EVANSVILLE, Ind. — University of Southern Indiana Baseball hits the road in the Ohio Valley Conference this weekend, making a visit to conference-leading University of Arkansas at Little Rock for a three-game series. The first pitch of the series is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. and continues Saturday at 4 p.m. before concluding Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Screaming Eagles (22-27, 11-10 OVC) will start the weekend tied for fifth in the OVC, but only one game out of second and two games out of first. The Trojans of Little Rock (26-21, 13-8 OVC) are tied for first in the conference with Southeast Missouri State University with a 13-8 league mark.
The SERVPRO OVC Championship, which includes the top eight teams in the standings, is scheduled for May 22-25 at Marion Stadium in Marion, Illinois.
Following the road trip to Little Rock, the Eagles return to the friendly surroundings of the USI Baseball Field for a regular-season ending four-game homestand. The final homestand of 2024 includes a 6 p.m. Tuesday matchup with Middle Tennessee State University before ending the regular season with a three-game series versus Western Illinois University (May 16-18). Links to follow the Eagles during the 2024 season can be found on USIScreamingEagles.com and on the USI Baseball Schedule.
The final series of the season also is Alumni Weekend for the Eagles and will included a celebration of the 10-year anniversary of the 2014 NCAA Division II National Championship and Senior Day on May 18. Both the 2014 team and the 2024 seniors will be recognized prior to the 1 p.m. regular season finale on May 18.
USI Baseball Notes
Eagles overpowered by Aces: The USI Screaming Eagles were overpowered by the University of Evansville, 10-0, to start the week. USI was only able to manage three hits, while UE had seven, three of which were home runs.
Parson named OVC Pitcher of the Week. USI freshman right-hander Grant Parson was named the OVC Pitcher of the Week after leading the Eagles to a 5-1 victory over Southern Illinois University Edwardsville last weekend. Parson, who is the first USI pitcher to earn an OVC Pitcher of the Week Award, allowed one run on five hits and two walks, in addition to striking out a season-high nine batters.
USI wins three of four for 2nd-straight week. The USI Eagles were 3-1 for the second-straight week, falling at Southern Illinois University before sweeping SIUE last week. USI senior outfielder Ren Tachioka batted a team-best .529 last week with seven runs scored, two doubles, and five RBIs. Senior first baseman Tucker Ebest led USI in RBIs with six.
USI won 6th series of the year. USI won its sixth series of the season and its third in the OVC after sweeping SIUE last weekend. The Eagles won only four series all of last season.
Tachioka’s hitting streak ends at 11. USI senior outfielder Ren Tachioka saw his hitting streak ended at UE Tuesday. During the streak, Tachioka hit .468 (22-47) with 16 runs scored, four doubles, one triple, and 10 RBIs.
Van Grieken heating up. USI junior third baseman Ricardo Van Grieken has been heating up the last 10 games. Van Grieken has raised his batting average 25 points over the last week (.189 to .214) by hitting .306 (11-36) in the last 10 games. He also has scored seven runs, driven seven more, and banged four doubles.
Kapust the surprise hitter this spring. Senior catcher Tyler Kapust, who has played nearly as many games this season (26) as he has the first three seasons (31), is having a career year at the plate. Kapust is hitting .288 (19-66) this season, compared to the .188 career average (10-53) he entered the season with. He also has a career-high eight RBIs and one home run.
Comes down to pitching. USI’s 22 wins in 2024 (year two of the Division I transition) are five victories better than last season with eight regular season games to play and a lot of this year’s improvement has come down to pitching. The Eagles have a 5.92 ERA, 1.78 better than last season’s 7.70 ERA and the lowest since 2021.
One run games. The Eagles are battle tested in close games this spring, playing in nine one-run games, going 2-7, and 10 two-run games, going 4-6.
USI in the OVC. USI is tied for fifth in the OVC standing (11-10) after sweeping the series and tiebreaker with SIUE. Senior outfielder Ren Tachioka leads USI at the plate in conference play, batting .441 (30-68). Senior first baseman Tucker Ebest has a team-high 21 RBIs and four home runs in league action.
USI in non-conference. In the 28 non-conference games, senior outfielder Ren Tachioka leads the Eagles with a .357 average (30-84), while senior first baseman Tucker Ebest has a team-high 26 RBIs. Ebest also is tied with senior designated hitter Jack Ellis with a team-best four home runs outside of the OVC. Four pitchers have a team-best two victories each in the non-conference schedule.
Season leaders at the plate in 2024. Senior outfielder Ren Tachioka is hitting a team best .395 (60-152) in 39 of the 49 games, while senior infielder/designated hitter Tucker Ebest has hit a team-high eight home runs and driven in a team-best 47 RBIs.
Leaders on the mound in 2024. USI junior right-handers Gavin Seebold has recorded a team-best six wins this season (6-2). Freshman right-hander Grant Parson follows with four wins and has a team-high 60 strikeouts. Freshman right-hander Clayton Weisheit leads USI hurlers with a team-low 2.92 ERA in 37.0 innings this season.
At home versus the road. USI, as a team, is hitting .296 at the home (23 games), compared to .268 on the road (24 games). Senior rightfielder Ren Tachioka is hitting a team-high .444 at the USI Baseball Field, but team-high .350 on the road.
Multi-hit/Multi-RBI Games. USI junior centerfielder Terrick Thompson-Allen leads the Eagles with 22 multi-hit games (20 with 2; 2 with 3), followed by senior outfielder Ren Tachioka has 20 (13 with 2; 6 with 3; 1 with 4). Senior first baseman/designated hitter Tucker Ebest has a team-high 14 multi-RBI games. Sophomore infielder Caleb Niehaus has the top RBI game of the season with five versus Southeast Missouri State University.
In the OVC statistically. USI as a team is third in the OVC in pitching with a team 5.79 ERA and fifth in the league in hitting with a .282 team batting average. Senior outfielder Ren Tachioka is second in the OVC with a .400 batting average, while freshman right-hander Grant Parson is fourth with a 3.90 ERA and sixth with 60 strikeouts.
In OVC Games Only. USI is fourth in the league with a .303 team batting average and fourth with a 5.97 team ERA in OVC games only.
Little Rock in 2024. The Trojans of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock are 26-21 overall and 13-8 in the OVC after taking two of three from Western Illinois University. Little Rock has won six of the last 10 games, entering this week.
USI vs. Little Rock. Little Rock leads the all-time series with USI, 2-0, after taking both games of the series last season at the USI Baseball Field. The third game was rained out.
MTSU in 2024. The Blue Raiders of MTSU are 17-31 overall in 2024 and are 4-6 in the last 10 games. MTSU, who visits Jacksonville State University of three games before visiting USI, is 9-19 since playing the Eagles in March.
USI vs. MTSU. USI owns the first and only meeting between the two programs, defeating MTSU, 12-9, in March. Junior catcher Logan Mock led the USI hitters in the win, going four-for-four with three RBIs and two doubles.
