Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Baseball	SIUE Baseball SIUE Athletics

Cory Bunner GLVC Baseball

May 7, 2007 SIUE Baseball Gains GLVC Tournament Top Seed         With the No. 1 seed in hand, the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville baseball team heads to the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament.         The Cougars, 35-13 overall, have now won 10 consecutive games heading into the GLVC Tournament, which will begin Thursday at GCS Ballpark in Sauget. SIUE will play in the 6 p.m. game Thursday against Indianapolis, which won its final five games of the regular season to pick up the tournament's No. 6 seed.         SIUE finished the conference regular season with a 26-10 record, 3 1/2 games ahead of second-place Southern Indiana.         SIUE Coach Gary Collins said his team's winning streak doesn't mean a whole lot especially since Indianapolis is playing just as loose as the Cougars.         "That just means we've played well down the stretch," he said. "A whole new season starts Thursday."         The schedule for the GLVC Tournament was set late Monday. SIUE faces Indianapolis at 6 p.m. Third-seeded Drury faces fourth-seeded Bellarmine at noon followed by No. 2 seed Southern Indiana against fifth-seeded Saint Joseph's at 3 p.m.         Cory Bunner (Jacksonville), a junior shortstop, leads the Cougar offense with a .391 batting average and 31 runs batted in.         The Cougars boast the No. 1 offense in the league with a .304 batting average and the No. 1 pitching staff with a 2.31 earned run average.         SIUE's pitching staff has shown its depth all season with five different players with four or more victories. Gerad Bryan (Wilmington) leads the staff with a 6-1 record and a 1.13 ERA in 39 2/3 innings pitched.         Adam Tallman (Gillespie) and James Hertel (Hillsboro) have hurled the most innings for SIUE with 65 2/3 and 64 innings, respectively. Tallman holds a 2.19 ERA followed by Hertel's 2.25.                 -siue cougars-