VU Baseball continues to roll after Friday night doubleheader sweep

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University baseball team is picking up steam as they roll through the early part of their 2025 season, opening a big weekend invitational at Jerry Blemker Field Friday night.

The Blazers faced some tough competition Friday in front of the home fans and were able to extend their winning streak to five games after defeating North Iowa Area Community College 11-8 and picking up a big win over No. 15 Kellogg Community College 1-0.

Vincennes opened the weekend slate against North Iowa Area Community College and wasted little time getting the offense going in game one of the day.

After the Trojans opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the first, Vincennes responded in the bottom half of the first with a monster seven run inning.

VU sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning and opened the game offensively with a leadoff single by sophomore Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, Ind.).

Freshman Jevan Andrews (Hobart, Ind.) followed this by reaching on an error and the pair moved into scoring position on a double steal, with Douglas coming around to score on another NIACC error.

Andrews would score on a groundout put in play by sophomore Cobrin Napier (Indianapolis, Ind.) to even the score at 2-2.

Vincennes then continued the inning with a big two-out rally started by walks by freshman Kaden McKinney (Vincennes, Ind.) and sophomore Yancey Edlin (Pekin, Ind.) and sophomore Noble Johnson (Terre Haute, Ind.) being hit by pitch to load the bases.

Sophomore Brody Fessel (DePauw, Ind.) drove in a run on a bases loaded walk, which was then followed by a big two RBI single by sophomore Bryce Gross (Bridgeport, Ind.).

Vincennes capped off the big inning with Fessel scoring on another NIACC error and Gross scoring on a passed ball to put the Blazers up 7-2.

North Iowa Area would cut into this big lead with three runs in the second, which Vincennes again responded with four runs in the third inning.

Vincennes opened the third inning with a single by Yancey Edlin and a walk by Noble Johnson. Bryce Gross would load the bases with a walk and Bradyn Douglas would drive in a run on a sacrifice fly.

Jevan Andrews kept the inning going with an RBI infield single, followed by an RBI single by sophomore Nate Montgomery (Lexington, Ind.).

Vincennes would get the final run of the inning on a perfectly executed double steal attempt with Andrews scoring while Montgomery was caught in a run down, to give Vincennes the 11-5 lead.

The scoring would slow through the middle innings, with NIACC again cutting into the Vincennes lead with three runs in the fifth and looking to add more with the bases loaded in the sixth, but were unable to push another run across as Vincennes closed out the game strong to pick up the 11-8 victory.

Sophomore Carson Allen (Louisville, Ky.) got the start on the mound in game one for the Trailblazers, throwing six strong innings, allowing eight runs, five earned on nine hits and striking out eight.

Freshman Jacob Allen took over in the seventh and was able to retire the Trojans in order, including a game ending strikeout, to pick up his first collegiate save.

“We took advantage of their mistakes,” VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. “They gave us some opportunities early and we put up a seven run inning and a four run inning. Then we were able to hold on and play solid defense behind Carson Allen. Carson’s always going to give us a chance to win and then Jacob Allen came in and did a great job of cleaning it up and getting out of there with his first collegiate save.”

The Trailblazers would then have to immediately turn around and face another tough test against No. 15-ranked Kellogg Community College from Battle Creek, Mich.

This game was a big contrast between game one of the day for the Trailblazers with both teams pitching staffs dealing throughout the game.

Scoring opportunities were hard to come by in game two of the day, with Vincennes only getting one base runner through the first three innings.

VU would break the tie in the fourth however after a lead off single by Bradyn Douglas, followed by a double by Nate Montgomery giving the Blazers runners at second and third with only one out.

Corbin Napier was able to get the job done at the plate and allow Douglas to score on a sacrifice fly to give the Trailblazers the 1-0 lead.

The VU pitchers equally held the Kellogg batters at bay, coming through in key situations to hold the Bruins off the scoreboard and maintain the narrow one-run advantage.

Vincennes was able to silence any Kellogg scoring opportunities late as the Trailblazers closed out their fifth straight victory by the final score of 1-0.

Freshman Eastin Whaley (Kokomo, Ind.) continues to deal on the mound early this season, throwing four innings Friday night, allowing just one hit and striking out five.

Whaley then turned the game over to freshman Ty Stultz (Terre Haute, Ind.) who closed out the final three innings of work, only allowing two base runners without allowing a hit and striking out three in the game to pick up the save.

Whaley and Stultz combined to throw a one-hit shutout for the Trailblazers Friday night, VU’s first shutout since May 2023.

“Game two was a battle,” Barney added. “Really good job out there by their pitchers and our guys too. One inning was the difference in this one with leadoff single, a double and a sacrifice fly and that ends up being the difference in a 1-0 game.”

The Trailblazers will look to keep this hot start going as they close out the weekend invitational tomorrow, Saturday, March 1 against North Iowa Area Community College.

