University of Southern Indiana Baseball lost a doubleheader to the University of Indianapolis, 8-7 and 7-3, Saturday afternoon in Indianapolis, Indiana. USI moves its record to 20-12 overall and 13-7 in the GLVC, while UIndy goes to 19-12, 12-8 GLVC.

Game 1: 
The Eagles led early, rallied to tie the game in their final at-bat, but lost the game in bottom half of the ninth, 8-7.

USI grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first and extended it to 3-0 in the top of the second with the help of a pair of UIndy errors. The Greyhounds cut the Eagles’ margin to 3-1 with a tally in the bottom of the second, but USI regained its three-run advantage with a fourth tally in the top of fourth.

UIndy rallied for a second time, scoring three in the fifth to knot the game, 4-4, and took its first lead of the game, 5-4, when it pushed a run across in the sixth. USI made its first comeback when it tied the game, 5-5, in the top of the eighth on a senior pinch runner LaWan Rollins (Evansville, Indiana) scored on a wild pitch.

The Greyhound regained the advantage in the bottom of the eighth, 7-5, with a pair of runs. The Eagles, however, were not done and rallied for second time in the top of the ninth with pair of runs to set the stage for the bottom of the ninth.

Freshman catcher Lucas McNew (Floyds Knobs, Indiana) cut the ninth inning deficit to 7-6 with an RBI-single to score senior second baseman Jacob Fleming (Evansville, Indiana) before senior first baseman Nathan Kuester (Rockport, Indiana) doubled with two outs to score McNew from first and tie the contest, 7-7.

USI’s luck would run out in the bottom of the ninth when UIndy loaded the bases against freshman right-hander Luke Johnston (Evansville, Indiana) with no one out and scored on a RBI single for an 8-7 win. Johnston (0-1) allowed the winning run on one hit and three walks.

Eagles’ senior right-hander Austin Krizan (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) started and got a no-decision. Krizan allowed five runs on seven hits and three walks, in addition to striking out five batters.

Game 2:
USI allowed six first inning runs and fell to UIndy, 7-3, to conclude the twin bill on Saturday. The Greyhounds handed USI senior left-handed starter Chase Partain (Evansville, Indiana) his fourth loss of the season, chasing him in the opening frame with six runs, five earned.

The USI bullpen took over the rest of the way and stymied UIndy for six of final 7.2 innings of action. USI junior left-hander Paul Perez (Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela) held the Greyhounds scoreless through 3.1 innings of work, while junior right-hander Tyler Hagedorn (Evansville, Indiana) allowed one run in the final four frames.

At the plate, USI senior first baseman Nathan Kuester put the Eagles on the board with a third inning solo shot, his fourth of the season, while senior second baseman Jacob Fleming pushed sophomore shortstop Ethan Hunter (Terre Haute, Indiana) across the plate with a ground out in the seventh and a RBI-single in the ninth for all of the Eagles’ scoring.

The Screaming Eagles (25-13, 13-3 GLVC) won the opener, 1-0, before grabbing a 4-3 win in the nightcap.

Game 1
USI prevailed in a pitcher’s duel, thanks to a two-out rally in the top of the sixth inning of the opening game. Senior second baseman Claire Johnson (Pittsboro, Indiana) was hit by a pitch with two outs to begin the rally, while junior pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky) followed with a two-out single to put a runner in scoring position.

Sophomore outfielder Alicia Webb (Elberfeld, Indiana) followed with a run-scoring double to break the scoreless tie.

Rockhurst (18-15, 7-7 GLVC) had runners at second and third with one out in the last half of the seventh inning, but Leonhardt induced back-to-back pop-ups to close the door on the Hawks.

Leonhardt (15-4) earned the win after scattering five hits throughout seven innings. She struck out 12 batters as she earned her ninth complete-game shutout of the year. Leonhardt, who also has two combined shutouts this season, has not allowed a run in nine of her last 10 starts and is currently sporting a 0.25 ERA in GLVC-only games.

Game 2
USI racked up 13 hits, including three straight in the top of the first inning, to defeat the Hawks, 4-3, in the nightcap.

Webb’s RBI-single in the first put the Eagles up, 1-0, while a two-run single by sophomore first baseman Haley Shouse (Borden, Indiana) in the third inning extended USI’s lead to 3-0.

Rockhurst, however, scored three runs in the last half of the third inning to tie the score, forcing USI senior pitcher Haylee Smith (Florence, Kentucky) out of the circle.

Senior outfielder/pitcher Caitlyn Bradley (Forest, Indiana), though, quelled the Hawks’ surge, getting a strikeout and a pop-up to get the Eagles out of the third without giving up any more runs.

Bradley (5-4), who earned the win, held the Hawks hitless throughout the next three innings to keep the Eagles in contention.

USI, meanwhile, got a lead-off double from Shouse in the fifth inning and, after a sacrifice bunt and a strikeout, freshman third baseman Mary Bean (Schaumburg, Illinois) put the Eagles in front for good with an RBI-double to leftfield.

Leonhardt (4) came on in the seventh to strikeout two of the three batters she faced to earn her league-leading fourth save of the year.

UE Returns Home On Wednesday To Face Indiana State

The University of Evansville starting pitchers Emily Lockhart and Izzy Vetter combined to give up just four runs over 12 innings of work on Saturday, but Southern Illinois was able to take a pair of close games to sweep the series over the Purple Aces softball squad.

SIU (23-9, 8-3 MVC) took game one by a 2-1 final before earning a 2-0 shutout in game two over UE (12-22, 2-9 MVC).

Emily Lockhart pitched a gem in game one, giving up just two runs in the complete-game effort.  Evansville notched one run on six hits while the Salukis finished with two runs on eight hits.  The first threat for UE came in the third when Mackenzie McFeron and Eryn Gould posted back-to-back singles with one out.  SIU got out of the jam by forcing a ground out and strikeout.

In the fifth, the Aces stranded two more batters before SIU took advantage in the bottom of the frame.  Maddy Vermejan hit a solo home run before the squad added a second to break the scoreless tie.  UE was able to cut the deficit in half in the sixth on a Lindsay Renneisen home run, but the Salukis held on for the 2-1 victory.

Izzy Vetter had a stellar outing in game two, tossing 5 2/3 innings of 3-hit, 1-run ball, but the Aces were unable to push any runs across the plate in a 2-0 loss.  The Salukis plated a run in the fourth and sixth frames to take the win.  Evansville received hits from Gould, McFeron and McKenzie Johnson.

Evansville looks to get back on track with five home games over the next week.  UE welcomes Indiana State to Cooper Stadium for a 3 p.m. doubleheader on Wednesday before taking on Bradley in a 3-game series next weekend.