Baseball

Baseball Opens Season 0-4
        The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville baseball team must dig out of a four-game deficit after two losses to both Missouri Southern State and Grand Valley State this past weekend.
        “We mixed in errors when we didn’t need them,” said SIUE Coach Gary Collins.
        “We tried to play everyone this weekend, but we just didn’t take very good at-bats,” said Collins.
        Brad Scott (Benld) and Luke Humphrey (Rantoul) led the team with five hits each for the Cougars.
        Collins said despite the four losses that the SIUE pitching staff held up well. The staff completed the four-game series with a 2.01 earned run average.
        SIUE has its first home contest of the season on Wednesday when it entertains Lincoln in a noon doubleheader.
        The Cougars then head to Savannah, Ga., for their annual spring break trip. SIUE has six games scheduled in Savannah before returning to the grueling 40-game conference schedule which begins March 13 at home against Saint Joseph’s
        Collins said he’ll use the trip to Georgia as an opportunity to fine-tune the team to get ready for the league season.
        “With a 40-game schedule, if we don’t finish in the top two or three, we probably don’t belong in the (NCAA) regional tournament,” said Collins.
                -siue cougars-