Game time for tomorrow will be decided in the morning, with NIACC either playing VU in a single nine-inning game at 1 p.m. eastern, or NIACC playing Kellogg in a seven-inning game at 1 p.m., followed by VU facing NIACC in a seven-inning game immediately after.

“We’ve got to just continue to compete,” Barney said. “We’ve got to find different ways to win ball games and compete. Play good defense, we got a little sloppy in game two and we were fortunate that they didn’t take advantage of our errors. We’ve just got to continue to compete. JD Bowser (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) will start on the bump for us and we’ve still got a fair amount of guys in the bullpen. So we feel good about where we are at.”

BOX SCORE

GAME ONE

North Iowa Area C.C. – 230   030   0 – 8

VU (6-3) – 704   000   x – 11

VINCENNES HITTING

RBI – Gross 2, Douglas, Andrews, Montgomery, Napier, Fessel. HBP – Napier, Johnson. Sac Fly – Douglas. SB – Andrews 3, Miller 2, Douglas, Gross, McKinney, Edlin.

GAME TWO

Kellogg – 000   000   0 – 0

VU (7-3) – 000   100   x – 1

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Montgomery. RBI – Napier. Sac Fly – Napier.

-30-

The Vincennes University baseball team improves to 7-3 on the season.

USI starts road swing with a split
Screaming Eagles defeat BGSU, falls to SIU

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• USI vs. BGSU Box Score (pdf)
• USI at SIU Box Score (pdf)

Next Game: vs. Bowling Green State University • 3/1/2025 | 4 p.m.

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CARBONDALE, Ill. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball went 1-1 to start the road trip Friday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium in Carbondale, Illinois. The Screaming Eagles started the day with a comeback 8-7 win over Bowling Green State University and completed the afternoon with a 16-12 loss to Southern Illinois University.

USI ends the day 6-3 overall in 2025, while Bowling Green State University goes to 4-3 and Southern Illinois University is 5-3.

USI vs. Bowling Green:
USI junior designated hitter Cole Kitchens hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10^th to cap off an impressive comeback win by the Eagles over BGSU, 8-7. USI rallied from seven runs down after four-and-a-half innings for the victory.

USI started to chip away at the 7-0 deficit with two runs in the fifth, three more in the sixth, one in the eighth, and one in the ninth to tie the game, 7-7. The Eagles got on the board in the fifth on a RBI ground out by senior centerfielder Khi Holiday and a RBI single by junior leftfielder BJ Banyon to make the score 7-2.

The gap continued to shrink to 7-5 in the sixth on a RBI single by junior designated hitter Cole Kitchens and a two-run single by junior shortstop Clayton Slack. Slack would strike again in the bottom of the eighth to close the gap to a single tally, 7-6.

USI junior first baseman Kannon Coakley sent the game into extra innings tied, 7-7, with a RBI double and set the stage for Kitchens in the 10^th.

On the mound, sophomore right-hander Aaron Rubio picked up his first win at USI in relief. Rubio threw a near-perfect 10^th inning, hitting a batter and striking out one, to get the Eagles to the bottom half of the extra frame.

USI relievers shut the door on the Falcons in the five innings of play with no runs or hits, while striking out seven.

USI senior left-hander Mason Sweeney started and got a no-decision. Sweeney allowed two runs on three walks in two-thirds of an inning.

USI vs. SIU:
The Screaming Eagles flew out to a big lead, but the Salukis rallied with 10 runs in the eighth to win 16-12.

USI built a 6-0 lead to get out in front, scoring once in the fourth and five times in the sixth to build a 6-0 advantage. Kitchens had the highlight of the five-run sixth with a two-run double, while Slack had a RBI-single in the rally.

The Salukis would rally in the bottom of the sixth to cut the Eagles’ advantage to one run, 6-5. USI would bounce back with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh to re-extend the lead before SIU got a run back in the bottom half for an 8-6 score with two frames to play.
SIU continued to rally with the 10-run eighth inning to lead 16-8. USI would try to rally in the top of the ninth with four runs, but would fall short 16-12.

On the mound, USI freshman right-hander Marshall Loch took the loss in relief, Loch (0-1) allowed four runs on two hits and two hit batters.

USI junior right-hander Andres Gonzalez started and went five-plus innings for the Eagles. Gonzalez, who did not allow a hit through the first five frames, allowed four runs on two hits and four walks while striking out four.

Up Next for the Eagles:
USI continues to play in Carbondale Saturday when it plays BGSU at 4 p.m. and concludes the weekend with a game versus SIU Sunday at 4 p.m.

Due to ever-changing weather in February and March, USI encourages fans to watch for potential schedule changes on USIScreamingEagles.com, X, and Facebook.

