April 1, 2011

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE scored a season-high 14 runs on 19 hits Friday night, defeating Morehead State 14-5 in the opener of a three-game baseball series at SimmonsCooper Complex.

It was the third consecutive victory for SIUE, 8-15.

"I thought we took real good at-bats," SIUE Head Coach Gary Collins said. "We punished the ball, up and down the line-up. That was nice."

Every player in the starting lineup had at least a hit for the Cougars Friday. James Vazquez led the way for SIUE, going 4 for 5 with four RBIs and three runs scored. Mitch Matecki was 3 for 5, including a triple, with three RBIs and a run. Mike Swinnen was 3 for 4 with two doubles and two RBIs, the first of his career.

"We'll play him again tomorrow," Collins said of Swinnen, who was making his second consecutive start at third base. "The better you do the more you play. He jumped right in there and did a nice job for us."

Devin Caldwell was 2 for 4 with a double and three RBIs. Chase Green and Brett Keeler each had two hits. Green had a triple and scored three runs. Keeler drove home a run with a single.

Morehead State, 5-20, took a 1-0 first inning lead thanks to a pair of two-out hits against Cougars' starter Travis Felax. SIUE answered with two runs in the home half of the first and never trailed again in the game.

Felax, 3-0, allowed two runs over five innings for the win. He allowed six hits and struck out three.

"I thought he got a little tired," Collins said of his starter. "He went far enough."

The Cougars added two more runs in the second inning, four in the third and led 8-1 before the Eagles got on the board again. Morehead got a solo home run from Travis Redmon in the fifth to cut the lead to 8-2, but SIUE answered again.

The Cougars plated two more runs in the fifth, and single runs in the sixth and seventh innings to extend their lead to 12-2.

The Eagles scored three times in the eighth inning to make it 12-5. All three runs came against reliever Ryan Daniels. Two of them were unearned. Daniels tossed three innings in relief of Felax, allowing the three runs on two hits. He struck out four.

SIUE closed out the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Luke Ingersoll tossed a perfect ninth inning for the Cougars to close out the victory.

The series continues Saturday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.