#8 Southern Indiana (41-9): 2
Quincy (27-25): 1
Senior infielder Caleb Eickholf had a one-out, RBI-single in the top of the 10th inning and junior shortstop/pitcher Matt Chavarria pitched a scoreless bottom 10th as the No. 8 University of Southern Indiana baseball team outlasted Quincy University, 2-1, Friday to advance to the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship Tournament semifinal.
After the two teams battled through seven consecutive scoreless innings, the Screaming Eagles broke through as sophomore outfielder Hamilton Carr began the 10th inning with a lead-off walk.
Senior infielder/pitcher Matt Bowles, who went to the dish as a pinch hitter, followed with a bunt-single to put runners at first and second with no outs.
Two batters later, following a fielder’s choice that saw Carr thrown out at third base, Eickhoff roped a 0-1 pitch through the left side of the infield, allowing Bowles to score the go-ahead run from second base.
Chavarria, who took the mound in the bottom of the 10th, struck out the first two batters he faced before inducing a ground ball for the final out and his league-leading 11th save of the year.
USI (41-9) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when sophomore outfielder Kyle Kempf hit a lead-off home run over the left-centerfield fence.
Quincy (27-25), however, answered in the last part of the second inning as leftfielder Zach Knese scored on a sacrifice fly and a close play at the plate.
None-the-less, senior pitcher Jonathon Wandling settled down to blank the Hawks for the next seven frames. Wandling (8-1) struck out nine batters while scattering seven hits and a walk throughout nine innings to earn the victory.
Quincy pitcher Cody King was solid for the Hawks. King struck out 11 USI batters while scattering four hits throughout nine innings before giving way to Matt Fishman prior to the 10th inning. Fishman (3-3) was pinned with the loss after giving up one run off two hits.
The Eagles return to action Saturday at 11 a.m. when they take on the winner of the Quincy/University of Missouri-St. Louis game, which is currently in progress, in the semifinals at Bosse Field.
