Baseball

Winning Streak Puts Cougars in Driver’s Seat
         Coach Gary Collins and his Southern Illinois University Edwardsville baseball team just keep piling up the wins.
         Thirteen straight to be exact.
         The Cougars look to continue the trend as they play three conference doubleheaders this week.
         “This is a big week for us,” said Collins. “We need to hold our own against Southern Indiana in the division and Indianapolis and Northern Kentucky in regards to conference play.”
         SIUE, 27-15 overall and 13-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, play Southern Indiana on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Roy Lee Field. The Screaming Eagles are tied for second in the South Division with a 9-6 mark, four full games behind the Cougars.
         Over the weekend, the Cougars face Indianapolis and Northern Kentucky at Roy Lee Field. SIUE, No. 3 in the Great Lakes Region, plays Indianapolis, ranked first in the region, on Saturday at noon. Indianapolis enters the week with a 33-10 record overall and 14-1 mark in the North Division of the GLVC. On Sunday, the Cougars face Northern Kentucky, No. 4 in the region, for a noon doubleheader. Northern Kentucky has a record of 33-11 overall and 9-6 in the GLVC North Division.
         Last weekend, the Cougars dominated in its three wins over Bellarmine at home. SIUE edged the Knights 3-2 in 14 innings on Friday and then swept Bellarmine on Saturday 9-0 and 16-2.
         “The pitching dominated their hitters. We seem to be improving offensively little by little, and I am pleased with the defense. They committed only two errors all weekend.”
         Collins said Josh Clark (Olalla, Wash.) and Matt Wilkinson (Melbourne, Australia) are coming around.
         “Josh and Matt stepped it up a notch. They are throwing the ball a lot better now.”
         Clark won the first game of the Saturday doubleheader by pitching a one-hitter for his first shutout and second complete game of the season. He improved his record to 3-0 overall. Clark is second on the team in innings pitched (59.2) and strikeouts (52) and fourth on the team with a 3.92 earned run average.
         Wilkinson capped off the doubleheader by pitching seven innings, giving up one earned run. He is now 5-0 on the year with a 4.14 earned run average.
         Dave Crouthers (Edwardsville) pitched 10 innings in Friday afternoon’s game but didn’t earn a decision in the 14-inning battle. Crouthers leads the team in innings pitched (67.0), strikeouts (74) and complete games (3). He has an earned run average of 2.42 and a record of 6-4. At the plate, Crouthers recorded career hit No. 200 by hitting a single to left field in the 13th inning of Friday’s win. He is the ninth Cougar to record 200 or more career hits. Crouthers is batting .366 and leads the team in at-bats (164), runs batted in (54) and slugging percentage (.610).
         Todd Haug (Rosewood Hts.) and Chad Opel (Edwardsville) also had good performances, said Collins.
         “Todd took some good swings last weekend. His bat is coming back. Opel also is hitting the ball better.”
         Haug was 5 for 10 at the plate with four RBIs while Opel finished the weekend 8 for 16 with a double, home run, four runs scored and an RBI. Haug is batting .274 on the season and Opel improved his average to .327.
                  -siue-