 University of Southern Indiana sophomore second baseman Sam Griggs (Evansville, Indiana) and freshman left-hander Chase Partain(Evansville, Indiana) led the Screaming Eagles to a dominating 10-1 victory over the University of Missouri-St. Louis Thursday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. USI saw its record go to 26-16 overall, while UMSL falls to 24-17 overall.
Griggs led a USI offensive explosion by driving in six of 10 runs on a pair of home runs and a single. The sophomore gave USI a 2-0 lead in the third with a two-run single before hitting a three-run home run in the five-run sixth and giving USI a 10-0 lead in the eighth with a solo shot.
The Eagles scored their 10 runs on 11 hits with two in the third, two in the fourth, five in the sixth, and one in the eighth. UMSL picked up its only run in the ninth on a home run before USI closed out the 10-1 win.
USI senior rightfielder Kyle Kempf (Evansville, Indiana) smacked a two-run double in the five-run sixth for his record-tying 270th career hit. Kempf ties Mike Peerman, who set the 270 hit record between 1997 and 2000.
Partain (1-0) pitched seven scoreless inning in his first collegiate start to earn his first collegiate win. The freshman allowed three hits and four walks, while striking out four.
Junior right-hander Mike Ringer (Springfield, Illinois) pitched a scoreless eighth, while freshman right-hander Ryan Gulledge (Evansville, Indiana) allowed the run in the ninth before the Eagles closed out the victory.
The Eagles concludes their 10-game homestand with a four-game Great Lakes Valley Conference series against Saint Joseph’s College at the USI Baseball Field. Live coverage of four-game series can be found on GoUSIEagles.com.
USI trails the all-time series with Saint Joseph’s, 41-38, after losing three of four to the Pumas in Rensselaer, Indiana, during 2015. The Eagles, who are 13-7 in the 2016 GLVC season, have won nine of the last 11 games with the Pumas at the USI Baseball Field.
The Pumas of Saint Joseph’s are 24-18 overall and 12-8 in the GLVC during the 2016 campaign. Saint Joseph’s, currently, is in third in the GLVC East Division after sweeping four games from McKendree University over the weekend.
