The Evansville Otters came within one run of the Florence Freedom at one point in Thursday’s exhibition, but the Freedom pulled away with a three-run sixth inning to defeat the Otters 7-3.

Florence’s Isaac Benard began the offensive output for the Freedom with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the first inning. A bases-loaded walk pushed Florence’s lead to 2-0 by the end of the inning.

The Freedom doubled their lead over the Otters with a Connor Crane home run and a Caleb Lopes RBI single.

Evansville’s bats strung together hits with contributions from the bottom third of the lineup.

J.J. Gould knocked in the Otters’ first run in the third inning with an RBI double.

In the fourth, Hunter Cullen’s two-RBI single brought the Otters within a run, 4-3.

Cullen finished with a three-hit night at the plate for the Otters.

In the sixth inning, Florence broke the game open. Crane drove in Florence’s fifth run of the game on an RBI single, recording two RBIs in the game.

A few batters later, Luis Pintor hit a two-run RBI single to extend Florence’s lead to 7-3.

Florence scored all of its seven runs on seven hits, while Evansville had three runs on seven hits.

The Otters will return home Friday night at 6:35 p.m. for their annual Jacob’s Village benefit exhibition game against the Southern Illinois Miners.

All proceeds from Friday’s game will benefit Jacob’s Village.

The mission of Jacob’s Village is to develop a safe, walk-able neighborhood community where people with disabilities and older adults can find meaningful relationships, housing that is affordable and accessible, and activities that encourage active minds and bodies.

Tickets for Friday’s Jacob’s Village benefit game can be purchased at the Bosse Field box office, at all G.D. Ritzy’s locations, and the Jacob’s Village office.

University of Southern Indiana senior first baseman Nathan Kuester (Rockport, Indiana) hit a walk-off grand slam to lead USI to a doubleheader sweep of Maryville University, 9-7 and 7-6, Friday at the USI Baseball Field. USI moves its record to 28-19 overall and 20-12 in the GLVC, while Maryville goes to 27-19, 22-10 GLVC.

The doubleheader sweep clinches a spot in the GLVC Tournament for USI. The Screaming Eagles can finish as high as fifth in the league depending upon the finish of conference action Saturday. The GLVC Tournament is slated for May 9-12 in Ozark, Missouri.
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GAME 1: 
USI sophomore leftfielder Aaron Euler (Evansville, Indiana) and freshman catcher Lucas McNew (Floyds Knobs, Indiana) blasted home runs to lead the Eagles to a come from behind victory in the opening game, 9-7.

The Eagles had the early lead with a run in the bottom of the first and a tally in both the fourth and fifth to lead 3-1 at the halfway mark. Maryville rallied with back-to-back home runs in the sixth, one a two-run bomb, to take a 4-3 advantage before upping the margin to 7-3 midway through the seventh inning.

USI began its comeback in the bottom of the seventh, ignited by a lead-off home run by Euler and a sacrifice fly by senior second baseman Jacob Fleming (Evansville, Indiana) to cut the deficit to 7-5 by the end of the frame. This set the stage for one final push to victory in the eighth.

McNew tied the game, 7-7, with a two-run blast to left field to start the eighth inning rally, while the game winning run crossed the plate on a RBI-single up the middle off the bat of sophomore shortstop Ethan Hunter(Terre Haute, Indiana) to give USI the lead for good, 8-7. .Junior rightfielder Zach Pate (Evansville, Indiana) sealed the victory by scoring on a bases-load wild pitch for the final run of the 9-7 contest.

At the plate, McNew led the Eagles with three hits, including the home run and a double, and drove in a pair of runs. Sophomore center Bryce Krizan (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) and Pate also had three hits each, while senior first baseman Nathan Kuester tied McNew with two RBIs.

The home run was Euler’s team-best 10^th of the season, while McNew is second with nine round trippers in 2019.

USI junior right-handers Jacob Bowles (Mt. Washington, Kentucky) and Tyler Hagedorn (Evansville, Indiana) closed out the win on the mound for USI. Bowles picked up his fourth win by throwing 1.2 innings, allowing one run on two hits and a walk. Hagedorn logged his team-best third save of the season by getting the Eagles out of a two-on one-out jam in the ninth by getting the only man he faced to hit into a double play.

Eagles’ senior right-hander Austin Krizan (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) started and received a no-decision in the contest. Austin Krizan tied a career-high with eight strike outs through 6.2 innings, while allowing six runs, five earned, on nine hits and a walk.

GAME 2: 
USI senior first baseman Nathan Kuester hit a walk-off grand slam to cap off a five-run bottom of the ninth as the Eagles completed the sweep, 7-6. The home run was Kuester’s fifth of the season.

The Eagles had the early advantage in the game, picking up tallies in the first and second to lead, 2-0. Maryville scored six unanswered runs to build a 6-2 lead and set the stage for the bottom of the ninth.

With one out, sophomore centerfielder Bryce Krizan and freshman catcher Lucas McNew walked before sophomore leftfielder Aaron Euler reached on an error to load the bases. Junior designated hitter Manny Lopez(Santo Domingo, P.R.) walked to drive in Bryce Krizan to cut the deficit to 6-3 as Kuester came to the plate.

On the game-winning blast, Kuester crushed a 1-1 pitch over the left field wall to send the Eagles home winners in the nightcap.

USI junior right-hander Tyler Hagedorn posted his second win of the season after pitching the final 1.1. Hagedorn (2-1) allowed two runs on three hits and two walks, while striking out three.

Junior left-hander Paul Perez (Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela) started, but only completed the first frame before leaving the game with an injury. Senior right-hander Austin Gossman (Avon, Indiana) relieved and struck out nine batters over the next 6.2 innings, giving up four runs, one earned, on 11 hits and one walk.