Indians sweep Skyhawks, roll into OVC lead

When Southeast Missouri State University's Indians hit the baseball like Mark Hogan knows they can, the coach believes his team is tough to beat.

But that's something Tennessee-Martin couldn't do Saturday.

As a result, the Indians are in first place in the Ohio Valley Conference.

The Indians pounded out 27 hits in sweeping the doubleheader, winning 16-3 and 12-8. An announced crowd of 1,146 at Capaha Field on Kohlfeld Distributing Day saw Southeast improve to 16-13 overall and 6-2 in OVC play while dropping UTM to 11-21 and 3-7.

Southeast moved one-half game ahead of Morehead State (6-3), which is off this weekend. The Indians and Skyhawks will wrap up their three-game series at 1 p.m. today.

"We've got a lot of tough hitters up and down the lineup and it's exciting the way we've produced the last few games," Hogan said. "It was a gratifying day for us. We're in first place and now we have to protect it tomorrow."

The Indians have scored 43 runs in their last three games, including Wednesday's 15-5 non-conference victory at Evansville. That triumph also marked a breakout game for Southeast sophomore outfielder Brice Nicholas, who hit two home runs and drove in seven runs against the Aces.

Nicholas, who saw limited action this season prior to the Evansville game after having a strong redshirt freshman season last year, continued to splurge Saturday. He doubled three times in the opener and finished the day 5-for-8 with three runs scored and three runs batted in.

In just three games, Nicholas has boosted his average 100 points, to .326.

"It feels good to get in there and swing the bat. I'm seeing the ball well," Nicholas said. "And it feels good to win these two games. I think we're coming around."

Clemente Bonilla definitely appears to be coming around. Southeast's senior second baseman, last season's OVC Player of the Year as he batted .382, has been mired in a season-long slump.

But Bonilla had shown signs of breaking out in recent games. And Saturday he went 5-for-8 with five runs scored and seven RBIs, including a five-RBI outburst in the finale as he belted his first home run of the season. Bonilla is now batting .257 after being mired near .200 or below for much of the year.

"It feels good to know I'm doing what I should have been doing all along," Bonilla said.

Bonilla credited his sister Erica, who plays for the Southeast softball team, and the recent warmer weather for his resurgence. Bonilla is from Southern California.

"Erica's been throwing me a lot of batting practice lately," Bonilla said with a smile. "And this is more like California weather. The weather's warming up and the team is warming up."

Senior center fielder Vern Hatton and junior catcher Tristen McDonald, the Indians' top two hitters, also continued to swing hot bats. McDonald, batting .371, went 4-for-6 with four runs and four RBIs. Hatton, hitting .359, was 4-for-7 with four runs.

Hatton, who extended his hitting streak to 13 games, also recorded his seventh triple of the season, which is one shy of the school record. In just two years with the Indians, the junior college transfer has 11 triples to move within two of the school's career mark.

Brad Purcell (5-2) was the winning pitcher in the opener, allowing four hits and two earned runs in six innings, with six strikeouts and two walks. Donnie Fuller struck out the side in the seventh.

Brandon Smith (6-1) notched the victory in the second game, giving up seven hits and four earned runs in six innings, with three strikeouts and one walk.

After the Indians wiped out a 4-2 UTM lead in the finale with a seven-run fifth inning, then moved ahead 12-4 on Bonilla's three-run homer in the sixth, things got a bit hairy when the Skyhawks rallied for four in the seventh and brought the tying run to the plate. But James Beever recorded the final out for his first save.

mmishow@semissourian.com

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