EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana announced the hiring of Chris Ramirez as the sixth head baseball coach in the history of the 54 year-old program.

“I am very excited for the opportunity to lead the USI baseball program,” said Ramirez. “The Screaming Eagles have had a rich tradition and history of success, which I look forward to building upon. Our plan is to win championships in the Ohio Valley Conference and compete in the NCAA Baseball Tournament. I can’t wait to get to know our current players and get to work”.

Ramirez has a 351-202-1 record as a head coach in 11 seasons, including three NCAA II Tournament appearances and being named NCBWA National Coach of the Year in 2018. He led Lenoir-Rhyne University to the programs most successful five-seasons in program history with a 152-80 record, reaching the NCAA post-season in 2022.  He also posted a record of 199-122-1 in six years at the University of Illinois Springfield, earning trips the NCAA II Tournament in 2018 and 2019.

“We had incredible interest in this position as many coaches feel the same as we do that USI can win championships and make NCAA regionals when eligible,” said USI Director of Athletics Jon Mark Hall. “USI had interest from head and assistant coaches from Power 4 programs, mid-majors, and programs coming off regional appearances, along with interest from high level D2, D3, NAIA and JUCO programs.

“We landed on Chris because he is a winner and, like USI, earned his success through hard work,” continued Hall. “He has a blue collar, hard-working mentality that will fit right in with our athletic department and the University.”

Ramirez directed the UIS Prairie Stars into the NCAA II Midwest Regional for the first time in program history in 2018 with a 47-9 record and a Great Lakes Valley Conference regular season championship with a 23-1 conference mark.  The Stars and Ramirez followed up with a Midwest Super Regional appearance in 2019 after posting a 41-17 record and a 21-12 GLVC mark.

The UIS program was ranked as high as third and fourth in the nation in both 2018 and 2019, leading the nation in both home runs and slugging percentage.

After moving on to Lenoir-Rhyne, Ramirez built the Bears into a regional contender in 2022 following a 46-13 campaign that included a 17-7 record in the South Atlantic Conference and tournament Championship. The Bears, who had four wins over teams ranked number one in the nation in 2022, finished ranked as high as 11th nationally and finished the year 15th. The 2022 pitching staff set a new NCAA II record for single season strikeouts with 647 on the year. The Bears also reached a program best in 2023 when they were ranked seventh nationally.

Ramirez served as a Division I assistant coach for six seasons at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi before taking the top spots at UIS and Lenior-Rhyne.

As a student athlete, Ramirez was a two-time All-Conference centerfielder and closer at Kirkwood Community College before earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration from High Point University. He played two seasons for High Point and earned Big South All-Academic honor in 2005.

The Iowa native was born and raised in Fort Madison and won a state championship in 2000.

Ramirez and his wife, Lindsay, have three children; Layla, Mia and Stryker.

Ramirez takes over a USI baseball program which was 27-32 overall, 14-13 in Ohio Valley Conference, and placed third in the league’s post-season tournament during its second year of Division I action. USI’s 27 wins last spring were an improvement of 10 victories over its inaugural season with OVC and Division I.

WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Evansville Otters opened a six-game road trip on Tuesday in a 7-1 loss against the Washington Wild Things.

For the third time in four matchups at Wild Things Park this year, the Otters (20-32) scored first against the Wild Things (34-17) but lost the lead and could not find an answer.

Washington starter Malik Barington (3-2) dominated on the hill. He went six innings allowing the lone run on three hits. The Otters’ Tristan Harvin (2-4) took the loss as the starter gave up all runs in five innings.

The bullpen was excellent for Evansville, pitching in three innings and seeing the just nine batters. Jakob Meyer struck out two in as many innings, and rolled a double play in the seventh to negate a leadoff base hit. In the eighth, Chip Korbacher worked a one-two-three with one strikeout.

Beginning the ballgame, Giovanni DiGiacomo led off with a hit to right field. After stealing second and moving to third on a wild pitch, David Menham brought him home on a fielder’s choice RBI.

In the home half of the first, the Wild Things answered the only Otters run of the night by scoring one on a miscommunication from the Evansville defense.

They took the lead in the third inning with two home runs, scoring four on as many hits to take a 5-1 lead and finalized the scoring in the fifth with another two runs.

Leading the offense with two of the five team hits, Devlin Zinn stayed hot with the bat in a two-for-three night.

Tomorrow the Otters try to win their first game against Washington this year. The first pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. CT. Coverage is available on the Otters Digital Network and FloBaseball.

VUVB adds offensive power with signing of Tiara Sands

VINCENNES, Ind. – The three time defending Region 24 Champion Vincennes University Volleyball program picked up another big addition last week with the signing of outside hitter Tiara Sands.

Sands comes to Vincennes University from Zephyrhills High School in Zephyrhills, Fla., northeast of Tampa.

Sands is coming off a stellar high school career where she earned All-Sunshine Athletic Conference honors three times and earned All-Region honors as a senior.

Tiara is the daughter of Loretta Forrest and plans to study Culinary Arts at Vincennes University.

“I am extremely excited to see Tiara continue her volleyball career at the next level,” Tiara’s Former Assistant High School Coach Antrine Wicks said. “I’m looking forward to seeing her skills grow and compete against the best.”

