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SIUE Powers Past Saginaw Valley State
         INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Southern Illinois University Edwardsville pounded out 21 hits and overpowered Saginaw Valley State 18-8 in the opening round of the NCAA Division II North Central baseball Regional.
         The Cougars now face Indianapolis, 50-13, which defeated SIUE in a doubleheader last weekend to win the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship in Edwardsville. Indianapolis defeated Ashland 4-3 in the opening game of the tournament.
         Indianapolis and SIUE play at 12:15 p.m. today after an elimination game between Saginaw Valley State and Ashland at 9 a.m. The loser of Indianapolis and SIUE faces the winner of the Saginaw Valley State-Ashland game at 3:30 p.m. in another elimination game.
         The tournament winner advances to the eight-team finals in Montgomery, Ala., next weekend.
         SIUE, 37-24, set several records during the triumph over the Cardinals, 37-12.
         Mark Bugger (Edwardsville) recorded four hits and broke the NCAA Division II career record for hits with 345. He had shared the record with Mike Stevenson of Lewis with 341. Bugger also extended his own single-season record for hits with No. 99.
         Chad Opel (Edwardsville) scored four runs and broke the single-season record for runs scored with 76. The previous record of 74 set by Tim Hogan (1991).
         Dave Crouthers (Edwardsville) broke two records with one on offense and one as a pitcher. His offensive record with 70 runs batted in, breaking the old mark of 67 set by Mike Robertson in 1998. Crouthers, the winning pitcher against Saginaw Valley State who improved his season record to 9-6, set a new mark for single-season strikeouts with 110. He fanned 10 Saginaw Valley State batters in six innings of work.
         In five games during the GLVC Tournament, SIUE scored a total of 13 runs as it finished runner-up to Indianapolis. The Cougars’ 18-run performance in Thursday’s win was the most runs scored since April 7 when they upended Lewis 21-4.
         SIUE Coach Gary Collins is expected to throw Matt Wilkinson against Indianapolis. Wilkinson is trying to become the first Cougar to record 10 wins without a loss and just the fifth pitcher to collect double-digit victories.
         -siue-