Haley Woolf hits three home runs in Saturday action

Purple Aces sophomore Haley Woolf hit three home runs in Saturday’s opener to highlight a 12-3 victory over Northern Illinois at the Blues City Classic.  The University of Evansville fell in its second game of the day by a 13-3 final versus Northwestern State.

“Our bats were hot today.  We had a great week of practice working on some adjustments offensively,” UE head coach Mat Mundell said.  “I thought that work really paid off.  Even our outs are well hit.”

The bats came alive in Saturday’s opener with the Purple Aces earning a 12-3 win over Northern Illinois in six innings.  UE wasted little time in getting on the board, scoring four times in the bottom of the first.  Eryn Gould singled with one out to bring home Jessica Fehr for the first run of the frame.  Fehr led the game off with a walk and stole second.

After Alyssa Barela reached on a fielder’s choice, Haley Woolf hit a home run to right-center to extend the lead to 4-0.  Katie McLean continued the scoring with a solo home run in the second.  Northern Illinois plated a single run in the second before scoring twice in the third to get within two runs, but the Aces kept the bats going.

Lindsay Renneisen hit an RBI double in the third to score Kat Mueller before the offense erupted for four runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth.  Barela led off with a single and was pinch run for by Mackenzie McFeron.  She would score on Woolf’s second long ball of the game.  Mueller followed up with a single before Renneisen hit the fourth homer of the game for UE, pushing the lead to 10-3.

Haley Woolf put the finishing touches on her career game, hitting her third ball out of the park to help UE clinch the 12-3 win.  Woolf was 3-4 with her three homers, seven RBI and three runs scored.  Barela and Renneisen each had two hits.  In the circle, Emily Lockhart earned the win, pitching three innings while allowing three earned runs.  Erin Kleffman picked up the save, tossing the final three frames.  Her scoreless effort saw her give up two hits while striking out three.

A quick turnaround saw UE face Northwestern State directly after the first contest.  The Lady Demons scored five runs in the second and two in the third on their way to a 13-3 win in six frames.  Kat Marshall and Kaitlyn St. Clair notched three RBI apiece.

Evansville added its first run in the second when Hannah Hood scored on a wild pitch.  Eryn Gould was responsible for UE’s second run, hitting a solo shot in the third.  The final run also came from the bat of Gould.  Her 1-out double scored Fehr, who doubled to lead off the inning.  NSU clinched the game with five scores in the sixth on their way to the 13-3 win.

Gould had two of UE’s five hits to go along with two RBI.  Gould, Fehr and Hood recorded the runs.  Izzy Vetter made the start, allowing seven runs, six earned, in 2 1/3 frames.  Erin Kleffman tossed three innings and allowed six runs while Jaime Nurrenbern threw the final 2/3 of an inning.  She held NSU scoreless.

Sunday’s slate will see the Aces square off against Memphis for a 1:15 p.m. contest.

Freshman forward Tara Robbe racked up a career-high 21 points and junior guard Emma DeHart came off the bench to score 15 as University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball earned an 81-64 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory on Senior Day at Screaming Eagles Arena.

USI (18-8, 14-6 GLVC) outscored the Greyhounds, 18-7, throughout the final 7:30 of the first half to turn an early 26-20 deficit into a 38-33 halftime advantage.

The Eagles continued their momentum into the third quarter, where they used a 16-6 run during the first five minutes of the period to expand their advantage to 54-39.

USI’s lead increased to 67-47 heading into the fourth period and ballooned to as much as 22 points midway through the fourth quarter before the Eagles settled on the 17-point win.

Robbe, who became the fifth different USI Women’s Basketball player this year to reach the 20-point plateau, went 9-of-14 from the field and finished with a team-high eight rebounds.

DeHart, who scored 11 of her 15 points in the second and third periods, was 6-of-12 from the field.

The Eagles also got big contributions from their senior class as guards Ashley Johnson and Kiara Moses and guard/forward Morgan Sherwood combined for 23 points, 12 rebounds, 12 assists and seven steals.

Moses finished with nine points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Sherwood added nine points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Johnson added five points, four rebounds, six assists and two steals.

