ST. CHARLES, Mo. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball recorded its first Ohio Valley Conference win and snapped an 11-game losing streak with a thrilling 12-9 win at Lindenwood University Sunday afternoon in St. Charles, Missouri. USI watched its record go to 8-20, 1-5 in the OVC, while Ball State goes to 5-23, 2-4 OVC.
The Screaming Eagles had command of the game for the first seven-and-a-half innings of action by building a 9-4 lead. USI scored three in the first for a 3-0 advantage; increase the lead to 6-3 after six frames with one in the fifth and two in the sixth; and appeared to have sealed the victory with three in the top of the eighth for a 9-4 lead.
Lindenwood, however, bounced back to tie the game, 9-9, with a five-run eighth inning and set the stage for USI’s three-run, game-winning rally in the ninth.
The Eagles regained the lead, 10-9, when junior rightfielder Steven Molinet (Elberfeld, Indiana) singled in junior first baseman Jack Ellis (Jeffersonville, Indiana), who had doubled to lead off the inning. Molinet, who reached third on a single by junior second baseman Nolan Cook (Edwardsville, Indiana), crossed the plate on a wild pitch to re-extend the lead to 11-9.
Cook would score the final tally of the game and capped off the 12-9 final on ground out by junior leftfielder Gavin McLarty (Buckner, Kentucky).
For the game, USI was led at the plate by senior second baseman/catcher Lucas McNew (Floyds Knobs, Indiana), who was four-for-five with two runs scored and three RBIs. McNew’s three RBIs moves him into a tie for eighth all-time with former USI All-American Kevin Brown (1992-94) with 145, while climbing to 10th all-time at USI in doubles with his fifth inning two-bagger.
On the mound, USI freshman left-hander Will Kiesel (Wadesville, Indiana) picked up the victory in relief. Kiesel (1-1) got the Eagles out of the eighth inning with the scored tied at 9-9 before throwing a scoreless ninth inning, striking out two in his 1.1 frames.
Up Next for the Eagles:Â
USI comes home to play next week to host a three-game series with Southeast Missouri State University. SEMO raised its record to 16-14 overall and 5-1 in the OVC after completing a series sweep of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a 17-6 win Sunday in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
The Redhawks, who have the most wins in the OVC after the first weekend, have won four-straight and eight of their last 10 games.
USI leads the all-time series with SEMO, 26-23, and will be playing the Redhawks for the first time since 1994. SEMO swept the last doubleheader in 1994, but USI has won eight of the last 10 games between 1990 and 1994.
