INDIANS SPLIT WILD PAIR WITH RAIDERS

In the wild, wacky world of college baseball, things are never easy.

That was certainly the case for Southeast Missouri State University Saturday as the Indians played host to Middle Tennessee State in a key Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader.

The Indians appeared on their way to an easy victory in the opener as they led 8-0 after three innings and 9-4 heading into the seventh and final regulation frame.

And getting that routine triumph in the first game would have been big, what with ace pitcher Ryan Spille poised to hurl the nightcap.

But the opener turned out to be anything but routine as the Raiders rallied with five in the seventh to force extra innings.

Although the Indians wound up winning 10-9 by scoring once in the eighth, Spille was forced into relief action and he wound up getting the win.

But Spille was certainly not himself as he came back to start the nightcap and he was handed his first loss of the season as the Raiders prevailed 10-7 to earn a split.

The teams will close out the three-game series today at 1 p.m. with a nine-inning single contest at Capaha Field.

"College baseball. It's crazy, with the aluminum bats and all," said Southeast coach Mark Hogan.

Southeast is now 21-18 overall and 10-7 in OVC play while MTSU -- the OVC preseason favorite -- is 15-22 overall and 7-9 in the league.

While Hogan would have loved a sweep, he wasn't all that disappointed with the split, which sets up a huge game today to decide the series.

With first-place Eastern Illinois sweeping second-place Tennessee Tech Saturday, the third-place Indians moved to within a half-game of Tech. That's extremely important in the battle to host the OVC Tournament.

The league champion earns the right to host the tourney, but only teams with lights at their park are eligible to serve as host. Eastern Illinois, which is all but assured of winning the championships, does not have lights.

So for all practical purposes, the Indians are batting Tech for the right to host the conference tournament.

"Finishing second would not only be huge because of the host factor but also because the top two teams get a first-round (tournament) bye," Hogan said.

Added the coach, "It's always tough to sweep a three-game series. Realistically, we felt like if we could win two out of three the rest of the way, we'd have a legitimate shot of finishing ahead of Tennessee Tech. So (today's) game is huge."

With Charlie Marino belting a three-run homer (his team-leading 13th) in the first inning and Robert Kern adding a three-run shot (his 11th) in the third, it didn't look like the Indians would have much trouble in the opener as they led 8-0.

After Darin Kinsolving's solo homer (his seventh) in the fifth made it 9-4, things still looked fairly routine.

Starter Jason Swearingen was replaced following a leadoff single in the sixth after allowing nine hits and four runs, but reliever Lanson DeBrock retired the next three batters so things still looked good heading into the seventh.

But two hits, a walk and a crucial error pulled the Raiders to within 9-5 and the bases loaded with no outs. Hogan then brought in Spille, sixth in the nation in earned-run average at 1.86.

"We have lost some leads late and I really wanted to end it there," Hogan said. "I felt the best chance we had was with Ryan."

The Raiders wound up tying the game with Spille on the mound, Wes Whitehead's two-run single knotting the contest.

But the Indians then won it in the eighth. Dan Berry got a one-out single and Jeremy Johnson also singled. With two outs and facing an 0-2 count, Kyle Yount singled to left, plating Berry easily with the game-ending run.

Spille improved to 7-0. He gave up three hits and three walks, but the only run officially charged to him was unearned.

Johnson had three of Southeast's 13 hits while Yount and Kinsolving both had two. Center fielder Johnson also made the defensive play of the opener when he went high over the fence to catch what would have been a homer by Ty Curley.

But Curley would not be denied in the nightcap. He had a three-run homer in the first inning and a two-run shot in the third to put the Raiders ahead 5-0 as Spille was chased after hurling just 2 2/3 innings.

The Raiders wound up building a 10-0 lead. The Indians made a game of it but fell short.

Johnson belted two homers (his sixth and seventh) and had four RBIs in the second game. Yount and Berry both added two of Southeast's 10 hits.

Tim Larsen was effective in relief for the Indians, allowing just one hit in 3 2/3 innings.

Chad Kirby (4-3) got the win, pitching all seven innings.