Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Baseball	SIUE Baseball SIUE Athletics

Kyle Jones

April 4, 2005 Baseball Eyes Important Week         Southern Illinois University Edwardsville baseball sits in a fourth-place tie in the Great Lakes Valley Conference as the Cougars begin a important week of play.         SIUE, 12-9 overall and 7-7 in the GLVC, battles second-place Quincy on Wednesday before traveling to third place UW-Parkside this weekend.         “There are no easy games in this league,” said SIUE baseball coach Gary Collins. “We are still a young team, and we are still developing.”         The Cougars went 3-3 this past week against Kentucky Wesleyan and Southern Indiana. After sweeping the Panthers, SIUE’s bats came alive, blasting the Screaming Eagles 9-2 on Saturday. Then the Cougars lost a heartbreaker 9-6 in 10 innings in the nightcap.         “We looked like we were coming out of our offensive slump,” said Collins. “We scored 15 runs, and all we got was a split.”         SIUE then dropped two contests at USI on Sunday.         Kyle Jones (New Baden) improved to 5-0 on the season with a 1.43 earned run average, giving up six earned runs in 37.2 innings.         “Kyle has been rock solid,” said Collins. “It is reassuring knowing that he is pitching that first game every weekend.”         Craig Ohlau (Chester) leads the team with a .392 average. Ohlau went 3-4 with two doubles, two RBIs, and two runs scored in the first game against Southern Indiana on Saturday.         Joe Wargo (Streator) improved his average to .323, and Jeff Darnall (Atlanta) raised his to .347 during the six games.         “We have some guys who are hitting the ball better,” said Collins. “Overall, we are hitting better. We still run into problems of stringing hits together.”         Pitchers Ryan Spurgeon (Bethalto) and Jared Rettberg (Divernon) each picked up their first wins of the season against Kentucky Wesleyan.         The Cougars face the Hawks in a doubleheader at Quincy on Wednesday at 1 p.m. SIUE then takes on the Rangers in Kenosha, Wis., on Saturday and Sunday with both doubleheaders starting at noon.                 -siue cougars-