The 23rd-ranked University of Southern Indiana baseball team posted a six-spot in the ninth inning to rally by second-ranked University of Tampa, 11-10, Saturday afternoon in Tampa, Florida. USI is 1-1 after the win, while Tampa goes to 6-2 in 2017.
The finale of the three-game slate is set for 11 a.m. (CST) Sunday. Live coverage can be found on GoUSIEagles.com.
After the Spartans grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first, the Screaming Eagles took their first lead of the year by scoring five unanswered runs in the second and third innings. Junior shortstop Angel Torres (Yabucoa, Puerto Rico) put USI’s first run across in the second when he singled in junior first baseman Nick Gobert (Jasper, Indiana) to make the score 3-1.
USI would take its first lead of the year into the top of the third when junior centerfielder Buddy Johnson (Shelbyville, Kentucky) homered to cut the deficit to 3-2 and junior leftfielder Drake McNamara (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) hit a three-run blast for the 5-3 advantage. The lead was short lived as Tampa knotted the score at 5-5 in the bottom of the third, regained the lead with two in the fourth, and extended its advantage to 10-5 with three in the eighth.
The Eagles, however, were not done as they took advantage of three walks, combined with four hits to score six times in the top of the ninth to retake the lead, 11-10. Junior designated hitter Nathan Kuester (Rockport, Indiana) got the comeback rolling with a three-run double to pull the Eagles to within one, 10-9, before scoring on a wild pitch to knot the game up at 10-10.
Torres came full circle for the Eagles, driving in the winning run with a two-out double, and the 11-10 lead after eight-and-a-half innings.
In the bottom of the ninth, senior right-hander Justin Watts (Bryan, Ohio) closed the door on the USI victory setting the Spartans down in order to earn his first save of the year. USI sophomore right-hander Austin Krizan (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) picked up the win in relief for the Eagles. Krizan (1-0) went four innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on six hits.
Following the series finale on Sunday, the Eagles return to the USI Baseball Field for the 2017 home opener February 24 at 1 p.m. when they host Wayne State University (Michigan) to begin the Dunn Hospitality Classic.
