KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD BAND TO RETURN TO THE VICTORY THEATRE
Victory Theatre is excited to welcome the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band back to its stage. Evansville has been added as a stop on the band’s Traveler World Tour on Sunday, June 21.
There are few artists whose names are synonymous with one instrument and how it’s played in service to an entire genre. Utter the phrase “young blues rock guitarist” within earshot of anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the modern musical vanguard and the first name they are most likely to respond with will be Kenny Wayne Shepherd. The Louisiana born axeman and songsmith has sold millions of albums while throwing singles into the Top 10, shining a light on the rich blues of the past and forging ahead with his own modern twist on a classic sound he has embodied since his teens.
In a 20-year recording career that began when he was just 16, Shepherd has established himself as an immensely popular recording artist, a consistently in-demand live act and an influential force in a worldwide resurgence of interest in the blues. At 16 years old, he signed his first record deal and burst onto the national scene with the release of his 1995 debut album Ledbetter Heights, which produced the radio hits “Deja Voodoo,” “Born with a Broken Heart” and “Shame, Shame, Shame.” His relentless touring and success on rock radio helped to drive the album to Platinum sales status. His 1998 sophomore effort Trouble Is… also went Platinum, yielding such radio hits as “Blue on Black,” “True Lies” and “Somehow, Somewhere, Someway.” 1999’s
Live On spawned the radio hits “In 2 Deep,” “Shotgun Blues” and “Last Goodbye.”
From television performances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Show with David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (amongst others) to features in Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Maxim Magazine, Blender, Spin, USA Today and more, his musical career has been nothing short of phenomenal.
Tickets go on sale March 13 at 10 am at the Ford Center Ticket Office or Ticketmaster.com. Tickets are $39, $49, $69, and $99.
USI Women’s Hoops going dancing
University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball has earned an at-large berth to the 2020 NCAA Division II Tournament according to an announcement by the national office on NCAA.com Sunday night.
The Screaming Eagles (18-9) secured the No. 7 seed in next weekend’s regional and will square off against No. 2 seed and nationally-ranked No. 2 Ashland University in the opening round Friday at the O’Reilly Family Event Center Center in Springfield, Missouri.
USI navigated one of the toughest schedules in the nation in 2019-20 to earn its first NCAA II Tournament berth since 2018 and its 11th overall. The Eagles secured wins over Central Region No. 1 seed University of Central Missouri and South Region No. 3 seed University of Tampa during their non-conference schedule; then had a regular-season sweep of Midwest Region No. 8 seed Lindenwood University. They also had road games against Ashland and No. 5 seed Ferris State University during the non-conference slate, while playing home games against No. 1 seed and Drury University and No. 6 seed Lewis University.
The Eagles are one of four GLVC teams to make the tournament, with Drury, Lewis and Lindenwood also representing the conference in the dance. Ashland, No. 4 seeded Grand Valley State University and Ferris State were the three schools to represent the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference, while Walsh University was the lone representative from the Great Midwest Athletics Conference.
Eagles receive at-large bid to NCAA II regional
University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament and will play in the Midwest Regional, which is scheduled for March 14-17 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The regional is being hosted by 13th-ranked and top-seeded University of Indianapolis. Ticket prices and game information will be released on Monday.
The Screaming Eagles (22-8), the defending NCAA II Midwest Region champions, return to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the second-straight season and are making their 22nd regional appearance in the last 28 seasons. USI, the 1995 NCAA II National Champion, has appeared in the NCAA II Tournament 27 times in the history of the program and has a record of 35-29 in tournament play.
The Eagles are the sixth seed in the regional and start national tournament action Saturday when they take on 16th-ranked and third-seeded University of Missouri-St. Louis (27-5). USI has never played UMSL in the NCAA II Midwest Regional, but leads the all-time series, 39-14, despite going 1-2 against the Tritons this season.
In addition to the USI-UMSL match-up, the bottom half of the bracket features second-seeded Truman State University (24-6) against 10th-ranked and seventh-seeded Ferris State University (27-6). Truman won the GLVC Tournament championship Sunday with a win over UMSL.
