Aces look to make up game later in the season

 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – With the anticipated rain in the forecast for Tuesday, the University of Evansville softball team has canceled its doubleheader that was set to take place against Tennessee Tech.

No make-up date has been announced at this time, however, the teams will work to make the games up if there is a window later in the season.

Evansville will be back at Cooper Stadium this weekend, welcoming UNI for a 3-game set with a noon doubleheader getting things started on Saturday.

LEXINGTON, KY. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Golf used a second-round 290 to take first place at the Saginaw Valley State Spring Invitational on Sunday earning the Screaming Eagles their first victory this season. USI had all five golfers finish in the Top 25 for the tournament.
 
USI as a team led the pack in average par-4 score, with an average of 4.16, as well as finishing top five in average par-3 score, with an average of 3.28. The Eagles also led in total number of pars with 111, as well as finishing tied for fourth in total number of birdies with 26.
 
Sophomore Jace Day (Bloomington, Indiana) led the way for USI, finishing tied for sixth. Day carded a 145 (+1) over the two-round tournament, shooting 75-70. He also went 2-under on par-5s (4.75) and finished tied for third in total birdies with nine.
 
Freshman Nathan Hoss (Evansville, Indiana) finished tied for 13th, carding a 147 (+3) on the tournament, shooting 74-73. Hoss also finished in third for total pars with 25. Senior Matthew Kingston (Springfield, Nebraska) finished right behind Hoss, tied for 17th, carding a 148 (+4) on the tournament, shooting 75-73. Kingston was right behind Hoss again in total pars, finishing with 24.
 
Freshman Jason Bannister (Laguna Niguel, California) finished tied for 20th after carding a 149 (+5) on the tournament, shooting 74-75. Junior Zach Williams (Mt. Vernon, Illinois) rounded out the scoring for Southern Indiana, finishing tied for 25th, carding a 150 (+6) while shooting 76-74 on the tournament.
 
The Eagles had one golfer compete as an individual, sophomore Peyton Short (Greenwood, Indiana) finished tied for 93rd after carding a 161 (+17) on the tournament, shooting 82-79.
 

OZARK, Mo. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball salvaged the third game of the series with a 12-9 slugfest win over Drury University Sunday afternoon in Ozark, Missouri. The Screaming Eagles are 10-7 this spring, while Drury is 15-5 in 2022.   
 
The Eagles came out firing in the first inning, taking a 3-0 lead on a three-run blast off the bat of junior second baseman Lucas McNew (Floyds Knobs, Indiana). The home run over the left field wall was McNew’s team-best fourth of the season.
 
Drury rallied to close within a run, 3-2, in the bottom of the fourth before USI freshman catcher Cordell Coburn (Evansville, Indiana) sent the ball over the left center fence for a 4-2 Eagle advantage. The Eagles maintained the two run lead until the fifth when junior rightfielder Ren Tachioka (Japan) and senior shortstop Ethan Hunter (Terre Haute, Indiana) extended the margin to 6-2 with RBI-singles in the fourth.
 
USI’s lead grew to a game-best 8-2 in the sixth when Hunter drove in his second RBI of the game with a double and later scored on a fielding error when McNew reached base in his the third-straight at-bat.
 
After the Panthers cut the margin to 8-5 in the bottom of the sixth, USI got one of the runs back in the top of the seventh when junior leftfielder Evan Kahre (Evansville, Indiana) knocked in a run with his third hit of the day, a double to left. Drury, however, was not done, scoring three more in the bottom of the seventh to close the gap to 9-8.
 
USI regained the four-run lead, 12-8, with a three-run eighth, manufacturing the runs with the benefit of a wild pitch, a RBI-single by Coburn, and a RBI-fielder’s choice by junior third baseman Daniel Lopez (Dominican Republic). Drury rallied once more with a run in the bottom half of the inning to make the score, 12-9, and set the stage for the ninth.
 
The Panthers made one last run at the Eagles in the ninth, loading the bases with two outs, before freshman left-hander Tyler Hutson (Villa Hills, Kentucky) earned his first collegiate save by getting the final out.
 
At the plate, Hunter, Kahre, and Coburn had three hits each, while McNew finished with a game-high three RBIs.
 
The victory on the mound goes to senior right-hander Brice Stuteville (Rockport, Indiana). Stuteville (3-0) allowed five runs on four hits and five walks, while striking out five.

Aces to face Tennessee Tech on Tuesday

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – An exciting day of action at Cooper Stadium saw the University of Evansville softball team sweep Drake to clinch the first Missouri Valley Conference series of the season.

UE (17-8, 2-1 MVC) defeated the Bulldogs (6-15, 1-2 MVC) by finals of 5-3 and 12-3.  Over the course of the doubleheader, Haley Woolf had three hits, two runs and two RBI while Mackenzie McFeron registered four RBI in the two games.  Jenna Lis and Jessica Fehr picked up three hits and three RBI apiece.

USI finishes 8th out of 12 teams

GEORGETOWN, Ky.— University of Southern Indiana Women’s Golf settled with an eight-place finish out of 12 teams Monday at the Saginaw Valley State Spring Invitational hosted by Saginaw Valley State University at the Cherry Blossom Golf Club.
 
The Screaming Eagles finished its first tournament of the spring season shooting a two-day score of 676 (+100). USI started off round one shooting a 343 (+55) to sit in eight place. Day two saw little improvement for the Eagles as it shot a 333 (+45) to maintain an eighth-place finish. USI did find success in par-three’s, averaging the third best in the invitational (3.53).
 
