CARBONDALE, Ill.—University of Evansville sophomore Alon Baer (Gesher Haziv, Israel) made history on Friday, as he not only broke UE’s school record in the 100-yard Breaststroke event, but he also achieved an NCAA ‘B Cut’ in the event at the 2022 Mid-American Conference Championships in Carbondale, Illinois.

Baer finished second in the event – one of two second-place finishes on the night for the Purple Aces – with a school-record time of 54.11.  He had previously lowered the school record by 1.49 seconds in the 100 Breaststroke in the preliminary round early in the day.  The time of 54.11 was faster than the NCAA’s “B Cut” time of 54.27 for the NCAA Championships.  Baer is believed to be the first male swimmer in UE’s Division I history to achieve an NCAA Championship standard time.

“What an incredible night!” said UE head swimming coach Stuart Wilson.  “Two all-conference swims by Alon and Daniel, three team records, the first-time ever to have a male swimmer get an NCAA ‘B Cut’ in program history, and the relay swim to finish off the night…I couldn’t be prouder!

“Let’s keep it going tomorrow!”

Baer was not the only Purple Ace who broke a record and earned a podium finish on Friday night, as freshman Daniel Santos Lopez (Madrid, Spain) finished second in the 100-yard Butterfly with a school-record time of 48.29.  For Santos Lopez, it marked the third consecutive day in which he has either tied or broken a school record at the MAC Championships, as he helped lower the school record in the 200-yard Medley Relay on Thursday (alongside Baer), while tying the school mark in the 50-yard Freestyle on Thursday.

The duo also teamed with junior Riccardo Di Domenico (Johannesburg, South Africa) and freshman Patrik Vilbergsson (Kopavogur, Iceland) at the end of the meet to smash the school record in the 400-yard Medley Relay by over four seconds.  Evansville was edged out for third place by just 0.03 seconds, but still posted a time of 3:15.19 to break the previous school mark of 3:19.96.

Di Domenico also joined Santos Lopez in the scoring in the ‘A Final’ of the 100-yard Butterfly, as he placed sixth in the conference with a time of 48.63.  Meanwhile, freshman Carlos Souto Vilas (A Coruna, Spain) placed seventh overall in the MAC in the 100-yard Breaststroke with a time of 55.30.

The MAC Championships will conclude on Saturday, with both preliminary and finals swims in the 100-yard Freestyle, 200-yard Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly, the 1,650-yard Freestyle, and the 400-yard Freestyle Relay.  Preliminary round swims will begin at 10:30 a.m., with the finals beginning at 6:30 p.m.

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Trailblazer baseball team hosted a pair of Top-10-ranked teams at Jerry Blemker Field Friday afternoon for the first of a two-day series between the three teams.

Vincennes fell in the first game of the day to NJCAA Division-I No. 7 Wabash Valley 16-0 in five innings and fell 16-7 to NJCAA Division-II No. 6-ranked Kellogg Community College in the afternoon game.

Wabash Valley wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in the first game of the day, as the leadoff hitter got on base with a single and came around to score on a fielding error later in the inning, giving the Warriors a 1-0 lead.

The Warriors did most of their damage in the middle innings of the game however, scoring five runs in the second, six runs in the third and four runs in the fourth to take a commanding 16-0 lead heading into the fifth.

Vincennes had a tough time getting baserunners against Wabash Valley’s starting pitching with sophomore Peyton Lane (New Paris, Ohio) being the only VU batter to reach base through the four innings on a fielding error and a hit by pitch.

VU’s first hit of the game came in the bottom of the fifth with a leadoff single by freshman Kaden Elliott (New Albany, Ind.).

The Trailblazers were unable to bring this runner around to score however as the game ended after five innings with the final score of 16-0.

Sophomore Kestler Harbuck (Brooksville, Fla.) took the mound in the first game of the day and threw 2.1 innings, giving up 10 runs on seven hits and striking out two.