The top half of the regional bracket includes UIndy taking on eighth-seeded Walsh University (25-6), the Great Midwest Athletic Conference champion. The final match-up features fourth-seeded Michigan Tech University (23-8) battling against fifth-seeded Bellarmine University (20-8).
The winners of each of the NCAA II region advance to play in the Elite Eight at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana, March 26 and 28. The NCAA II National Championship game is slated to be played during the Division I Final Four in Atlanta, Georgia, April 5.
Aces defeat Illinois in final day of Red & Black Challenge
Alyssa Barela hit a 3-run home run in Sunday’s opening game to lead the University of Evansville softball team to a 9-1 win over Illinois to open the final day of the Red & Black Challenge. Game two saw Louisville pick up a 9-1 victory to wrap up the event.
“I loved the way our ladies competed all weekend. To go 3-2 in the last weekend before conference is huge,†UE head softball coach Mat Mundell said. “We have so many things to be excited about and the good thing is that we can get better.â€
Barela’s homer set the tone for the Purple Aces in the big win over the Fighting Illini. With one out in the top of the third in a scoreless game, Kat Mueller reached on an Illinois error. Jessica Fehr and Eryn Gould followed up with singles to load the bases for Haley Woolf.  The sophomore hit a sacrifice fly to left field to bring in the first run of the game.
That brought Barela to the plate and she came through with her third home run of the season, bringing in three runs. In the top of the fourth, Evansville added two more runs as a Gould triple and a Woolf double each brought home a run. UE put the finishing touches on the 9-1 6-inning win in the top of the sixth.
With one out, it was Kat Mueller reaching on a triple before scoring on an error by the Illini. Gould reached on the second Illinois error of the frame before Woolf loaded the bases up with a single. Next up was Barela, who picked up another clutch hit, posting a 2-RBI single to finalize the win.
Emily Lockhart earned her seventh win of the season, going 5 2/3 innings. She gave up one run on five hits. As a team, UE had 10 hits with Woolf, Barela and Halie Fain notching two each. Barela led all players with five RBI while Woolf brought home a pair.
UE fell to the Cardinals in their second game of the day by a 9-1 final. Louisville starter Taylor Roby gave up just two hits five innings while striking out seven Aces batters. The Cardinals jumped out to an early 5-0 lead following the first two innings.
In the top of the third, Evansville got on the board when Jessica Fehr hit a sac fly that scored Lindsay Renneisen, who doubled to lead off the inning. The Cardinals got right back on the board in the bottom half of the inning and finished the game with a 9-1 win in five frames. Erin Kleffman made the start, going 2 1/3 innings while allowing seven runs, five of which were earned.
On Tuesday, UE will take on Purdue Fort Wayne in the home opener. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
USI splits Sunday, earns series win
 University of Southern Indiana Baseball split a doubleheader and won the GLVC-opening series with the University of Illinois Springfield Sunday afternoon in Springfield, Illinois. USI took the opening game, 10-9, in 10 innings, but dropped the nightcap, 11-0.
The Screaming Eagles go to 6-6 overall and 2-1 GLVC, while Illinois Springfield finishes the weekend 9-4 overall, 1-2 GLVC.
Game 1:
USI sophomore third baseman Lucas McNew drove in a pair of runs with a two-out double in the 10th to lead the Eagles to a 10-9 victory over Illinois Springfield in the opening game of the double header. McNew finished the game with four RBI a double and a home run to lead the USI hitters.
The Eagles struck first in the opening frame when junior leftfielder Bryce Krizan hit a two-run home run to put the Eagles up 2-0 to start a back and forth battle. Illinois Springfield rebounded and would lead 6-4 after two and 7-4 after three innings.
USI tied the game, 7-7, in the top of the sixth on a two-run double by McNew and a solo shot by freshman centerfielder Steven Molinet. The solo home run was Molinet’s first collegiate blast.
After USI regained the lead briefly in the top of the seventh when Molinet scored on an error, the Prairie Stars knotted the game at 8-8 with a tally in the bottom half of the seventh. USI junior right-hander Brady Bowling got the Eagles to the 10th by getting them out of a bases loaded no one out jam with double play and a fly out.
Bowling (1-0) posted his first win of the season after allowing a single tally in the 10th following McNew’s eventual game-winning double in the top half of the frame.
