University of Southern Indiana senior shortstop Kyle Niemeier (Evansville, Indiana) and senior right-handed reliever T.J. Decker (Brazil, Indiana) swept the weekly Great Lakes Valley Conference awards after helping the Screaming Eagles to five victories last week. Neimeier and Decker won the GLVC Player of the Week and Pitcher of the Week awards, respectively, for the first time in their careers at USI.
Niemeier led the USI hitters with a blistering .571 batting average (8-14), while scoring nine runs and driving in four RBIs. He also had two doubles and a triple amongst his eight hits last week.
The senior shortstop’s triple came in USI’s come from behind 11-8 victory over Saint Joseph’s College on Senior Day, scoring the tying and game-winning runs in the four-run seventh inning.
For the season, Niemeier is hitting a career-best .357 with 37 runs scored, 30 RBIs, 10 doubles, two triples, and eight stolen bases. He posted a 14-game hitting streak that is tied for second-best on the team this season.
Decker closed the door on three of the four USI victories over Saint Joseph’s Friday and Sunday, posting three saves and a 0.00 ERA in 5.2 innings of work. He struck out 10 batters in the three games, tying a career-high by fanning five in two of the three appearances.
The highlight of Decker’s week came in his first appearance against the Pumas when he struck out five of the six batters he faced to preserve the 4-2 win.
With the five victories last week, four coming in conference play, Niemeier and Decker helped move the Eagles into first place in the GLVC East Division by one game over the University of Indianapolis and back into the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper/ABCA Top 30 poll at number 26.
USI finishes the regular season this weekend when it travels to play the University of Indianapolis in a GLVC four-game series Friday and Saturday. First pitch Friday is noon (CDT), while Saturday is 11 a.m. (CDT).
