The University of Southern Indiana baseball team committed three costly errors in beginning its 10-game road trip with an 8-1 non-conference loss at the University of Missouri-St. Louis Tuesday afternoon in St. Louis, Missouri. USI saw its record rise to 16-11 overall, while UMSL ends the day with an 18-7 overall.
After a pair of scoreless innings to start the contest, the Screaming Eagles committed a pair of throwing errors on back-to-back plays in the bottom of the third as the Tritons took a 2-0 lead. UMSL would seal the victory with four tallies in the fourth and pair of insurance runs in the eighth for the 8-1 final.
USI posted its only tally of the contest in the top of the fifth when senior shortstop Kyle Niemeier (Evansville, Indiana) singled in sophomore leftfielder Buddy Johnson (Shelbyville, Kentucky). Niemeier was the only Eagle to post multiple hits in the contest.
On the mound, senior right-hander Alex Holder (Princeton, Indiana) took the loss in his third start of the year. Holder (2-3) allowed six runs, four earned, on seven hits and two walks, while striking out a season-high five in six innings of work.
Senior right-hander Ben Blaize (Henderson, Kentucky) struck out the side in the seventh, while senior right-hander T.J. Decker (Brazil, Indiana) allowed the final two UMSL runs in the eighth to close out the game for USI.
The Eagles continue the 10-game road trip this weekend when they travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to play a four-game series against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. The Rangers are 4-19 and are still looking for their first GLVC win of 2016 with a league mark of 0-8.
USI leads the all-time series with UW-Parkside, 39-26, after sweeping four-game series last year at the USI Baseball Field.
