The 1998 Baseball Team will be inducted into the Southeast Missouri Athletics Hall of Fame this upcoming spring, Southeast's Department of Athletics announced Thursday.
SEMO's 1998 Baseball Team became the first in school history to win the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and advance to the NCAA Division I Tournament. SEMO finished the year with an overall record of 32-24 and 15-9 in the OVC. The team tied a school record for wins in a season and beat Southwestern Athletic Conference Champion Southern University to advance to the NCAA Division I Regionals for the first time ever.
Ryan Spille was named OVC Pitcher of the Year, earned First-Team All-OVC honors and was selected a Third-Team All-American. Jeff Bourbon was named to the Freshman All-America Team and Charlie Marino established a school record for home runs (21) in a season. Jason Swearingen set a set school records for innings pitched in a season (110) and career (368), while Jeremy Johnson was the team's Most Valuable Player of the NCAA Play-In series.
Both Marino and Kyle Yount were co-MVPs of the OVC Tournament. Meanwhile, Brad Hoehner, Steve Lowe, Marino and Phil Warren landed a spot on the OVC All-Tournament Team, and Bourbon, Lowe, Marino, Swearingen and Yount each claimed Second-Team All-OVC accolades.
Mark Hogan, who won his 100th career game at SEMO in 1998, was head coach during the club's historic run.
The 1998 team, which represents the 2017 Hall of Fame Class, will be inducted prior to SEMO's baseball game against Eastern Illinois on Saturday, Apr. 7. First pitch is set for 2 p.m., CT, at Capaha Field.
SEMO beat EIU, 15-11, in the 1998 OVC Tournament final to secure its NCAA Tournament berth.
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