Tiara is stepping into a tough competition for playing time as the Trailblazers are looking to replace nearly 50-percent of their kills output from last year.

“Tiara is a very explosive, dynamic type player,” VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. “She’s a former middle, so she comes in with quite a bit of blocking skills. We need hitters out there, especially in the left front that are familiar with that position and ready to swing at anything. I feel like Tiara has a really good opportunity to come in here and do well. She has a chance to show what she can do.”

“As soon as we contacted her, she was very interested and enthusiastic about VU,” Sien added. “Tiara was also looking for a school that would offer Culinary Arts, which is something that not a lot of other schools offer. For any collegiate program to advance and grow, the recruiting options have to expand as well. If it’s not, you are going to be stuck at a certain level.”

“We want to compete at the National level,” Sien said. “There are some pretty good programs down in Florida, not just at the NJCAA level but the Division II schools as well and of course the Division I teams. For us to be able to expand out and recruit in Florida is going to be huge. To have someone who is a high caliber player decide to leave the state of Florida and choose to come to school at Vincennes, Indiana is great to see.”

“Bringing in Tiara, along with the other hitters that we have already brought in this year, they will have an opportunity to compete for our two open spots in the front row and there is going to be a great competition for those two spots,” Sien added. “We’ve got three or four players that we are considering for those two spots and those positions could remain in flux, which would be good because it gives us different options and lots of competition for playing time.”

“As for how this year’s team is beginning to take shape, it always goes back to passing,” Sien said. “We typically have a nice offense here but the difference is can you pass. The 2023 team had that, which allowed us for most of the year to hit over .260 as a team. We will have new passers this year. We had our three main passers from last year graduate, so this year we are going to have three new passers. So that is going to be a determining factor for our success this year.”

The Vincennes University Athletic Department is excited to welcome Tiara Sands to the 2024 Trailblazer recruiting class.

UE Volleyball unveils 2024 season schedule

Aces open season in Puerto Rico

 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – With the return of 12 players including reigning Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Giulia Cardona, the 2024 season is shaping up to be a memorable one for the University of Evansville volleyball team.

Led by Cardona and former MVC All-Conference honoree Melanie Feliciano, the Purple Aces look to rise up the league standings and replicate the success of the past handful of seasons including the 2021 campaign that saw the team win 21 matches on their way to a berth in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC).

In what will be a special trip to multiple reasons, the Aces open the season in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico where they will take part in a tournament inside Mario Morales Coliseum.  With the number of ties to Puerto Rico within the UE program, it will be a homecoming for many while presenting others with the opportunity to experience the heritage of their teammates.  The event runs from August 30 through September 1 with UE facing Akron, University of Puerto Rico – Rio Piedras, and Providence.

Making its return in 2024 is the Dunn Hospitality Tournament.  Taking place on Sept. 6-7, the tournament will see Evansville play host to Chicago State, Samford and Miami Ohio inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.  Samford highlights the field as they went 16-15 last season and 13-9 in the Southern Conference.

The third non-conference tournament of the season will see the Aces head to Morehead, Ky. for the Comfort Inn-Vitational.  Set for Sept. 13-14, UE will take on Eastern Michigan, Duquesne, and Morehead State.  The Eagles are coming off an 18-13 campaign last year while winning 11 Ohio Valley Conference matches.

On Sept. 17, the Aces welcome crosstown squad USI to Meeks Family Fieldhouse.  The Screaming Eagles won 15 matches in 2023, a 14-win improvement over 2022.  Later that week, UE will face USI in a rematch across town at Screaming Eagles Arena.  That match will take place on Friday, Sept. 20.  On the 22^nd, Evansville faces IU Indianapolis across town on the USI campus.

Missouri Valley Conference play opens with home matches on the 27^th and 28^th with Valparaiso and UIC coming to town.  The Beacons won 18 matches last season on their way to a spot in the NIVC while the Flames had an even more impressive season, going 21-12 and 11-7 in the Valley.  October begins with four league road matches.  After opening the month with the Belmont/Murray State (Oct. 4-5) trip, UE heads to Bradley and Illinois State on the 11^th and 12^th.

UE is back home on the 18^th and 19^th to face Southern Illinois and Missouri State.  SIU won 20 contests in 2023 and played in the NIVC.  The Bears were an even 16-16 overall and 9-9 in the league.  Following a road match at Indiana State on Oct. 21, UE makes the weekend swing through Iowa on the 25^th and 26^th.  The Aces open the weekend at Northern Iowa, who went 26-7 last year and a perfect 18-0 in the MVC on their way to the league championship and a spot in the NCAA Tournament.  Drake is coming off a second-place finish in the league as they won 24 matches on the season while going 14-4 in the MVC.

Four home matches follow, beginning on Nov. 1-2 with Illinois State and Bradley coming to Meeks Family Fieldhouse.  One week later, Evansville welcomes Murray State and Belmont.  The final road trip will see the Aces head to UIC and Valparaiso before returning home to close out the regular season against Indiana State on Nov. 20.

UNI is slated to hose the 2024 MVC Volleyball Championship from Nov. 23-26.