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USI tallies three home runs Friday but falls short against Samford and Belmont

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USI tallies three home runs Friday but falls short against Samford and Belmont

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – University of Southern Indiana Softball opened the University of Alabama Birmingham Green and Gold Classic with a pair of setbacks Friday, coming up short against Samford University, 4-0, and Belmont University, 8-4.

Southern Indiana (1-6) was tested quickly in the day’s first contest against Samford (7-3). The Bulldogs took advantage of two walks and two hits by the first four batters of the game to score the first three runs in the top of the first inning. Senior pitcher Josie Newman then locked things down by retiring the next three Bulldogs to end the inning. USI could not respond in the bottom of the first, despite three players reaching base in the frame. However, the game would settle down following an eventful first inning.

With two strikeouts in the first inning, Newman recorded seven more through the fourth inning while posting zeroes on the scoreboard. Samford looked to add on in the fourth inning, but Newman slammed the door on a two-out bases-loaded situation with a strikeout.

Offensively, USI registered a hit in each of the first three innings, but the bats would be held in check the rest of the game. Samford tacked on an additional run on a home run in the sixth inning to take a 4-0 lead.

Newman (1-3) tossed six innings with nine strikeouts and four runs allowed before handing off to senior pitcher Whitley Hunter to pitch the seventh inning.

Samford’s four runs came off six hits, and junior pitcher Olivia Trout (1-0) picked up the win with four shutout innings of work before handing off to the Bulldogs’ relief staff.

In the second game of the afternoon against Belmont (6-5), USI faced another early deficit. The Bruins crossed home plate twice on a pair of RBI singles to go up 2-0.

Just like the opener against Samford, Southern Indiana got a hit in the first couple of innings but could answer Belmont’s two-run first. However, the Screaming Eagles got their offensive breakthrough in the top of the third inning when sophomore infielder Sydney Long led off with a solo home run to make it a 2-1 ballgame. The home run was the first of the season for Long and USI.

Following the USI momentum shift, Belmont responded in the bottom of the third with another two-run frame to go ahead by three, 4-1. The Eagles got one back in the top of the fourth on freshman catcher Jordan Mackey‘s first career home run to cut the deficit in half, 4-2.

The Bruins continued to find offensive success, scoring four runs over the next two offensive innings to increase their advantage to 8-2.

The Screaming Eagles made one last push at a rally in the top of the seventh inning, not going down without a fight. With two outs on the board and a runner at first, Long connected for a two-run home run to bring USI within four, 8-4. It was Long’s second of the game and USI’s third long ball in the contest. However, USI could not sustain the late push as Belmont recorded the final out.

USI posted four runs on six hits. Long and Mackey each finished with a two-hit game. Both players’ hits went for extra bases, as Mackey’s other hit was a double. Long totaled three RBIs in the game.

In the pitching circle, freshman pitcher Kylie Witthaus (0-2) started the first three frames with a strikeout and four runs allowed. Hunter pitched in relief again, hurling the last three innings with three strikeouts and four runs – three earned – surrendered.

Belmont had its eight runs come on 10 hits. Senior pitcher Rayna Cruickshanks (3-1) was credited with the win for the Bruins after starting the first four innings with three strikeouts and two runs allowed before Belmont turned to relief for the final three innings.

The Screaming Eagles will conclude their visit to Birmingham, Alabama on Saturday with another set of games at the UAB Green and Gold Classic. USI begins the day early at 9:30 a.m. against Purdue University for Southern Indiana’s first test against a Big Ten Conference school. The Eagles wrap up the trip right after with a game against tournament host UAB at Noon, which can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+. Links for live stats coverage are available at usiscreamingeagles.com.

Aces track and field to compete at the John Gartland Invitational

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Aces track and field to compete at the John Gartland Invitational
The Purple Aces compete in their last indoor meet before the postseason
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The University of Evansville track and field team heads to a Missouri Valley Conference home track before the MVC Indoor Championships.
After a weekend with only their top performers competing, the Purple Aces full track and field team returns to action on Saturday morning. UE is part of the John Gartland Invitational hosted by the Indiana State Sycamores, returning to the meet hosted by a Valley competitor after four seasons away. Evansville has attended some of the other indoor meets the Sycamores host over the past four seasons including the Blue-White Classic and the Indiana State Open.

