University of Southern Indiana Baseball was outslugged by Bellarmine University, 14-7, in the second round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Baseball Tournament Friday afternoon in Springfield, Missouri. USI, the sixth seed, moves its record to 30-20, while Bellarmine, the seventh seed, goes to 31-19.
The loss forces USI to play an elimination game Saturday at 9 a.m. against second-seeded Maryville University. Maryville, who was swept by the Eagles in the final regular season series, survived an elimination game with Missouri University of Science & Technology, 9-4, this morning.
USI was forced to climb out of a hole early as Bellarmine scored four times before the Eagles had a chance to come to plate in the first. The Eagles responded by scoring five times to take a 5-4 lead.
USI sophomore leftfielder Aaron Euler (Evansville, Indiana) and junior designated hitter Manny Lopez (Santo Dominigo, P.R.) ignited the Eagles’ first inning rally. Euler drove in a run with a RBI-triple to get USI on the board, while Lopez followed doubled to score USI’s second run of the game.
The Eagles tied the score 4-4 on a RBI-singles by junior rightfielder Zach Pate (Evansville, Indiana) and senior second baseman Jacob Fleming (Evansville, Indiana). Pate would give the Eagles the lead, 5-4, by stealing home to conclude the scoring in the first.
The Knights regained the lead with a two-spot in the top of the second, but USI rallied once again to knot the contest at 6-6, when sophomore centerfielder Bryce Krizan (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) scored on a passed ball.
Bellarmine took the lead for good with a pair of runs in the fifth and one in the sixth to grab a 9-6 advantage. USI closed the gap to 9-7 when sophomore shortstop Ethan Hunter (Terre Haute, Indiana) tripled and crossed the plate on a ground out by Fleming, but that would as close as the Eagles would come the rest of the way.
Including the fifth, the Knights strung together five innings of one or two runs each frame in building the 14-7 final score.
At the plate, Krizan tied a career-high with a four-for-four performance, scoring twice, while Fleming had a team-high two RBIs.
On the mound, senior right-hander Austin Gossmann (Avon, Indiana) took the loss. Gossman (5-2) allowed six runs on seven hits and three walks
