The University of Southern Indiana baseball team continued to advance in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional with an 11-3 victory over Ashland University at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois. USI, the seventh seed, watched its record go to 34-21 overall, while Ashland, the sixth seed, ends game with a 33-21 mark.
The Eagles, with the win, advance to play the top-seeded and sixth-ranked University of Illinois Springfield 7 p.m. Saturday. The winner of the Saturday’s 7 p.m. contest advances automatically to “Championship Monday.”
After spotting Ashland a 1-0 lead in the top of the second, USI senior rightfielder Buddy Johnson (Shelbyville, Indiana) quickly knotted the score, 1-1, in the bottom half of the frame with his second home run of the season. Junior leftfielder Spenser Deom (Tell City, Indiana) gave the Eagles their first lead of the game three hitters later with a RBI-single to score senior third baseman Sam Griggs (Evansville, Indiana).
The score would remain tied, 2-2, until the bottom of the sixth when USI exploded for five runs. Griggs started the rally by knocking in junior second baseman Jacob Fleming (Evansville, Indiana) with the go ahead run, while Deom would drive in the eventual game-winning run with an RBI-walk to extend the lead to 4-2.
Freshman shortstop Ethan Hunter (Terre Haute, Indiana) would cap off the five-run frame with a three-run double to right center to give the Eagles a commanding 7-2 advantage.
USI would seal the victory with four-run rally in the seventh, increasing the margin to 11-2. Senior designated hitter Drake McNamara (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) and junior catcher Logan Brown (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) banged RBI-doubles off the wall, while Griggs and senior first baseman Nick Gobert (Jasper, Indiana) scored Eagles with RBI-singles.
On the mound, junior right-hander Austin Krizan (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) was masterful in earning his first complete game of the season. Krizan (3-3) allowed three runs, two earned on 10 hits, while striking out seven in the nine innings of work.
Continuing coverage of Eagles baseball games this post-season can be found on GoUSIEagles.com. Watch Twitter, Facebook, and GoUSIEagles.com for any schedule changes due to weather.
