Indiana 800 Freestyle Relay Places Fourth to Begin NCAA Championships

 AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 2-ranked Indiana University men’s swimming and diving team began competition at the 2019 NCAA Championships on Wednesday night at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas.

In the lone event of the night, the Hoosier 800 freestyle relay team of Zach Apple, Vini Lanza, Mohamed Samy, and Ian Finnerty placed fourth overall with a time of 6:07.35. The mark is the second-fastest in school history in the event.

Leading off, Apple posted a personal-best 200 freestyle split of 1:30.34, which ranks as the third-best time in program history. With the performance, all four earned All-America honors in the event.

The 2019 NCAA Championships will continue on Thursday morning with the prelims of the 200 freestyle relay, 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, 1-meter dive and 400 medley relay. The action gets underway at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center at 11:00 a.m. ET.

Be sure to keep up with all the latest news on the Indiana men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams on social media – Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

 800 Freestyle Relay

4. Zach Apple, Vini Lanza, Mohamed Samy, Ian Finnerty – 6:07.35

University of Southern Indiana Softball has changed its weekend schedule due to the impending rain the Evansville Tri-State area is expected to receive Saturday. The Screaming Eagles are moving their Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader Saturday against Truman State University to Monday at noon at the USI Softball Field.

USI also is moving its Alumni Day event to Sunday at noon, in conjunction with its GLVC doubleheader against Quincy University.

Sunday’s games will be aired on the GLVC Sports Network, while live stats and video will be available on GoUSIEagles.com. Monday’s games will have live stats only.

USI begins the week with an 18-12 overall record and a 6-2 mark in GLVC play; Quincy is 11-13 overall and 3-5 in GLVC play. Truman State, which visits Bellarmine University Sunday, enters the weekend with a 15-6 overall record and a 3-5 mark in league place.

USI Softball Notes
• Eagles go 2-2 last week.USI Softball went 2-2 on the road last week, falling twice at Missouri-St. Louis before earning a doubleheader sweep over Maryville.

• Last week’s leaders. As a team, USI struggled at the plate as it posted a .242 batting average on the week. Sophomore outfielder Alicia Webband junior shortstop Taylor Ricketts each hit .333 to lead the Eagles at the plate, while senior second baseman Claire Johnson had a double, home run and three RBIs. Junior outfielder Allison Schubert also had a pair of home runs in USI’s 3-2 loss to Missouri-St. Louis.

• In the circle. Junior pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt paced the Eagles in the circle last week with a 1-1 record, a save, a 0.93 ERA, a .151 opponent batting average and 18 strikeouts. Senior hurler Haylee Smith was 1-0 with a 0.81 ERA and five strikeouts.

• Alumni Day. The Eagles are expected to welcome more than 50 former USI Softball players to the USI Softball Field Sunday. Alumni Day was originally slated for Saturday, but expected rain in the Evansville Tri-State area Saturday forced a change to USI’s schedule.

• Streaks end. Leonhardt saw a pair of lengthy streaks come to an end in USI’s 3-2 loss to Missouri-St. Louis. The game marked the first time in more than 35 innings that Leonhardt had issued a walk and the first time in 34.1 innings of work that she had allowed a run.

• Leonhardt continues to shut down opposing batters. Leonhardt has recorded five shutouts in her six starts and has taken a no-hitter into the sixth inning in three of her last six starts.

• Leonhardt named GLVC Pitcher of Week. Junior pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt was named the GLVC Pitcher of the Week after going 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA, a .152 opponent batting average and 16 strikeouts in USI’s wins over McKendree and Illinois Springfield.

• Webb ties record. Sophomore outfielder Alicia Webb tied a school record for triples in a game (2) when she had back-to-back triples in the first and second innings of USI’s 7-0 game-one win over Illinois Springfield Sunday.

• Johnson named GLVC Player of Week. Johnson was named the GLVC Player of the Week for her efforts in USI’s final week at The Spring Games. In addition to her .538 batting average, Johnson had a .613 on-base percentage and a 1.000 slugging percentage. She drew five walks and struck out just two times as the Eagles went 5-3.

• NFCA Top 25. The University of Indianapolis (No. 20) is the only team from the GLVC that is in this week’s Top 25, while No. 7 Grand Valley State (GLIAC) and No. 17 Wayne State (GLIAC) are the only other Midwest Region teams inside the Top 25. Ashland (GLIAC) is receiving votes outside the Top 25.

• Offensive leaders. Johnson leads the Eagles in batting average (.409), triples (5), on-base percentage (.495), runs scored (28) and RBIs (22). Leonhardt is hitting .364 with a team-best 11 sacrifices, while Schubert and senior catcher Lindsey Barr each have a team-high four home runs.

• Leonhardt leading Eagles in circle. Leonhardt leads the Eagles with an 11-4 record, two saves, a 1.55 ERA, a .181 opponent batting average and 113 strikeouts. She began the week leading the GLVC in ERA and opponent batting average, and was third in strikeouts.

• Leonhardt closing in on strikeout record. Leonhardt begins the week needing just 61 strikeouts match Brooke Harmening‘s all-time school record of 642.

• Hitting streaks. Johnson, Ricketts and Webb each start the week with a team-best three-game hitting streak. Johnson and Ricketts each have recorded a team-high eight-game hitting streak this year.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville baseball team stayed hot at the plate and rode some solid relief pitching to a 9-5 victory over SIU-Edwardsville at Charles H. Braun Stadium Wednesday night.

After falling into a 4-0 hole in the second inning, freshman right-hand pitcher Sam Steimel came in to toss a scoreless third and fourth frame, scattering a pair of hits while striking out a batter. For his efforts, Steimel picked up the first victory of his college career.

Meanwhile, the Aces bats ignited. After a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the frame got Evansville on the scoreboard, sophomore first baseman Tanner Craig drilled a one-out solo home run to left in the third, cutting the Cougar lead down to two.

Then in the third, UE overtook SIUE. Tanner Craig continued his sudden warm-up at the plate, drilling a shot to deep left with the bases loaded, just missing out on a grand slam. Instead, it was an RBI single, driving in junior right fielder Troy Beilsmith, cutting the deficit to 4-3. Then, senior center fielder Nate Reeder continued his torrid start to the season with a bases-loaded single, driving in both freshman designated hitter A.J. Fritz and junior shortstop Craig Shepherd, giving the Aces the lead, 5-4.

The Cougars would come back to knot the game up in the top of the fifth, but in the bottom of the sixth, the Aces snap the deadlock. Craig Shepherd would tally on a bases-loaded wild pitch, giving UE the lead, 6-5. Nate Reeder would follow that up with an RBI single deep in the hole at shortstop, scoring Shepherd for an insurance tally, 7-5.

Freshman left-hand reliever Michael Parks would take it from there, tossing three straight shutout frames to close out the game, earning him the third save of his young collegiate career.

The win improves Evansville’s record to 11-9 on the season, while SIU-Edwardsville falls to 8-14.

The Aces now head to Peoria, Illinois to open the Missouri Valley Conference schedule on the road at Bradley, beginning Friday at 6 p.m.

FOOTNOTE: INFO: For all of the latest information on University of Evansville athletics, visit GoPurpleAces.com or follow the program on Twitter via @UEAthletics.

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