Baseball

Baseball Returns to League Play
        After a short break from Great Lakes Valley Conference play, the SIU Edwardsville baseball team will get back at it this week by playing six conference games.
        The Cougars travel to Quincy for a Wednesday doubleheader. Lewis will then come to town for doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday. At 4-15 overall and 1-5 in GLVC play, the Cougars need to find a way to win some games this week.
        “We need to play a lot better these next two weeks to get back into the conference race,” Coach Gary Collins said.
        SIUE’s rescheduled game against Lincoln, which was to be played on Tuesday, has been postponed. The teams will try to hook up Wed., Apr. 28, for a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Roy Lee Field.
        The Cougars are coming off a weekend in which they took two of three games from non-conference foe Wayne State (Mich.). The Cougars were an offensive juggernaut on Saturday, plating 26 total runs in the two seven-inning games. But the Cougars dropped Sunday’s nine-inning game 3-2 in a pitcher’s dual.
        “It looked as though we were coming out of our offensive slumber,” Collins said,” but Sunday we fell right back into it.”
        Freshman Adam Tallman (Gillespie) leads the Cougars with a .333 batting average. He joined Jared Brueggeman (East Alton) and Luke Humphrey (Rantoul) as the only Cougars to hit safely in all three games against Wayne State.
        “I’ve been real happy with Tallman,” Collins said. “I think he’ll be a heck of a player of us.”
        The Cougars also got quality performances on the mound. Jared Rettberg (Divernon) pitched a one-hit shutout in game one of the doubleheader on Saturday. Kyle Jones (New Baden) and Pat Evers (St. Louis) combined to top the Wayne State offense in game two. Ryan Spurgeon (Bethalto) and Ron Jones (Kankakee) threw the ball well in Sunday’s game.
        “Our pitching has been good enough that we should be better than 4-15,” Collins said.
       
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