WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Evansville Otters could not find enough offense Tuesday night, dropping the series opener 10-5 against the Washington Wild Things, 10-5.

The Wild Things grabbed an early lead, scoring a pair of runs in the first on an error and RBI double from Andrew Czech.

Evansville struck back in the second, grabbing their first run on a Miles Gordon RBI triple.

Washington wasted no time regaining a two-run lead as a sacrifice fly RBI from Tyler Wilbur advanced the lead to 3-1.

The Wild Things opened up their lead with another RBI double from Czech, this one for two runs. Later in the inning, Hector Roa grabbed an RBI of his own with an RBI single, expanding the lead to 6-1.

From there, the two sides exchanged strong defensive innings until Washington struck again in the sixth.

Following a pair of singles and a walk, a grand slam from Tristan Peterson put the game away for good.

The 10-1 lead held into the eighth when Evansville’s comeback attempt made one final push.

After a pair of base hits opened the inning, Elijah MacNamee drove in the Otters’ second run of the day with an RBI single. Zach Biermann backed up the single with another RBI, his on a fielder’s choice.

Later in the inning, Evansville grabbed two more runs on back-to-back RBI singles from Dakota Phillips and Jeffrey Baez.

The comeback try ended short, Evansville dropping the series opener 10-5. The win gave Washington the West Division Championships, forcing the Otters to now focus on the 2nd place positioning.

Evansville’s loss was their first series-opening loss since August 16 against Windy City.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Soccer freshman midfielder Peyton Murphy (Bargersville, Indiana) has been named the Ohio Valley Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week. The OVC’s weekly accolades are voted upon by the league’s communications directors.
 
In earning the honor, Murphy collected three goals, one assist, seven points, and four shots on goal in the Screaming Eagles’ two matches last week against Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Northern Illinois.
 
All three of Murphy’s goals came in USI’s home opener against Rose-Hulman, her first career hat trick. She has four goals in 2022, which is good for first in the OVC.
 
Murphy’s assist, her first of the season, led to USI’s goal at Northern Illinois which was scored by senior forward Taylor Hall (Grayson, Kentucky). The assist pushed Murphy’s season points total to nine, first in the OVC.
 
In the two matches last week, Murphy placed four of five shots on goal. She has now put a shot on target in three straight contests, the team’s second-best active streak. Her shooting numbers are top five in the OVC.
 
Murphy and Southern Indiana (2-1-1) will next travel south to take on the North Alabama Lions Thursday for a 7 p.m. match before hosting IUPUI next Monday for a 1 p.m. start on Labor Day from Strassweg Field. Thursday’s road match will be available for live video coverage with an ESPN+ subscription 

NORMAL, Ill. – Vincennes University sophomore Paxton Schwomeyer (Oakland City, Ind.) came away with a top-10 finish Monday afternoon as the Trailblazers began their Fall 2022 Golf season at the Heartland Invitational at Weibring Golf Course in Normal, Ill.

Schwomeyer ended his day with a first round 78 and a final round 74 in the one-day 36-hole tournament, which left him in a tie for ninth place on the leaderboard.

Sophomore Luke VanDeventer (Columbus, Ind.) was the next lowest VU scorer, shooting a first round 79 and a final round 80 for a tie for 23rd.

Freshman Nate Olsen (Greenwood, Ind.) had the largest improvement on the day for the Blazers, beginning his collegiate career with a first round 83 before ending his day with a final round 78 to jump up five spots on the leaderboard to finish in a tie for 29th.

Freshman Preston Broce (Indianapolis, Ind.) and sophomore Sam Stewart (Floyds Knobs, Ind.) finished even on the leaderboard, with Broce shooting 84 in the first round and an 82 in the second and Stewart finishing with an 81 opening round and an 85 to close the day.

Freshman Aaron Brink (Nashville, Ill.) rounded out the VU golfers Monday shooting an 85 in the first round of the day, before following up with an 83.

VU as a team did improve on their first round score, but still dropped on the leaderboard, with the Trailblazers posting a first round 327 and a final round 323, good for sixth place.

“One positive from the tournament was Paxton finishing in the top ten,” VU Hall of Fame Golf Coach Dennis Chattin said. “He battled and improved four shots from the first to the second round.”

“The field improved from the first to the second round in my opinion, not only from seeing the course and getting more comfortable on it, but also the wind died down considerably for the second round,” Chattin added. “Paxton shot a two under 33 on the back side in the second round, which is great.”

“However, as a team, I was pretty disappointed in our play,” Chattin said. “This was the worst round we had as a team since school started in the fall. We may have had some freshman jitters with three of the top five being freshmen, but that’s not much of an excuse. These guys have played a lot of tournament golf by the time they get here, so it shouldn’t have been that much different. I just know we are a much better team than we displayed.”

The Trailblazers will look to improve their next time out when VU travels to Rend Lake Golf Course Tuesday, Sept. 6 to take part in the Rend Lake Fall Preview in Ina, Ill.