Sophomore Ryan Bartley (Tuscola, Ill.) pitched 0.2 innings in relief, giving up five runs on two hits and striking out one.

Sophomore Camden Greer (Boonville, Ind.) pitched in the fourth inning, giving up one run on one hit and striking out one.

Freshman Cauy Motsinger (Salem, Ind.) took the mound in the fifth to and gave up one hit and struck out the final two batters he faced.

Vincennes looked to shake off this tough start to the day when facing No. 6 Kellogg CC in the final game of the day Friday.

The Bruins were the first team on the board, scoring in the first after a leadoff double came around to give Kellogg an early 1-0 lead.

Vincennes answered back in the bottom of the first to even the score after sophomore Colin Long (Evansville, Ind.) scored after reaching base by an error.

Kellogg regained the lead with a run in the second and looked to gain full control of the game with a massive, nine-run inning in the fourth to take an 11-1 lead.

The Trailblazers would chip away at the big lead with a leadoff single by freshman Colton Evans (Henderson, Ky.), followed by a two-run home run by sophomore Conner VanLannen (Clinton, Ind.).

Vincennes would add two more runs in the fifth before Kellogg would plate three runs in the sixth to grow their lead back to 15-5.

Needing a run to extend the game, VanLannen hit a two out RBI double to drive home Colin Long to extend the game to the seventh inning.

“Conner has been doing well all year at the plate,” VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. “He’s had some bad luck, but he’s been hitting the ball hard and today he got a few to fall in. Obviously it’s hard to catch it when he hits it over the fence but he also did a good job of hitting a double down the line later to get another RBI.”

“He’s been doing it all year for us and hopefully he can step up on the mound tomorrow in game one against Kellogg,” Barney added.

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball bowed out of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament with a 90-68 loss to University of Missouri-St. Louis in the semifinals Friday evenings at First Community Arena in Edwardsville, Illinois. USI, the fifth seed, finishes the season 18-8 overall, while UMSL, the fourth seed, advances with a 22-6.
 
The Screaming Eagles went toe to toe with the Tritons for the first 10 minutes of the contest and was even with UMSL at 19-19 at 10:21 of the first half. UMSL created some distance between itself and the Eagles in the final 10, outscoring USI, 24-13, to lead at the break 43-32.
 
The Tritons exploded out of the locker room to start the second half and extend their lead to as many as 20 points, 54-34, with 16:05 remaining. USI would try to claw back into the game, reducing the margin to 16 points several times, but that would be as close they would come the rest of the game.
 
Junior guard Jelani Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) led the Eagles with a season-high 23 points, while junior forward Jacob Polakovich (Grand Rapids, Michigan) and senior guard Clayton Hughes (Jackson, Tennessee) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points each.
 
 

UE defeats Oakland and Green Bay

 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Opening day at Cooper Stadium saw the University of Evansville softball team pick up a pair of victories, defeating Oakland by a 9-1 final before hanging on to defeat Green Bay, 6-4.

 

Game One – UE 9, Oakland 1

Alexa Davis hit her first home run of the season to highlight a 9-1 win over Oakland on Friday morning.  She had four RBI and scored twice.  Jenna Nink also added a pair of scores in the 5-inning win.

Things got off to a fast start for the Aces, who scored five times in the first inning.  Jessica Fehr led off with a single before a Marah Wood walk and a Nink single loaded the bases with one out.  Alyssa Barela picked up the first RBI of the day with the first of four bases loaded walks in the frame.  Hannah Hood picked up the other RBI in the inning when she was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.  Nink scored on a passed ball in the second to extend the lead to 6-0.

Oakland came through with a run in the fourth, but Izzy Vetter limited the damage on the way to her 8^th win of the spring.  The UE offense got back to work in the fifth, recording three more runs to clinch the win.  All three runs came from the bat of Davis, who launched her first career homer to bring in Barela and Elyse Hickey.  After allowing a single to open the fifth, Vetter recorded the final three outs to finish the win.  She gave up one run on two hits and struck out seven.

