakalski, but Matt Carter finished with 3 2/3 innings of perfect relief.

With a 12-0 deficit, the only suspense was whether Palmer (4-3), named JSU's male athlete of the year on Thursday, could go the distance with his no-hitter. He couldn't.

Fangman, a .207 hitter, broke it up with a shot to left center off a hanging breaking ball. He scored on two infield outs.

"I give credit to Fangman," Palmer said. "It wasn't my best pitch, but he took advantage of it and got the hit."

Until Fangman's double, Palmer had faced the minimum 21 batters. The only thing close to being a hit was Bryan Kurt's fly to left in the second inning.

JSU left fielder Matt Ruckdeschel initially went back on it, then raced in and dove, but the ball popped out of his glove. He recovered and gunned Kurt at second, but still was charged with an error. The Indians' only other runner through seven innings was Montiel's leadoff walk in the fifth, but he was promptly erased on a double play.

That's the way it went for the Indians. Brent Lawson and Bracamonte both were robbed of hits twice, Lawson by nice diving stops in the infield and Bracamonte by diving catches in the outfield.

"In the movie there were a couple times when guys made some good plays behind him, diving plays," Bracamonte said. "It was happening here and I was saying, 'Oh, no, I've seen this before.' It was kind of ironic."