Missouri State rallies for 4-3 win over UE

 Junior Morgan Florey racked up the 600^th strikeout of her career in the first inning when the University of Evansville softball team finished up its 3-game set against Missouri State at Cooper Stadium.

MSU (23-14, 8-4 MVC) earned the series sweep, defeating Evansville (11-22, 4-7 MVC) by a 4-3 final.  UE rallied to take a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth before the Bears fought back with a pair in the top of the seventh to take the win.

Morgan Florey entered the game just three strikeouts shy of 600 in her career.  The Peoria, Ill. native did not need too long to reach the mark as she struck out the side in the first inning.  Florey became just the second in program history to reach the mark.  The only other one was Katie Markle, who holds the program mark with 734.

The teams combined for three hits through the first five innings.  Brittany Hay posted the hit for UE and also had a steal in the second inning.  Hailee Vigneaux of the Bears was the first runner to get to third base, doing so in the sixth inning.  Daphne Plummer sent her home with a triple to plate the first run of the day.  Plummer made it a 2-0 game, scoring on a Darian Frost sacrifice fly.

Limited to just one infield hit through five innings, the Purple Aces came to life in the sixth.  Bailee Porter reached on a 1-out single and advanced to third on an MSU error.  She came home when Eryn Gould reached base on an error.  Mea Adams followed with a single before Lindsay Renneisen notched one of her own, scoring Gould to tie the game up at 2-2.

Elyse Hickey later walked with the bases loaded to give UE its first lead of the game at 3-2.

Just as fast as UE took the lead, Missouri State rallied back in the seventh as the Bears led off with a home run to tie it right back up before a single from Madison Jones gave them a 4-3 advantage.

In the bottom half of the seventh, the Aces went down in order to finish off the game.  UE finished the game with three runs on four hits.  The Bears notched seven hits against Florey, who fanned ten batters in the game.

Following a doubleheader on Wednesday at UT Martin, the Aces travel to Illinois State for three games next weekend.

The University of Southern Indiana baseball team made it a clean sweep of the four-game set with Lewis University by taking both ends of a doubleheader, 4-2 and 5-3, Saturday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. USI, which has won its last eight, watched its record go to 16-13 overall and 8-4 in the GLVC, while Lewis goes to 10-18-1 in 2018, 4-7 GLVC.

Game 1: 
USI senior right-hander Devin Williams (Evansville, Indiana) pitched five strong innings and senior leftfielder Drake McNamara (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) hit a two-run home run as the Screaming Eagles took the opener, 4-2.

Williams (3-3) allowed one run on five hits and five walks, while striking out four to post his third win of the year. Junior right-hander Dalton Lewis (Parker, Colorado) finished the game for the Eagles, allowing a hit before posting his first save of the year.

In between Williams and Lewis, senior right-hander Nick Coudret (Newburgh, Indiana) pitched the sixth, giving up one run.

Offensively, McNamara led the Eagles at the plate with his two-run home run in the third to give USI a 2-1 advantage. USI would hold onto the 2-1 lead until the fifth when it sealed the win with a pair of runs.

Senior third baseman Nick Gobert (Jasper, Indiana) knocked in the third run and the eventual game-winning tally with a sacrifice fly before senior rightfielder Buddy Johnson (Shelbyville, Kentucky) finished up the Eagles’ scoring with a RBI-double to make the score 4-1. Lewis would get a tally in the sixth before USI closed out the final frame.

Game 2: 
USI senior pinch-hitter Sam Griggs (Evansville, Indiana) came off the bench to drive in the eventual game-winner in the nightcap as the Eagles completed the sweep with a 5-3 victory. Griggs, who has missed the last four games with a knee injury, drove in senior third baseman Nick Gobert with the fourth run of the game to make the score, 4-3.

Junior catcher Logan Brown (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) sealed the nightcap victory by driving in senior rightfielder Buddy Johnson with an RBI-single to center for the 5-3 final.

The Eagles took the early lead with a tally in the first on a ground out by senior leftfielder/first baseman Drake McNamara to drive in freshman centerfielder Bryce Krizan (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) from third. USI increased the margin to 3-0 in the fifth when Krizan and McNamara posted back-to-back RBI singles.

Lewis rallied with a three-run sixth to set the stage for Griggs and Brown in the eighth.

On the mound, sophomore right-hander Tyler Hagedorn (Evansville, Indiana) won his second game of the weekend in relief of junior left-handed starter Chase Partain (Evansville, Indiana). Hagedorn (3-2) pitched a pair of scoreless innings, allowing one hit and tied a season-high with three strikeouts.

Partain threw seven strong frames before giving way to Hagedorn in the eighth. The junior left-hander allowed three runs on eight hits and four walks, while tying a career-high with seven strike outs.

KIRKSVILLE, Mo.—University of Southern Indiana Softball suffered a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference setbacks on a frigid Saturday afternoon. The Screaming Eagles fell, 5-3, in the opener before dropping game two, 5-1.

USI (17-16, 6-8 GLVC) returns to action Monday at noon when it travels to Quincy, Illinois, to take on Quincy University in a GLVC twinbill.