Game 2:
The nightcap was all Prairie Stars as they blanked the Eagles, 11-0, in a game that was shortened by the run rule. Illinois Springfield scored in each frame, scoring one in the first and second and three in the third and fourth before closing out the game with two in the fifth and one in the sixth.
USI sophomore left-hander Sammy Barnett took the loss after going the first four frames for the Eagles.
Up Next for the Eagles:
Due to length of the opening game, the Eagles and the Prairie Star had to postpone game two to Sunday at 11:30 a.m. and will be a part of a doubleheader in Springfield.
Following Sunday’s doubleheader, the road trip concludes with a non-conference visit Florida when the Eagles make a stop at University of West Florida in Pensacola, Florida, for a two-game series Tuesday and Wednesday. The Eagles trail the all-time series with West Florida, 2-0, after losing both games of a series in 2018 in Pensacola.
USI Softball wins two in dramatic fashion
University of Southern Indiana Softball had a flare for the dramatic Sunday morning as the No. 24 Screaming Eagles earned a 2-1 win over Midwest Region foe Northwood University and an 8-5, eight-inning win over Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
USI 2, Northwood 1
USI (13-4) used a pair of one-out, solo home runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to snare victory from the jaws of defeat in its 2-1 win over Northwood.
After amassing just one hit throughout the first six innings, the Eagles needed a hit to get something started heading into their final turn at the plate.
Freshman second baseman Rachel Martinez got that hit and more as she launched a ball over the fence for her first career collegiate home run, which tied the score at 1-1. Junior outfielder Alicia Webb followed with her first career collegiate home run in the next at-bat as the Eagles, who were starring at their fifth loss of the year square in the face just moments earlier, walked off the field in celebration.
Northwood (6-4) struck first with a solo home run in the top of the first inning; but the Timberwolves left a pair of runners on base in the fourth inning and one in each of the first, fifth and seventh frames. Meanwhile, Northwood pitcher Shayna Frank had faced the minimum when Martinez hit the game-tying home run—USI’s only base runner to that point had been part of a double play.
Senior pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt (6-3) earned the win in the circle after giving up just one run off six hits in seven innings of work. She racked up six strikeouts and issued just one walk to earn the win.
USI 8, Indiana-Pa. 5 (8 innings)
USI scored four times in the top of the eighth inning; then got a big double play in the last half of the eighth inning to preserve the 8-5 win over Indiana-Pennsylvania.
The Eagles took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning and had the Crimson Hawks down to their final out. IUP, however, got a hit and a walk to bring up the tying run; then a three-run bomb tied the game at 4-4.
IUP (4-4) continued the pressure as it followed the home run with back-to-back singles, forcing the Eagles to make a change in the circle.
Sophomore pitcher/first baseman Katie Back, who had pitched brilliantly up until the seventh inning, gave way to freshman Allie Goodin, who induced an inning-ending ground ball. Goodin (4-0) earned the win in the circle after giving up just one unearned run—the international tie-breaker—off two hits in an inning and third. Back gave up four runs, three earned off eight hits, but had allowed just one unearned run off four hits and five strikeouts throughout the first 6 2/3 innings of work.
USI capitalized on a pair of walks and an error to score three times in the fourth inning, breaking a scoreless tie in the process. Leonhardt capped the inning off with a two-run double.
After the Crimson Hawks took advantage of three USI errors to score a run in the last half of the fourth inning, sophomore catcher Courtney Schoolcraft hit a solo shot to lead off the fifth frame, giving USI the 4-1 lead.
USI took advantage of the international tie-breaker rule in the eighth to score its first run. Webb pushed across the second run with a one-out single; while Schoolcraft’s two-run single with two outs gave the Eagles the 8-4 lead.
Notes
Sunday’s game against IUP marked the fifth extra-inning game for the Eagles, who are now 4-1 in extra frames this season…USI’s pitching staff is off to a great start to the 2020 season, with a combined ERA at a GLVC-best 1.84 and opponent batting average at a league-low .212.
Up next
USI concludes its trip to The Spring Games when it takes on Midwest Region foe Hillsdale College and Winona State University Tuesday at 1:45 p.m. (CDT) and 4 p.m., respectively.