Sophomore Katelyn Sayyalinh (Rockford, Illinois) led all USI women golfers after shooting a 36-hole score of 164 (+20) to claim a tie for 27th^ out of 69 competitors. Sayyalinh shot an impressive 81 (+9) in round one to sit in the top-20 but dropped 10 spots after shooting an 83 (+11) in round two.

Another top performer for the Eagles was senior Hannah Herma (DeMotte, Indiana) after shooting a two-day score of 168 (+24) to capture 35th place. Herma started off slow carding an 86 (+14) in round one before surging in round two with an impressive 82 (+10) to bump up in the standings.

University of Findlay was crowned victorious at the Saginaw Valley State Spring Invitational with a two-day team score of 605 while holding six of the top 10 player spots in the leader board. Kristina Kniesly of Findlay won the invitational shooting a two-day score of 146 (+2).

CANTON, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazer baseball team began their Mid-West Athletic Conference play Sunday afternoon with a doubleheader at Spoon River College in Canton, Ill.

The Trailblazers fell behind early and battled back to take game one 8-6 over the host Snappers.

Game two of the doubleheader was suspended after the 5th inning due to darkness, with Vincennes holding a 14-9 lead. The game will be resumed tomorrow, March 21, before the scheduled doubleheader at 2 p.m. eastern.

Spoon River was the first to get on the board in the bottom of the first with a two-run home run.

Vincennes tied the game the next inning with a run driven in by freshman Nick Williams (Alexandria, Ind.) and a sacrifice fly by freshman Ethan Burdette (Linton, Ind.).

Spoon River broke the tie with a run in the bottom of the second and the Trailblazers responded back with four runs in the third.

Freshman Kaden Elliott (New Albany, Ind.) drove in a run on a fielder’s choice and Nick Williams came through with an RBI single. Ethan Burdette finished off the inning with a two-RBI double.

The Snappers tried to attempt a comeback with a run in the third and fourth to cut the VU lead to 6-5.

VU freshman Colton Evans (Henderson, Ky.) drove in another VU run in the sixth with an RBI double as sophomore Peyton Lane (New Paris, Ohio) came around to score.

Vincennes would score another run in the seventh as Ethan Burdette hit his second RBI double of the day and his fourth RBI of the game.

“What Ethan did today at the plate was phenomenal,” VU Assistant Baseball Coach Brian Campbell said. “He’s been in a little bit of a jam. He’s hitting the ball well, he’s just been hitting it at people and as a hitter that can get very discouraging because you know you are doing everything right, you are just hitting right at guys. But he continued to swing the bat and continued to have confidence in himself and he had four RBI’s today. He’s a big part of getting our whole lineup going. When he’s hitting well and getting on base, it helps us out a lot.”

The VU bullpen closed out the game to give the Trailblazers the 8-6 win and their first conference win of the season.

Sophomore Connor VanLannen (Clinton, Ind.) got the start on the mound for the Trailblazers Sunday afternoon, throwing 5.2 innings, giving up six runs on four hits and striking out eight Spoon River batters.

Sophomore Braedon Nichols (Sullivan, Ind.) entered from the bullpen to throw 2.1 innings, allowing only one hit and striking out four.

Sophomore Luke Osborn (Perryville, Ind.) took the mound in the ninth and picked up the save, striking out one batter in the inning.

“We knew that this series wasn’t going to be easy,” Campbell said. “Spoon River has been playing pretty well lately. Our guys knew that this is a Conference series and everybody needs to be up and ready and our guys have matured a lot since the start of the season. They have found ways to compete and that’s exactly what happened today.”

“We went down early, but we knew that we’ve been swinging the bats well and we put pressure on them,” Campbell added. “We had situations where we could bunt and put the ball in play and that’s really what got us going today. Once we got the momentum we didn’t let it go.”

“VanLannen pitched well but didn’t have the greatest of days. Once we got through the lineup three times we made the move to Nichols and did a great job and did his part. Then Osborn came in and closed the door. Our guys just fought really well and flat out competed and that’s how we ended up on top.”

Game two of the doubleheader was suspended after the fifth inning due to darkness, with the Trailblazers holding a 14-9 lead.

VU fell behind early in game two of the day after giving up eight runs in the second inning.

The Trailblazers battled back with a two- RBI single by sophomore Dale Coy (Evansville, Ind.) and a three-run home run by Colton Evans.

Colin Long picked up a pair of singles in the fourth inning as the Trailblazers used a seven-run inning to take a 13-8 lead.

Vincennes added a run on a sacrifice fly by Kaden Elliott to give the Trailblazers a 14-9 advantage.

The game will resume tomorrow, Monday, March 21, before the scheduled final two games of the four-game set at 11 a.m. eastern, with Vincennes batting in the top of the sixth and Colin Long, Peyton Lane and Colton Evans due up.

“Our guys know that tomorrow is going to be a long day,” Campbell said. “We are going to be at the field at nine in the morning taking batting practice and getting ready to go. We’ve just got to take care of business. We are in a really good spot, going into the sixth with a five run lead, our guys have been seeing the ball well and we’ve gotten into their bullpen and have been making them use some guys out of the pen.”

“At the end of the day we just have to make the routine plays,” Campbell added. “This team is going to hit and put the ball in play and as long as we can make the routine plays and not give them any extra outs, I can see us being pretty successful at finishing off game two.”

“We are going to take care of our guys after that, make sure that they are well rested and they are just going to have to dog it out. This is what JuCo baseball is sometimes. You have to be able to handle the X-factor and our guys are just going to have to be ready to play and ready to compete. Spoon River isn’t just going to hand us any games. Every Conference game is meaningful, so we have to just continue to carry on the energy that we had today and continue to compete.”