SE GRABS A SHARE OF OVC LEAD IN ONE SWEEPING MOVE

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Southeast Missouri State University's baseball team continued its steady climb toward the top of the Ohio Valley Conference standings.

The Indians picked up a pair of big victories Saturday as they swept a doubleheader from Morehead State, romping 10-2 and 12-2. The squads will conclude the weekend series with a noon single game today.

Southeast, which has won seven of its past eight OVC games, has moved into a virtual three-way tie for first-place.

The Indians, who had not been at .500 overall since the first day of the season, finally got back to the break-even point as they are now 22-22. Southeast improved its OVC mark to 11-5.

Austin Peay, which swept Tennessee-Martin, is also 11-5 while Eastern Illinois, which split with Eastern Kentucky, is 13-7. Southeast and Austin Peay are actually percentage points ahead of Eastern Illinois.

Morehead fell to 19-23 and 5-12.

Southeast coach Mark Hogan was expecting a pair of tough games Saturday -- but it never materialized as the Indians dominated the doubleheader.

The Indians trailed just briefly all day -- 1-0 in the first inning of the opener. But they went ahead in the third inning and never looked back. The nightcap was never a contest as soon as Southeast scored six times in the second inning.

"It was a great day all around for us," said Hogan. "I was really proud of our hitting, we played good defense and our pitching was outstanding again."

Southeast had 27 hits on the day, including 15 in the nightcap.

Jeremy Johnson, who began the day leading the OVC in hitting at .410, went 4-for-7 to improve on that mark.

Freshman Clemente Bonilla went 4-for-8 and walked three times, giving him the Southeast single-season record in that department. Bonilla has walked 41 times, breaking the old mark of 39.

Steve Lowe went 4-for-5 while Marty Lane and Darin Kinsolving both had three hits on the day.

Kinsolving drove in five runs, including four in the opener, when he belted his team-high 11th home run of the season. Jeff Bourbon hit his seventh homer in the opener.

Brad Hoehner had two hits and three RBIs in the nightcap.

Ryan Spille improved to 10-1 in the opener, giving him an amazing record of 21-3 during his two-year Southeast career. The left-hander, who moved into third place on the school's all-time strikeout list, allowed five hits and one earned run. He fanned four and did not issue a walk.

Dan Huesgen moved to 6-4 in the nightcap as he continued his recent brilliant pitching. The right-hander pushed his scoreless streak to 21 straight innings before coming out after five with Southeast leading 12-0. Huesgen allowed three hits while fanning one and walking two.

Todd Pennington finished up, allowing two runs and three hits over the final two innings. He fanned three and walked one.