Aces defeat #24 Kentucky on the way to Friday sweep

UE takes down Kentucky and Tennessee Tech on Friday 

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – For the first time since defeating #17 Illinois State in 2007, the University of Evansville softball team defeated a ranked opponent to open the Hilltopper Spring Fling on Friday.  The Purple Aces held on to take a 7-5 win over 24^th-ranked Kentucky to open the weekend before defeating Tennessee Tech in the second game of the day.

Game 1 – UE 7, #24 Kentucky 5

Scoring seven runs in the bottom of the first, the Purple Aces held off a late challenge to defeat 24^th-ranked Kentucky by a final of 7-5

Evansville opened the game with a 7-run bottom of the first.  A pair of walks set up the scoring opportunity for Taylor Howe, who singled down the left field line to bring in the first run of the game.  Niki Bode followed with a sac fly to bring in the second run of the day.  Three 2-out hits saw the lead expand even more.  Kynadee Warner singled to left to bring in Howe while Jenna Donohoo followed with a 2-run double to right center.  Eliza Piggott capped things off with a 2-run home run to make it a 7-0 game.

Kentucky quickly responded with three runs in the top half of the second.  Neither team would record a hit until the top of the 5^th when the Wildcats plated two more runs to cut the deficit to just two.  UK looked to add more in the sixth as they posted a pair of hits before Aces starter Kate Ridgway kept them off the board.

Warner registered her second hit of the day in the bottom of the 6^th, but the deficit remained at two runs heading to the 7^th.  Ridgway retired the Wildcats in order to seal the win.  She tossed the entire game and allowed five runs on five hits while striking out four batters on the way to her third win of the season.  Evansville had five hits on the day with Warner picking up two.

Game 2 – UE 4, Tennessee Tech 0

Elle Jarrett threw a complete game 2-hit shutout to lead the Purple Aces to a 4-0 win over Tennessee Tech to wrap up the day on Friday.  Evansville did not take long to score as Keghan Pye gave her team a 1-0 lead.  Pye reached on a walk and advanced to second on a passed ball.  When Taylor Howe reached on a TTU error, Pye scored from second base.

Tennessee Tech picked up a hit in the first inning but would not pick up another until the 6^th as Jarrett took care of business in the circle.  The lone baserunner for the Golden Eagles between the 2^nd and 5^th reached on an error.

The score remained at 1-0 until the bottom of the 5^th when UE picked up some insurance.  Pye and Jess Willsey both reached on a walk before Morgan Adams acme to the plate and delivered a 3-run home run with two outs to push the lead to four.  From there, Jarrett kept the shutout intact to lead UE to its fifth win in a row and a sweep of the day.

Saturday will see UE face Tennessee Tech and Western Kentucky.

-www.GoPurpleAces.com-

Eagles clipped by Skyhawks, 79-63

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• Box Score (pdf)

Next Game: at Tennessee State University • 3/1/2025 | 3:30 p.m.

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MARTIN, Tenn. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball opened the final road trip of the season with a loss to the University of Tennessee at Martin, 79-63, Thursday evening at the Elam Center. The Screaming Eagles are 10-19 overall and 5-14 in OVC action, while the Skyhawks go to 13-17, 9-10 OVC.

The Eagles found themselves down 10 midway through the first half, 23-13, before rallying to pull to within two, 30-28, on a three-pointer by junior guard Jack Campion with 4:41 to play. Campion has six points during USI’s 15-7 run.

UTM, however, took the momentum back and outscored the USI, 11-5, in the final four minutes to lead, 41-33, at the intermission. Campion reached double-digits during the first half to lead USI in the scoring column.

USI’s halftime deficit grew briefly after halftime, reaching 12 points, 46-34, but the Eagles slowly began to shrink the margin to six points, 51-45, with 13:43 to play. UTM rallied back and pushed the margin to 14 points, 59-45, with an 8-0 dash before the halfway mark of the final half.

The deficit would continue to grow in the final 10 minutes, climbing to 21 points, 79-58, before the Skyhawks closed out the 79-63 final.

USI had four players reach double digits, led by the 15 points of junior guard Jayland Randall. Sophomore forward Stephen Olowoniyi followed with 13 points, while junior guard Ryan Hall and Campion closed out the double-figure scorers with 11 points and 10 points, respectively.

Next Up For USI:
The Eagles conclude the 2024-25 campaign Saturday at Tennessee State University. Tipoff at TSU is 3:30 p.m.

TSU is 15-15 overall and 11-8 in the OVC after defeating Morehead State University, 64-55, tonight. The Tigers are 9-3 in the last 12 games after this weekend.

USI leads the series with TSU, 6-4, after defeating the Tigers, 77-75, at Liberty Arena in December. The Eagles were led in the first meeting by junior guard Damoni Harrison, who had 19 points. Owlowoniyi and Randall followed with 18 points and 15 points, respectively.