The University of Southern Indiana baseball team split a doubleheader with Bellarmine University and finished the first Great Lakes Valley Conference weekend of 2017 with a series split Saturday morning in Louisville, Kentucky. The Screaming Eagles took the opener, 10-1, but lost the nightcap, 4-3.
USI, which missed a chance to get to .500 in the nightcap, watched its record go to 9-10 overall and 2-2 in the GLVC, while Bellarmine goes to 14-10 overall, 2-2 GLVC.
USI controlled the opening game from start to finish and won 10-1 behind dominating performance of senior right-hander Lucas Barnett (Sellersburg, Indiana). Barnett (2-0), who set down 13 of the first 14 batters faced, allowed one run on four hits and struck out three batters in the seven-inning complete-game win.
The Eagles got the offense going in early in the opening game and scored in five of the seven innings. USI scored two in the second, one in the third, sealed the victory with four in the fourth before closing out the contest with one in the fifth and two in the sixth.
At the plate, junior centerfielder Buddy Johnson (Shelbyville, Kentucky) and junior shortstop Angel Torres (Puerto Rico) led an offensive attack that produced a season-high 15 hits. Johnson was four-for-four with a run scored, two RBIs, and a double, while Torres was three-for-three with two runs scored, a RBI, and a double.
Sophomore catcher Logan Brown (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) rounded out the multi-hit Eagles with a two-for-four performance on a pair of doubles, adding an RBI. Junior designated hitter Drake McNamara (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) also matched Johnson’s two RBIs to help lead the Eagles in the 10-1 win.
In the second game, Bellarmine broke a 3-3 tie in the bottom ninth to defeat USI, 4-3. USI had a 2-1 lead in the top of the sixth and battled back to tie the game 3-3 in the top of the eighth inning before falling short.
Freshman right-hander Tyler Hagedorn (Evansville, Indiana) took the loss in relief for the Eagles. Hagedorn (0-2) allowed one run on one hit and four walks (two intentional), while striking out two in 2.1 innings of work.
The Eagles started sophomore right-hander Austin Krizan (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) on the mound in the nightcap. Krizan got the no-decision after allowing three runs, one earned, on seven hits and a walk. The sophomore also tied a career-high with six strikeouts in 6.1 innings on the bump.
Offensively, Brown had a pair of hits and two RBIs to lead the Eagles in the nightcap. Brown also led the Eagles for the day with three RBIs in the two games, while tying Johnson with four hits each in the two games on Saturday.
For the weekend, Torres led the team with a .500 average (6-12) and tied with Brown with Brown with four RBIs each in the four games with Bellarmine.
The Eagles return to action and to the USI Baseball Field March 29 when they host Oakland City University for a non-conference game before returning to the road in the GLVC to play at the University of Illinois Springfield April 1-2.
