Baseball

Baseball Continues Homestand
         The SIUE baseball team will play host to Missouri-St. Louis Wednesday, ending a 10-game homestand that has helped the Cougars improve to an 8-10 record. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m. at Roy Lee Field.
         SIUE is currently 10th in the Great Lakes Valley Conference with an early conference record of 3-5. Missouri-St. Louis is atop the conference standings with a 4-1 record and a 14-3 overall mark.
         The Cougars are coming off a weekend in which they played six games in three days, going 3-3 in those games.
         Highlighting the weekend was Brian Keating’s (St. Louis) no-hitter in game one of a Saturday doubleheader against Wisconsin-Parkside. It was the eighth no-hitter in SIUE history and the first since 1999.
         Luke Humphrey (Rantoul) had nine hits on the weekend to raise his batting average to a team-high .381.
         “Luke has played well and has played hard,” Coach Gary Collins said.
         Jason Kessler (Mattoon) is second on the team with a .353 average and leads the team in homeruns with nine. Kessler and Humphrey each lead the team with 13 RBIs.
         “Jason has been consistent and has done well at the plate,” said Collins.
         Keating is the only multiple game winner on the Cougar pitching staff with a 2-1 record and a 2.76 ERA. Keating also leads the team in strikeouts with 20.
         Collins said he has pleased with David Briesacher (Waterloo) on the mound, and indicated that Kyle Jones (New Baden) is beginning to come around. Briesacher is scheduled to make the start Wednesday with Jones starting the following game.
         Following Wednesday’s game, the Cougars and Rivermen will meet again Thursday in St. Louis for a 3 p.m. start. SIUE then travels to Lewis for doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.