ST. CHARLES, Mo. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball bounced back behind a strong pitching performance by junior right-hander Andres Gonzalez to defeat Lindenwood University, 7-5, Friday evening in St. Charles, Missouri. USI is 26-28 overall and 14-12 in the OVC, while Lindenwood goes to 27-27, 14-11 OVC.
With the win, USI is tied for fifth with Lindenwood in the OVC standings and a game behind fourth-place Southeast Missouri State University. SEMO kept control of fourth by defeating the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 10-4, this afternoon.
To earn a first-day bye in the OVC Championship next week, USI needs a win and a SEMO loss on Saturday to earn the fourth seed in the upcoming tournament. A SEMO win on Saturday means USI will be the fifth or sixth seed depending on the outcome of the USI-Lindenwood game tomorrow.
Gonzalez (2-4) picked up his second win of the year in his longest start of the season. He went a season-high six-plus innings, allowing four runs on six hits and one walk, while striking out three.
The Eagles turned the tables on the Lions and took the early lead with a tally in the opening inning and a run in the third for a 2-0 lead. USI sophomore second baseman Anthony Umbach got the scoring started with an RBI single in the opening inning, while sophomore rightfielder Cameron Boyd extended the margin to 2-0 with a sacrifice fly in the third.
The Lions roared back in the third with a pair of tallies to tie the game, 2-2. USI would respond by exploding for four runs in the top of the fourth to regain the lead, 6-2.
Boyd put USI back in front, 3-2, with the first of three RBI singles through the right side of the infield in the fourth inning. The single extended Boyd’s hitting streak to a USI season-best 19 games. The overall hitting streak record is 26 games, which is held by Kyle Kempf (last 12 games of 2015 and the first 14 of 2016), while the single-season record is 21 games, which is held by Logan Brown (2018).
Junior designated hitter Kannon Coakley extended the margin to 4-2 with a looping RBI single to the right side, scoring junior first baseman Cole Kitchens. The margin continued to grow when sophomore third baseman Parker Martin produced the third RBI single to the right side for a 5-2 score.
USI junior catcher Micajah Wall finished the scoring in the fourth on an RBI liner to left for the 6-2 advantage.
After USI increased the lead to 7-2 with a tally in the top of the seventh, Lindenwood made a run at the Eagles with three runs in the bottom half of the frame to close the gap to 7-5. USI senior right-hander Ian Anderson and sophomore right-hander Abdriel Figueroa closed the door on the Lions in the final three innings to preserve the win.
Figueroa earned his second save of the season, permitting a hit and a walk in two innings. He also struck out two.
Coakley had a team-best three hits in the game, while Boyd recorded a team-best two RBIs.
