Baseball

Cougars Begin Road Swing
         The SIUE baseball team defeated Southern Indiana on Sunday in what was the first game of a 12-game roadtrip.
         SIUE, 14-14 overall and 8-9 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, will play at Kentucky Wesleyan on Wednesday before traveling to non-conference foes Lincoln and Rockhurst.
         The Cougars split a doubleheader with Kentucky Wesleyan (13-12, 5-9 GLVC) earlier this season at Roy Lee Field.
         “We need to continue to play better,” Coach Gary Collins said.
         SIUE then plays a single game at Lincoln on Friday before playing a three-game series with Rockhurst that includes a doubleheader Saturday and a single game Sunday.
         Ryan Spurgeon (Bethalto) leads the pitching staff with a 1.71 ERA. He earned his first win of the season Sunday in SIUE’s 9-2 victory at Southern Indiana after throwing seven innings and allowing two runs on two hits.
         “Spurgeon pitched a great game Sunday,” Collins said.
         Jason Kessler (Mattoon) continues to lead the team in hitting with a .406 batting average.
                  -siue cougars-