 

Game Two – UE 6, Green Bay 4

In the nightcap, the Aces fended off a furious rally by the Phoenix to take a 6-4 win.  Jessica Fehr and Alexa Davis recorded two hits apiece while earn scoring a run.  Marah Wood scored twice.

Following a scoreless three innings, both teams scored a run in the fourth.  The Phoenix took a 1-0 lead before the Aces got the run right back when Marah Wood singled through the left side before Jenna Nink brought her home with a double down the right field line.

UE erupted for four runs in the bottom of the fifth with Zoe Frossard scoring the first run of her career on a Davis single.  Nink added a sacrifice fly for the second run before Davis came home on a wild pitch.  Alyssa Barela singled up the middle to cap off the rally and make it a 5-1 game.

Green Bay chopped the lead in half when Alicia Peters hit a home run to right in the top of the sixth before Davis added another RBI in the bottom of the inning to give Evansville a 6-3 edge.  The Phoenix took one last crack at it in the seventh, adding a run while loading the bases, but a pop out to first ended the threat and gave the Aces the win.

Sydney Weatherford made the start and recorded the second win of her career.  She threw 5 1/3 innings.  Paige McAllister tossed the final 1 2/3 on the way to the first save of her career.  On Saturday, the Aces will take on Morehead State at 11:30 a.m.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball continued to roll against ranked teams, posting an 11-3 victory over seventh-ranked Trevecca Nazarene University Friday to start a three-game series at the USI Baseball Field. The Screaming Eagles are 6-1 to start the year, while Trevecca is 10-2 in 2022.   
 
The USI win broke Trevecca’s winning streak against the GLVC this spring. Nine of the 10 Trevecca’s wins this spring came against the GLVC’s Rockhurst University, Lewis University, and Truman State University.
 
USI grabbed a first inning lead, 1-0, when junior catcher Lucas McNew (Floyds Knobs, Indiana) doubled in senior shortstop Ethan Hunter (Terre Haute, Indiana) from second with one out. Hunter had reached on a walk and stole second to get into scoring position.
 
After the Trojans scored twice in the top of the second to take the lead, USI rebound to knot the game at 2-2 when sophomore second baseman Nolan Cook (Evansville, Indiana) doubled in sophomore third baseman Tyler Wheeler (Sellersburg, Indiana) from first.
 
The score would remain tied until the top of the fifth when Trevecca took a 3-2 lead on a wild pitch by senior right-hander Brice Stuteville (Rockport, Indiana). The Eagles rebounded with a five-run bottom half of the inning with the aid of a Trevecca error.
 
Hunter got the scoring started in the fifth, crossing the plate on a fielder’s choice. McNew brought in the second run of the frame on a throwing error before sophomore centerfielder Steven Molinet (Elberfeld, Indiana) knocked in a run on a single and Cook finished the scoring with a two-run single to left for a 7-3 lead.
 
The Eagles increased the margin to 11-3 with a four-run eighth. McNew struck again with a two-triple down the right field line before sophomore leftfielder Trent Robinson (Louisville, Kentucky) blasted a two-run shot over the centerfield wall to set the 11-3 final.
 
For the game at the plate, McNew, Robinson, and Cook led the way with three RBIs each in the victory.
 
On the mound, Stuteville (1-0) was nearly perfect for the Eagles in six-plus innings of relief work on the mound. The senior right-hander picked up his first win of the year by allowing one run on four hits and three walks in addition to striking out six batters.
 
Junior left-hander Sammy Barnett (Sellersburg, Indiana) finished the game for USI getting the final three outs of the ninth and stranding the bases loaded full of Trojans. USI junior right-hander Garrett Welch (New Castle, Indiana) made an abreviated start, only going the first two innings. Welch allowed two runs on three hits and a walk, while striking out two.