HOST INDIANS TRY TO DEFEND CROWN IN 6-TEAM FIELD

Southeast Missouri State University's baseball team might not rank as the favorite when the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament begins today in Cape Girardeau.

But after the experience the Indians had in hosting the OVC Tournament for the first time ever last year, Southeast coach Mark Hogan certainly has to like his squad's chances.

"It's going to be a tough tournament, no doubt about it, because all the teams were fairly equal during the season," said Hogan. "But I like our chances. We're the defending champions and our guys are excited about the opportunity to defend our title."

Capaha Field was indeed home sweet home for the Indians last season, when they went through the six-team double-elimination event without a loss in winning their first-ever OVC Tournament championship.

The Indians then went on to win an NCAA play-in series as they advanced to the NCAA Division I Tournament for the first time. This year, the OVC tourney winner goes directly into the NCAA field, with no play-in necessary.

"It's going to be an exciting three days, with so much on the line," said Hogan, whose squad opens play at 8:30 tonight against either Eastern Kentucky or Murray State.

Southeast, the No. 2 seed behind regular-season champion Eastern Illinois, earned the right to host the tourney for the second straight year because Eastern Illinois' field has no lights, making it ineligible to serve as host.

The Indians have qualified for the OVC Tournament -- the top six teams in the nine-team league make the field -- in each of Hogan's five seasons as coach and they finished second two years in a row before winning the title in 1998.

This year's path to hosting the event was a bit more treacherous because the Indians suffered several key injuries along the way. But they were able to rebound and they finished strong by winning 10 of their final 14 games.

"I'm just really proud of our ballclub the way they've hung in there and were able to finish with a couple of our goals," said Hogan, citing two team goals as hosting the league tournament and earning a first-round bye by finishing among the top two teams. "This is a really tough group of guys and that toughness showed throughout the season."

Southeast, after a slow offensive start, has turned into a balanced team, with the offense, pitching and defense all carrying its share of the load.

The Indians have a team batting average of .309, which ranks third in the OVC. And coming on the heels of last season's school-record 80 home runs, the Indians have picked up the pace in the long-ball department with 60 round-trippers to rank fourth in the league.

Jeremy Johnson, the OVC's leading hitter at .416, paces the Indians' offense. The junior center fielder has had a sensational all-around season, with 11 homers, 18 doubles, five triples, a team-high 44 runs batted in and 13 stolen bases.

Freshman third baseman Clemente Bonilla Jr. has had a big rookie campaign. He's batting .345 and has drawn a school-record 51 walks, which help account for his team-leading on-base percentage of .500. Bonilla is only seven walks away from the all-time OVC record of 58.

Senior catcher Brad Hoehner, who splits time behind the plate with senior Dan Berry, has come on and is now hitting .339 to rank third on the squad.

Others above .300 for the Indians are senior shortstop Steve Lowe (.327, 15 doubles, 5 triples, 30 RBIs), junior right fielder Phil Warren (.324, 7 homers, 36 RBIs), junior first baseman Darin Kinsolving (.305, team-high 13 homers, 40 RBIs) and senior second baseman Kyle Yount (.303).

Rounding out the Indians' lineup are sophomore designated hitter Jeff Bourbon (.283, team-high 19 doubles, 11 homers, 32 RBIs), junior left fielder Kevin Meyer (.263, team-high 14 stolen bases) and Berry (.235), who is solid defensively and has raised his average considerably in recent weeks.

"Last year we were really a power-hitting team, but this team has kind of had to change its identity and it took some time to get going," Hogan said. "We went from being kind of suspect offensively early in the season to where I have a lot of confidence in our offense now."

Pitching has been a strength for the Indians -- led by Southeast's regular three-man starting rotation that helped account for the team's second straight OVC earned-run average title. The Indians' ERA of 4.94 is more than a half-run better than Eastern Illinois.

Senior left-hander Ryan Spille (10-3, 3.59 ERA), junior right-hander Dan Huesgen (8-4, 3.32) and senior right-hander Chad Bogenpohl (5-2, 4.06) accounted for all but four of the Indians' victories during their 27-25 regular season.

"Starting pitching is really a big key in a tournament like this," said Hogan. "I feel like we've got three very good starters and hopefully they'll keep pitching like they have been."

Spille, the 1998 OVC Pitcher of the Year, will get the starting assignment tonight.