All three seniors were honored following the conclusion of Saturday’s game.

USI, which had 18 assists and just eight turnovers, shot 45.9 percent (34-74) from the field and went 5-of-14 (.357) from three-point range.

UIndy (19-9, 12-8 GLVC) was led by senior guard Laura Thomas, who finished with 14 points and three assists. The Greyhounds, who also got 10 points and 12 rebounds from junior guard/forward McKenzy Telfair, committed 20 turnovers, which led to 25 USI points.

The Eagles return to action either Thursday or Friday when they play in the opening round of the GLVC Tournament at First Community Arena in Edwardsville, Illinois. The GLVC Tournament bracket will be released on GLVCSports.com as well as social media later today.

The University of Southern Indiana baseball team dropped the second of its three-game set with No. 9/10 Ashland University Saturday, 9-4.

Senior rightfielder Manny Lopez led the Screaming Eagles (4-4) at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a two-RBI double in the fifth inning that opened up a 4-0 lead at the time.

Senior reliever Jacob Bowles ended up on the hook for loss after appearing in the middle of Ashland’s comeback run, bringing his season record down to 2-1.

The matchup of Eagles carried as a pitcher’s duel through five innings as USI’s Saturday starter sophomore Garrett Welch went toe-to-toe with Ashland’s Josh Stover. Welch left the game with a 4-0 lead in the top of the sixth, racking up four strikeouts, allowing one run over seven hits on his line.

The scoring opened in the bottom of the fourth as senior catcher Wyatt Daly capitalized on runners standing on second and third with a sacrfice fly to left field, scoring Lopez who got to third via a double from junior designated hitter Aaron Euler.

The following inning featured Lopez’s two-RBI double that scored sophomore centerfielder Austin Moody and freshman second baseman Alex Archuleta. Junior second baseman Ethan Hunter plated the third run in the inning with a single to right field, scoring Lopez.

Over the final four innings, USI endured nine unanswered runs from Ashland including a five-run top of the ninth, that started in a 4-4 tie. The Screaming Eagles emptied the bullpen of four pitchers during the run, where Bowles eventually took credit for loss on the mound.

USI Baseball returns to the USI Baseball Field Sunday at noon to attempt to avoid a sweep at the hands of No. 9/10 Ashland.

Senior strikes-out 10 in six innings to earn win

In its first game in Evansville this season, the University of Evansville baseball team secured an 8-3 victory over Butler at Bosse Field on Friday afternoon.

“Really proud of Nathan Croner’s start. He really competed,” said Aces head baseball coach Wes Carroll. “Obviously, from an offensive standpoint, we were aggressive with the barrel today and got 16 hits and put ourselves in a good position in winning time to win the ball game. Its great to get our first win and to get a crooked number in the win column is always a good thing to build off of.”

Senior Nathan Croner’s impressive outing began fast in the top of the first inning, as Croner retired the side and struck-out a pair. In the Aces half of the first, senior Craig Shepherd opened the inning with a base hit to center field. Two batters later, junior Tanner Craig singled up the middle, scoring Shepherd to give Evansville a 1-0 lead.

Croner faced the minimum in the second inning, striking out two more to tame the Bulldogs. Evansville’s offense continued to roll, scoring two more runs as Shepherd and Wilkes each tallied an RBI single.

Evansville added two more runs with one in the fifth and one in the sixth as the Aces lead grew to 5-1 heading into the sixth.

The two sides each scored a run in the seventh as Evansville’s advantage sat at four runs through seven innings. After Butler got back within three runs with a run in the top of the eighth, it was again the Aces turn to answer.

The Aces got back-to-back hits to open the bottom of the eighth, but then saw two-straight batters go down via strike-out. With runners on the corners, Mason Brinkley earned a walk, loading the bases. Following Brinkley’s walk, Troy Beilsmith earned a walk, pushing a run across and giving Evansville an 8-3 lead.

Evansville ended the game in style in the top of ninth as David Ellis induced a fly out to open the inning. After walking a batter, Ellis forced a double play, earning Evansville’s first win of the season.

The Aces return to action with the middle game of a three-game set at Noon on Sunday at Bosse Field.