The field for the John Gartland Invitational is made up of 14 different teams including three other Division I teams. Indiana State is the only other MVC team participating in the meet a week before the MVC Indoor Championships in Chicago. But the Aces will see some familiar faces on Saturday including Saint Louis, UIndy, Hanover, Marian (Ind.), and Vincennes, who all competed in other meets with UE. Evansville will also compete against Division I Northern Illinois, Anderson (Ind.), Berea, Brescia, UHSP, Rose-Hulman, and Wabash.

Last week the Aces only had 12 athletes compete at the Indoor Music City Challenge hosted by the Vanderbilt Commodores. Sophomore sprinter Taylor Johnson (Evansville, Ind. / Reitz HS) and sophomore distance runner Rafael Rodriguez (Sergovia, Spain) set two new program records among the nation’s best last week in the women’s 200-meter dash and the men’s mile. Rodriguez broke his program record from the previous indoor season by just under five seconds running the mile in 4:08.87 and Johnson broke her record from earlier in the season at Indiana by completing the race in 25.20 seconds, eight-hundredths of a second faster than her previous record. UE had three other runners set PRs in Nashville as well.

Evansville’s day in Terre Haute on Saturday will begin at 11 a.m. with the men’s high jump and the men’s weight throw. The Aces track events will begin at 12:10 p.m. with the 60-meter prelims starting with the 60-meter hurdles. Fans can follow along with UE track and field at the John Gartland Invitational through Midwest Timing live results.

USI starts homestand with 63-54 loss

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USI starts homestand with 63-54 loss

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball started the final homestand of the season with a 63-54 loss to Eastern Illinois University Thursday evening at Liberty Arena. The Screaming Eagles are 9-18 overall and 4-13 in OVC action, while the Panthers go to 9-18, 5-11 OVC.

After grabbing a 4-0 lead to start the game, USI had to battle from behind for most of the first half and fought back to within three at the break, 30-27. The Eagles trailed by as many as nine points (16-7) before using a 20-14 surge in the final 10 minutes of the half.

USI was three-of-nine for the first 10 minutes of the game before getting in gear offensively. The Eagles were eight-of-20 for the remainder of the half with sophomore forward Stephen Olowoniyi and junior guard Damoni Harrison leading the charge with six points and five points, respectively.

Olowoniyi and Harrison would tie for the team lead after the first 20 minutes with eight points each.

The Eagles continued to close the gap, pulling to within one point, 42-41, with 12:24 on a lay-in by Harrison. The Panthers would maintain the lead despite the pressure by the Eagles, who would close the gap to one point one more time at 52-51 with 4:02 to play.

USI would misfire on the next six trips down the floor as EIU pulled away to a 60-51 lead.  The Eagles would get one more three-pointer before the buzzer sounded on the 63-54 final.

In the final box score, Harrison and Olowoniyi led the way for the Eagles with 20 points and 16 points, respectively. Harrison was seven-of-14 from the field, including three three-point field goals and three free throws, while Olowoniyi was six-of-seven from the field and four-of-four from the stripe.

Next Up For USI:
The Eagles conclude the 2024-25 home schedule at Liberty Arena when they host Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Saturday. Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. tipoff is Senior Night, Fan Appreciation Night, and Ascension St. Vincent Night at Liberty Arena.

The first 500 fans will receive a free fan appreciation t-shirt.

USI will celebrate Senior Night Saturday before the game with SIUE, recognizing graduate forward Nick Hittle, graduate guard Sam Mervis, and graduate forward Jack Mielke.

SIUE is 18-9 and 11-5 OVC after winning at Morehead State University, 80-62, this evening. The Cougars are five of their last six and 11 of the last 14.

The Eagles lead the all-time series, 46-24, despite falling to the Cougars in January, 82-76, in Edwardsvilles. USI, which trails SIUE, 4-2, since moving to Division I, was led in the loss by Harrison, who posted a team-high 15 points. Junior guard Sam Kodi and Olowoniyi followed with 12 points and 11 points, respectively, while Randall and junior guard Braxton Jones rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points each.

Screaming Eagles tame Panthers to open homestand

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Screaming Eagles tame Panthers to open homestand

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball opened its final regular-season homestand Thursday night with a convincing 66-46 victory against Eastern Illinois University inside Liberty Arena, home of the Screaming Eagles.

Strong post play and team defense highlighted USI’s path to its win on Thursday, which featured the Screaming Eagles’ defense holding the Panthers to single digits in two quarters of play. With the win, Southern Indiana (19-9, 11-6 OVC) moved up into a tie for fourth place in the Ohio Valley Conference alongside the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Meanwhile, Eastern Illinois (16-10, 13-4 OVC) remained in the third position, only two games ahead of USI and Little Rock.

