EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Tennis (4-13, 0-4 OVC) was swept by Southeast Missouri State University Friday afternoon at the USI Tennis Courts. The Screaming Eagles honored seniors Chloe McIsaac (Fairview Heights, Illinois) and Elizabeth Cluck (Evansville, Indiana) for competing in their final home match at USI.
 
Doubles: The Eagles were blanked in doubles play, losing all three sets.
 
Singles: USI stumbled in singles by dropping numbers one through six in two sets each. Junior Lauren Rowe (Terre Haute, Indiana) pushed the score up at number one, taking her opponent 6-2, 6-4.
 
NEXT UP FOR THE EAGLES:
The Eagles complete the regular season next Saturday, April 15 at 10 a.m. in Nashville, Tennessee against Tennessee State University. This will be the first match between the Tigers and the Eagles.

TSU comes into the match 3-18 and 0-3 in conference play. Saturday’s match will have some implications as the winner could move up to the five seed in the Ohio Valley Conference Championship on April 21.

Southern Illinois takes a 17-1 win

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Southern Illinois scored seven runs in the second inning on their way to a 17-1 victory over the University of Evansville softball team on Friday evening at Tri-State Orthopaedics Field at James and Dorothy Cooper Stadium.

Following a scoreless first inning, the Salukis pounced with seven runs in the second.  SIU recorded four runs and four hits in the frame.

Evansville’s first hit came from the bat of Hannah Hood in the bottom of the second but UE could not get on the board.  Southern Illinois came back with three runs in the third and four in the fourth to extend the lead to 14-0.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Purple Aces pushed their first run across the plate.  Taylor Howe hit a leadoff single and Callie Meinel followed with a walk.  Dori Brown singled to left field to bring in Howe.  It marked Brown’s second career hit.

Three more Salukis runs scored in the fifth push the advantage to 17-1.

Elizabeth Warwick led the Salukis with seven runs batted in.  Emma Austin and Aubree DePron scored four runs apiece.  Evansville tallied four hits.

Tomorrow, the teams resume the series with a 2 p.m. contest.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Golf sophomore Jason Bannister (Laguna, Niguel, California) was named the Ohio Valley Conference Men’s Golfer of the Month for the month of March league officials announced Friday.
 
This is Bannister’s first OVC monthly award and third OVC honor overall. He earned a golfer of the week honor back in the fall as well as one to open the spring season.
 
Bannister played a pivotal role for the Screaming Eagles in their two matches, using a tied second place for second place finish at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate to help USI start the spring with a third-place finish. He also was the highest finisher of any Eagle at the Craft Farms Intercollegiate, with a tied for 17th finish.
 
Bannister’s strong start to the spring after tying a program record for 54-holes by shooting a 211 (-5). He also started the tournament with a career-low 68 in round one, also tying a program record. Bannister helped lead the Eagles ahead of three other OVC schools in the tournament and earned Co-Golfer of the Week honors for his performance.
 
Bannister ended the spring with a 219 (+3) tied for 17th finish. He used a final round two-under par 70 to jump into the top-20 and was the second highest finisher of any OVC participant in the field.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The visiting Valparaiso University baseball team scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning on Friday night to snap a 1-1 tie, and the Beacons never looked back, as Valparaiso took the Missouri Valley Conference series-opener from the University of Evansville Purple Aces, 6-1, at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.

Evansville jumped to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning on a single by graduate outfielder Eric Roberts and an RBI double by fifth-year first baseman Chase Hug.  But, UE would not put another runner into scoring position until the eighth inning, and by that point, Valparaiso had a 3-1 lead.

The Beacons tied the game at 1-1 in the second inning without the use of a base hit, as Valpo took advantage of uncharacteristic wildness from UE starter Nick Smith.  Smith issued two walks and a hit batter in the inning.  He entered the night with just seven walks in 33.2 innings of work on the season.

The game would remain tied at 1-1 though until the sixth inning, when Valparaiso scored two runs off UE reliever Shane Harris (2-2).  After a one-out walk and single put two Beacons on base, catcher Kade Reinertson doubled down the right-field line to give the Beacons a 2-1 lead.  Then, third baseman Alex Thurston followed with a perfectly-executed suicide squeeze bunt to move the lead to 3-1.

UE would put two men on in the eighth inning on a pair of walks, but reliever Grant Jablonski got a ground out by UE junior shortstop Simon Scherry to get out of the jam.  Then, after Valparaiso added to the lead with back-to-back home runs by second baseman Nolan Tucker and outfielder Kyle Schmack in the top of the ninth inning, Jablonski struck out the side in order to earn his first save of the year and make a winner out of Valpo starter Griffin McCluskey (2-4).  McCluskey was dominant, holding Evansville to just the first-inning run on four base hits, while striking out six.  He did not allow a runner past first base after the first inning in 7.1 innings of work.

With the victory, Valparaiso improves to 10-12 overall and 2-5 in the MVC.  Evansville, meanwhile, falls to 17-12 overall and 3-4 in the MVC.  The two teams will continue the series on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.  UE LHP Tyler Denu (2-1, 4.22 ERA) is expected to be opposed by Valparaiso RHP Nathan Chasey (0-0, 1.90 ERA).  Saturday’s game can be heard live in the Tri-State area on 107.1 FM-WJPS and the Old National Bank/Purple Aces Sports Network from Learfield.

Aces face Salukis Friday through Sunday

 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Another home series is on tap for the Purple Aces with Southern Illinois coming to Tri-State Orthpopaedics Field at James and Dorothy Cooper Stadium this weekend.  Friday’s opener is set for a 5 p.m. start time with Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. and Sunday’s finale starting at 12 p.m..  ESPN3 and ESPN+ will have coverage of the three games.

 Looking at the Match-up

– Since 2017, the Salukis have had the upper hand in the series, going 13-2 against the Purple Aces

– Evansville’s last series win came in 2016 when UE took both games in Carbondale before SIU grabbed a single 3-2 win in nine innings

 Last Time Out

– Evansville split its four MVC games over the last week with a series win over Belmont before an extra inning loss at Indiana State

– The Aces opened the series versus the Bruins last weekend with a 3-2 win as Zoe Frossard picked up the game-winning hit in the 11th inning

– After dropping a 6-5 decision in game two, UE responded with a 3-1 win in the finale to clinch the weekend series

– On Tuesday at Indiana State, Jess Willsey gave UE a 2-1 lead in the 9th before the Sycamores hit a walk-off 2-run home run to win by a 3-2 final

Getting back on Track

– Marah Wood enters this weekend on a 6-game hit streak that has seen her average rise from .195 to .236

– The recent streak has seen her record nine hits in 23 at-bats

– In the April 1 opener against Belmont, she went 3-4 with two RBI and two doubles while adding a walk, run and steal

– She followed that up with her second home run of the season and two more RBI in the second game of the series

Starters Excelling in the Circle

– Over the last 13 games, the starting pitching for the Purple Aces has been outstanding

– As a whole, the starters have tossed a total of 49 2/3 innings while allowing just 15 earned runs over that time

– That translates to a 2.11 ERA

Finding her Rhythm

– Sophomore Sydney Weatherford is on an absolute roll in the circle

– Over her last 30 1/3 innings of work, Weatherford has allowed just five earned runs while lowering her season ERA to 2.92

– Her ERA is 14th in the MVC

– After allowing five runs in 2/3 inning against Indiana on March 11, her ERA rose to 5.33