Game 1: Truman 5, USI 1 (Box Score)
Despite getting home runs from junior second baseman Claire Johnson (Pittsboro, Indiana) and senior first baseman Marleah Fossett(Brownsburg, Indiana), the Eagles could not overcome a combined seven walks in a 5-3 loss in the opener.

Sophomore pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky), who was charged with the loss, issued a free pass during Truman’s two-run first inning; then had a pair of two-out walks that led to a Bulldogs’ tally in the second frame.

After Johnson’s solo shot in the top of the third inning trimmed USI’s deficit to 3-1, the Bulldogs responded by taking advantage of an error and two walks, this time by junior hurler Courtney Atkinson (Bringhurst, Indiana), to score two more runs and extend their lead to 5-1.

Fossett’s two-run bomb in the seventh cut Truman’s lead to just two runs, but that was as close as USI would get.

Truman (19-11, 8-6 GLVC) was limited to just four hits in the opener.

Game 2: Truman 5, USI 1 (Box Score)
Johnson hit her second home run of the day to tie the score at 1-1 in the top of the third inning, but Truman answered with a four-spot in the last half of the third inning to build a commanding 5-1 advantage.

Following Johnson’s home run, the Eagles were held to just two hits, both off the bat of senior third baseman Mena Fulton (Bloomington, Indiana), who went 3-for-3 with a double.

Junior pitcher Haylee Smith (Florence, Kentucky) was charged with the loss after giving up five runs, three earned, off seven hits in six innings of work.

Truman State 5, Southern Indiana 3 (Apr 07, 2018 at Kirksville, MO) (Game 1)

University of Southern Indiana Men’s Track & Field collected four wins Friday afternoon at the Kentucky Wesleyan Invitational in Owensboro, Kentucky, en route to a second place finish.  USI had 131 points, just six behind winner Vincennes University.

Senior Bastian Grau (Höchstadt, Germany) led the way, picking up wins in both the 800 meters and 1500 meters. In the 800, Grau took the top spot in two minutes, 0.04 seconds. Junior Almustapha Silvester(Indianapolis, Indiana) grabbed the second spot running unattached, while freshmen Madison King (Avon, Indiana) and Arie Macias (Godfrey, Illinois) were third and fourth, respectively.

Grau won the 1500 in 3:58.87, topping sophomore Austin Nolan (Evansville, Indiana) and senior James Cecil (Owensboro, Kentucky). Three other Screaming Eagles also earned top 10 finishes in the event.

Finishing second to Grau in the 1500, Nolan picked up his own win in the 3000 meters with a time of 9:00.70. Nolan paced the field as Cecil finished second and sophomore Darin Lawrence (Indianapolis, Indiana) third as the Eagles took seven of the top eight places and eight of 10.

Picking up the fourth win of the afternoon for the Eagles was sophomore Javan Winders (Mansfield, Tennessee) in the 3000-meter steeplechase in 9:47.91. Freshman Grady Wilkinson (Mt. Carmel, Illinois) earned a second-place finish.

Freshman sprinter Andrew Pierce continued to run well, finishing second in the 100 meters in 11.07 seconds. That time puts him second in the 100-meter record books. He also placed sixth in the 200 meters in 23.12 seconds.

In the field, freshman Tyrell Nickelson (English, Indiana) took second in the high jump and senior Daniel Gibson (Normal, Illinois) third in the pole vault.

The Eagles are off until the Mt. Sac Relays April 19-20 and the Bellarmine Classic April 21.

University of Southern Indiana Women’s Track & Field took second of 11 teams at the Kentucky Wesleyan Invitational Friday afternoon in Owensboro, Kentucky. USI accumulated 115 points behind first place KWC.

The Screaming Eagles won three distance events while occupying the top three spots in the 1500 meters and 3000-meter steeplechase, while taking the top eight positions in the 3000 meters.

Freshman Jennifer Comastri (Indianapolis, Indiana) claimed the win in both the 1500 and 3000, taking the 1500 in four minutes, 52.10 seconds, besting junior Micalah Booher (Pendleton, Indiana) by just four tenths of a second. Junior Allison Rollins (Newburgh, Indiana) was third in 4:55.30.

Comastri’s winning time in the 3000 was 10:52.90 in leading Eagles to the top eight finishes. Senior Bryce Cutler (Benzonia, Michigan) took second in 10:55.89 while Booher had her second strong performance of the day with a third-place finish.

USI’s third win came in the 3000-meter steeplechase by senior Melina Gryschka (Garbsen, Germany) in 11:31.75. Junior Kate Henrickson (Boonville, Indiana) followed in second with senior Kate Duty(Owensboro, Kentucky) third.

Freshman Ralen Campbell (Indianapolis, Indiana) also had two strong performances on the afternoon. She finished second in the 200 meters in 27.74 seconds and was third in the long jump with a jump of 15 feet, 6.25 inches.

The Eagles are off until the Mt. Sac Relays April 18-19 and the Bellarmine Classic April 21.