On Thursday, Southern Indiana jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead 2:30 into the contest, which included a pair of threes from graduate forward Meredith Raley and junior guard Ali Saunders. Eastern Illinois was forced to take an immediate timeout. The Screaming Eagles’ lead grew to 10, 16-6, by the 3:15 mark of the first quarter after a layup by Raley. Saunders nailed her second triple of the game to push USI ahead 20-9 through the opening quarter.

The second period was more evenly contested. After a three-minute dry spell for USI in the first portion of the second, back-to-back baskets by graduate forward Madi Webb increased Southern Indiana’s to 14, 26-12. Later in the quarter, Eastern Illinois closed in a little with two unanswered makes, but a three by sophomore guard Triniti Ralston halted any significant run from mounting. The Panthers scored twice in the 90 seconds of the first half, as USI carried a 32-21 lead into halftime.

The USI advantage remained around 11 in the early going of the second half. Senior guard Vanessa Shafford canned a pair of threes near the seven-minute mark of the third quarter to reach double figures for the game and place the Eagles in front by 14, 42-28. The two sides exchanged buckets down the stretch of the third period. Eastern Illinois cut USI’s lead down to single digits by the end of the third, 51-42.

Southern Indiana controlled the fourth frame to pull away, orchestrating an 11-0 run over the first six and a half minutes of the quarter. Shafford scored five points during the run, while Raley added a couple of layups to also reach double digits in the game. By the end of the scoring run, the Screaming Eagles led by 20, 62-42. The scoring differential stayed at 20 by the final buzzer.

Southern Indiana shot an efficient 47.3 percent (26-55) from the floor and nearly 39 percent (7-18) from beyond the arc. USI went 7-10 at the foul line. The Eagles dominated the glass, 40-25, over the Panthers. Shafford led all scorers with 18 points on 7-11 shooting and 3-6 from three with seven rebounds. Raley tallied 11 points and six boards. Webb also finished in double figures with 10 points.

Eastern Illinois shot for under 37 percent (18-49) overall and was limited to 1-17 for six percent from three-point range. The Panthers were 9-14 for 64.3 percent at the free-throw stripe. Eight Panthers scored in the contest but all were held to single digits.

The Screaming Eagles close out the regular-season home schedule Saturday at 5 p.m. against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Saturday is Senior Night, as USI Women’s Basketball will celebrate its senior class. Guards Lexie Green and Vanessa Shafford will be recognized alongside forwards Madi Webb, Lauren Carie, and Meredith Raley. Additionally, Saturday is Fan Appreciation Night, presented by Ascension. Fans should wear red to red out Liberty Arena, home of the Screaming Eagles, and arrive early for a free t-shirt giveaway to the first 500 fans.

Vanderburgh County Arrest Warrants

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Vanderburgh County Arrest Warrants

Vanderburgh County Recent Booking Records

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Booked Last 24 Hours-Public

Crossover week at the Indiana Statehouse signals the end for many bills

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Staffers prepare for a session to start in the Indiana Senate Chamber. Staff photo, TheStatehouseFile.com.

By Chloe White, TheStatehouseFile.com 

Yesterday (Thursday, 2/19) was the crossover deadline for bills to be passed in their respective houses and sent to the other chamber for consideration. Legislators spent the week under pressure to sift through legislation, determining which bills would move forward and which would be shelved until next year.

According to StateScape, “a ‘crossover’ deadline is the last day for a bill to pass out of the chamber in which it was introduced and move forward for consideration in the opposite chamber.” Any bills that had not received their third reading before Thursday were dismissed for this session but will be eligible to be submitted again in 2026.

Aaron Dusso, associate professor of political science at Indiana University Indianapolis, shared his insights on crossover week and its purpose in an interview with TheStatehouseFile.com.

“The purpose of it is to keep some order in the process and not have any late-arriving bills that can be given enough time to consider beforehand.

“Every year, every session, whether it’s the long or short, there’s always certain bills that are thought to be more important ones,” said Dusso, pointing to issues like abortion and marijuana as key examples.

Many bills have been stagnant since the beginning of the session—unsurprisingly, as there were over 2,000 bills written by Indiana lawmakers.

Laura Wilson, a political science professor at the University of Indianapolis, discussed the process of bills passing through committee.

“The committee chairs have a large say in terms of what we’re going to hear and the order in which we’re going to hear it. They are able to prioritize what they think is most important,” said Wilson.

Additionally, she spoke of the misconceptions many people might have about the legislative process.

