The University of Southern Indiana baseball team made it a clean sweep of the four-game set with Lewis University by taking both ends of a doubleheader, 4-2 and 5-3, Saturday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. USI, which has won its last eight, watched its record go to 16-13 overall and 8-4 in the GLVC, while Lewis goes to 10-18-1 in 2018, 4-7 GLVC.
Game 1:Â
USI senior right-hander Devin Williams (Evansville, Indiana) pitched five strong innings and senior leftfielder Drake McNamara (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) hit a two-run home run as the Screaming Eagles took the opener, 4-2.
Williams (3-3) allowed one run on five hits and five walks, while striking out four to post his third win of the year. Junior right-hander Dalton Lewis (Parker, Colorado) finished the game for the Eagles, allowing a hit before posting his first save of the year.
In between Williams and Lewis, senior right-hander Nick Coudret (Newburgh, Indiana) pitched the sixth, giving up one run.
Offensively, McNamara led the Eagles at the plate with his two-run home run in the third to give USI a 2-1 advantage. USI would hold onto the 2-1 lead until the fifth when it sealed the win with a pair of runs.
Senior third baseman Nick Gobert (Jasper, Indiana) knocked in the third run and the eventual game-winning tally with a sacrifice fly before senior rightfielder Buddy Johnson (Shelbyville, Kentucky) finished up the Eagles’ scoring with a RBI-double to make the score 4-1. Lewis would get a tally in the sixth before USI closed out the final frame.
Game 2:Â
USI senior pinch-hitter Sam Griggs (Evansville, Indiana) came off the bench to drive in the eventual game-winner in the nightcap as the Eagles completed the sweep with a 5-3 victory. Griggs, who has missed the last four games with a knee injury, drove in senior third baseman Nick Gobert with the fourth run of the game to make the score, 4-3.
Junior catcher Logan Brown (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) sealed the nightcap victory by driving in senior rightfielder Buddy Johnson with an RBI-single to center for the 5-3 final.
The Eagles took the early lead with a tally in the first on a ground out by senior leftfielder/first baseman Drake McNamara to drive in freshman centerfielder Bryce Krizan (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) from third. USI increased the margin to 3-0 in the fifth when Krizan and McNamara posted back-to-back RBI singles.
Lewis rallied with a three-run sixth to set the stage for Griggs and Brown in the eighth.
On the mound, sophomore right-hander Tyler Hagedorn (Evansville, Indiana) won his second game of the weekend in relief of junior left-handed starter Chase Partain (Evansville, Indiana). Hagedorn (3-2) pitched a pair of scoreless innings, allowing one hit and tied a season-high with three strikeouts.
Partain threw seven strong frames before giving way to Hagedorn in the eighth. The junior left-hander allowed three runs on eight hits and four walks, while tying a career-high with seven strike outs.