“There will be bills that never make it to committee, and there’s some that get there and that’s as far as they go,” she said.

“The national average is that legislators across state legislatures author between 12 and 14 bills a legislative session, and there’s no way that legislation could be thoughtfully deliberated, edited and then passed into law. The reality is, most bills don’t become laws, counter to what we might assume to be true, and in fact, the ones that do are rare.”

Chloe White is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

Young & Established Awarded $10,125 from 100 Guys Who Care

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100 Guys Who Care—Evansville continued its philanthropic mission this week when it donated $10,125 to Young & Established. Courtney Johnson, who received the donation, said, “Your donation will be instrumental in helping us complete Granddaddy’s Garden Spot and continue serving our community through programs addressing food insecurity.”

Each quarter, the group selects three non-profits to present to. The members donate $100 each, and the entire pot of those donations is awarded to the charity selected at the meeting.

Over $1.3 million awarded to Indiana soil conservation districts and organizations

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Over $1.3 million awarded to Indiana soil conservation
districts and organizations

INDIANAPOLIS (Feb. 20, 2025) –  The Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) and the Indiana State Soil Conservation Board(SSCB) announced today that 16 soil and water conservation districts and one organization were awarded over $1.3 million in Clean Water Indiana competitive grant funding. This funding will support water quality improvements across the state.

“This funding is critical for our local soil and water conservation districts to assist farmers with bettering their water quality initiatives,” said Lt. Gov. Beckwith, Indiana’s Secretary of Agriculture. “This program touches every corner of the state and the improvements made will go a long way in ensuring Indiana remains a leader in soil conservation.”

The Clean Water Indiana program is administered by the state’s soil conservation board. The program, led by the ISDA, provides financial assistance to landowners and conservation groups that are working to reduce runoff from non-point sources of water pollution, whether it’s on agricultural land, urban areas or eroding streambanks.

Once received, districts can use the funds to partner with other counties or address specific needs within their jurisdiction. Some examples include participating in a cost-share program, hiring staff, providing technical assistance, implementing cover crop incentive programs or increasing watershed capacity.

Clean Water Indiana (CWI) is managed by ISDA’s Division of Soil Conservation and funded by a portion of the state’s cigarette tax. Projects can be up to three years in length and grantees could apply for any dollar amount that was necessary to complete the project. In addition to CWI funds, each grantee is required to produce a match for their project, which can be cash or in-kind. Projects requesting staffing were required to have a 25% match for that component, while all other project areas required a 50% match. Many Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) will target producers not currently served by other conservation programs.

Below is the list of awardees, their project titles and overviews. $1,382,571 was awarded to 17 projects.

Delaware County SWCD – $3,000

This project will control invasive species in priority areas along the Cardinal Greenways.

Delaware County SWCD – $125,000

The funds will be used for staffing and support for the Delaware County Soil and Water Conservation District to hire a Conservation Resource Technician.

Greene County SWCD – $15,500

The Greene County SWCD will utilize this funding to purchase a no-till drill to assist landowners in implementing increased soil health, water quality and soil water holding capacity on properties located in Greene County. Landowners can utilize the drill to plant cover crops, assist in establishing new pastures, inter-seeding for pasture improvement, plant native grass for prairie establishment and plantings for pollinator habitats.

Jefferson County SWCD- $130,000

The project will promote soil health on pasture and hay land and improve water quality. Conservation practices will be installed that help improve forage and biomass quality, reduce soil erosion and compaction, reduce excessive nutrients and sediments in surface and ground waters and improve inadequate feed, forage and water.  The funds will also promote and incentivize the use of cover crops.

Jefferson County SWCD – $30,650

The project funds will be used to purchase the Jefferson County SWCD a no-till drill to assist landowners in improving the quality of their soil and water resources.

Jennings County SWCD- $50,000

The Jennings County SWCD and the Ripley County SWCD will provide cost-share to private landowners within Jennings and Ripley counties to start or continue cover crop, forage and biomass planting, and installation of heavy use area protection practices.

Kosciusko County SWCD- $52,721

This funding will allow the district to undertake a large-scale soil health focused education event across the next 3 years (2025-2027) in addition to providing free soil samples to local producers.  Led by the county-funded Soil Health Specialist, these events are structured as interactive meetings. They are designed to provide a roadmap for collaborative exploration into soil health, the soil food web, ecological risk of pest management strategies, and developing long-term solutions for regenerative ag systems.

Madison County SWCD – $120,000

The grant funds will hire a full-time Urban Conservationist for a three-year time frame from Jan. 2025 through Dec. 2027 for the Madison County SWCD. This funding would provide the necessary means to empower Madison County SWCD to build district capacity and engage in conservation partnership efforts. Additionally, the funds will assist in developing an accountable case with empirical information and numbers to provide to the Madison County Council and Madison County Commissioners in an effort to obtain a permanent county funded full-time position.

Marion County SWCD- $100,000

The funds will leverage Marion County SWCD’s federal Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grant to further the reach of their soil health program to ensure Indiana conservation planners beyond Marion County have the training and tools necessary to assist small farm practice implementation. These and other future training will help market Indiana’s unique conservation tools nationally, and are striving to enter into a future multi-year agreement with NRCS to provide long term sustainability for the program beyond the timeframe of the proposed CWI grant

CWI 2025, paired with SARE, will allow the SWCD to deliver a high-quality program that addresses the needs of the district in delivering assistance to urban and small farms.

Morgan County SWCD – $60,000

Morgan County SWCD will utilize the funds to purchase a new seed drill. The funds will also be used to promote the use of the drill through a cost-share program, “Seeding for Soil Health”, for cover crops and native habitats that would benefit soil health and water quality in Morgan County.

Orange County SWCD – $125,000

The Clean Water Indiana funds will be used for cost-share program to increase conservation efforts and improve local water quality and soil health. The project, “Cultivating Clean Water, One Practice at a Time”, will allow and encourage local producers to expand on soil health and decrease nonpoint source pollutants entering waterways by reducing livestock run-off, stabilizing high-traffic livestock areas and increasing living cover within the project area.

Posey County SWCD- $84,000

Posey, Vanderburgh, Warrick and Gibson Counties will continue to work together to encourage producers to plant cover crops addressing our local concerns of soil health and water quality. The partnering districts will add 4000 acres of cover crops.  Special emphasis will be placed on education, highly erodible land (HEL), and farmers new to our cost-share program. The district cash-match will pay $5/acre to farmers new to our program, $5/acre for diversified seed mixes of three plus, incentives for planting green by offering an additional $5/acre and up to $250 for perches or nesting boxes for raptors to assist with rodent control.

Spencer County SWCD – $20,000

This project aims to reduce sediment and nutrient runoff in the pastures of Spencer County through promoting exclusionary livestock fencing for water quality, and prescribed grazing and rotational grazing for soil health and other pasture best management practices like cover crops.

The Nature Conservancy- $82,500

Announced by ISDA on Jan. 2, 2025, this project will incentivize farmers to utilize cover crops by reducing crop insurance premiums on 35,000 acres across 50 counties.  The project will provide eligible participants with a $5/acre premium discount on the following year’s crop insurance invoice for every acre of cover crop enrolled and verified in the program.

Washington County SWCD- $224,200

Crawford, Harrison, Jackson, and Washington counties will offer Clean Water Indiana funded cost-share opportunities to land users alongside educational opportunities and technical assistance protect soil health and water quality by reducing nutrient, sediment and pathogen runoff into surface & ground water.

This project provides financial and technical assistance for livestock, crop, and wildlife best management practices. Best management practices reduce sediment, nutrients and pathogens reaching waterways in runoff and limiting livestock access. Planting practices filter pollutants, increase biodiversity, decrease soil compaction, restore soil structure and provide continuous root systems which increase soil infiltration.

Wayne County SWCD – $75,000

The Wayne County SWCD will educate on the numerous soil health benefits of planting cover crops and the need for healthy, abundant pollinators by establishing pollinator habitats. The goal of the program, “Cover It, Wayne County”, is to establish at least 20 new acres of pollinator plantings and an anticipated 2,300 acres in cover crops.

Wells County SWCD – $85,000

Wells and Huntington County SWCDs are partnering on a cost-share program for managing and removing invasive species and for seeding cover crops. The program will be open to private landowners, city, county and community parks. The goal of the program is to help educate citizens in the need to manage invasive species.

Swonder Ice Arena Hosts ACHA Tournament

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Collegiate hockey returns to Evansville today, as the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division 2 Southeast Regional comes to Swonder Ice Arena.
Games begin at 12:30 p.m. CST on Friday.

Teams from all over the Southeastern and Midwestern United States, including Indiana University, the University of Louisville, and the University of Kentucky, will play in the single-elimination tournament, which runs from tomorrow through Sunday (February 23). The winner punches their ticket to the ACHA Division 2 Nationals, which will be held March 14-18 in St. Louis, MO.

Admission to the tournament is open to the public, with tickets on sale at the door for $15 per day.

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