Aces have won four of their last five games

A 5-run third inning spearheaded a 7-1 victory for the University of Evansville softball team over Loyola to clinch the series on Saturday afternoon.

“We talked a lot yesterday after the second game about our offensive game plan with an emphasis of sticking with it and executing,” Purple Aces head coach Mat Mundell explained.  “We came out and did it today.  I was really proud of our approach at the plate.  Any time you can take a road series, it is big.”

Evansville has now won four out of five games after an 0-3 start to Missouri Valley Conference play.  The Aces sit at 11-19 and 4-4 in the league going into a Thursday road tilt at Butler and a weekend home series versus Missouri State.

In the first inning, the Aces got on the board when a Lindsay Renneisen single plated Mea Adams.  After Loyola tied it up, the Aces turned the game around with a big third inning.

Five runs came home for UE, all with two outs.  Renneisen got it started with a single before coming home on a Morgan Florey double.  Next up was McKenzie Johnson, who delivered a 2-run home run.  Evansville added four more hits in the frame with Bailee Bostic, Bailee Porter, Adams and Brittany Hay all helping to put together the 5-run inning.

One more run scored late in the contest as the Aces clinched the 7-1 win.  Florey had another stellar day in the circle.  In another seven inning performance, Florey allowed just four hits.  She has won four games over the last two weekends of action.

University of Southern Indiana Softball sophomore pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky) and junior hurler Courtney Atkisson (Bringhurst, Indiana) surrendered a combined two runs Saturday as the Screaming Eagles swept a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader from visiting Lewis University at the USI Softball Field.

Leonhardt went a combined 3-of-7 at the plate with a double and five RBIs as the Eagles earned a 6-1 win in game one and a 3-1 triumph in game two.

USI (17-14, 6-6 GLVC) returns to action Tuesday at 5 p.m. when it hosts Kentucky Wesleyan College in a Midwest Region doubleheader at the USI Softball Field.

Game 1: USI 6, Lewis 1 (Box Score)
Leonhardt went 2-for-4 with a double and four RBIs as the Eagles scored five unanswered runs to earn the 6-1 victory.

USI capitalized on a two-out walk to open up a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Sophomore outfielder Allison Schubert (Nicholasville, Kentucky) followed the walk to junior outfielder Caitlyn Bradley (Forest, Indiana) by roping an RBI-double into the leftfield gap.

Lewis (15-17, 4-10 GLVC) answered with a tally in the top half of the fourth inning, but Leonhardt’s two-out single with the bases loaded sent two runners across the plate in the home half of the fourth to put USI up, 3-1.

Leonhardt added to the Eagles’ advantage in the sixth with a two-run double, while Bradley’s RBI-single in the next at-bat gave USI a comfortable five-run cushion.

In the circle, Leonhardt (8-7) picked up the win after giving up just one run off five hits in seven innings of work. She struck out seven batters while not issuing a walk for the second consecutive outing.

Game 2: USI 3, Lewis 1 (Box Score)
The Eagles used a three-run third inning and a strong pitching performance by Atkisson to pick up the 3-1 win in the nightcap.

USI recorded five of its six hits in the last half of the third frame, including three straight RBI-singles by Leonhardt, Bradley and Schubert, to take the 3-0 lead.

Lewis capitalized on a pair of errors to plate a run in the top of the fourth inning, but that was all the offense it could muster as Atkisson cruised to her sixth win of the year.

Atkisson (6-4) gave up just one unearned run off four hits in seven innings of work. She recorded one strikeout and did not issue a walk in the victory.

University of Southern Indiana Track & Field senior Bastian Grau (Höchstadt, Germany) set his second provisional time in as many weeks running in the 5000 meters at the Raleigh Relays hosted by North Carolina State Friday evening.

After recording a provisional time at Vanderbilt last week in the 1500 meters, Grau completed the 5000-meter race in 14 minutes, 9.97 seconds. The time currently ranks as the top provisional time in Division II.  Grau finished 14^th overall in a field filled with NCAA Division I competition.

Also in the 5000 meters, sophomore Austin Nolan (Evansville, Indiana) finished 96^th in 14:53.72. In the 1500 meters, sophomore Javan Winders (Mansfield, Tennessee) placed 31^st, finishing in 3:54.55.

USI was also in action at the WashU Invitational in St. Louis, Missouri, this weekend, and will participate in the KWC Invitational April 6-7 in Owensboro, Kentucky.

OMAHA, Neb. – Sophomore reliever-turned-starter Adam Lukas delivered his second straight lights-out performance, but it wasn’t enough, as the University of Evansville baseball team was edged by Creighton University, 2-1, in Omaha Friday night.

Lukas, making his second start out of the bullpen, came out strong for the Purple Aces, striking out four through his first three innings of work. However, his Blue Jay counterpart, Ryan Tapani matched him throughout a scoreless first three frames, as the game settled in the pitchers duel.

In the fourth inning, sophomore outfielder Troy Beilsmith got hit by a Tapani pitch to lead off the frame. A Sam Troyer sacrifice bunt to first moved Beilsmith into scoring position with one out. However, Tapani bounced back to strike out freshman designated hitter Tanner Craig, putting the rally in jeopardy. Then, sophomore center fielder Kenton Crews delivered a clutch two out single to left, tallying Beilsmith for the opening tally of the game.

Lukas proceeded to dodge disaster through the next two frames, getting out of jams in the fourth and fifth frames, as Evansville maintained it’s slender 1-0 frame.

However, the sixth inning was another matter, as a one-out walk and a steal put Creighton’s Will Robertson on second with one out. Lukas came back with a strikeout and appeared to be on the verge of getting out of another jam, when Ryan Mantle lifted a fly to shallow left that just eluded a diving Troy Beilsmith, allowing Robertson to tally the equalizer, making it 1-1 after six innings.

Lukas’ night would stop the bleeding and his night would end after six innings. His final line was another impressive one, allowing one run on on four hits and four walks, while striking out five.

Senior hurler Jimmy Ward would take over to start the seventh, and after striking out the first batter he faced, Parker Upton lifted a double to the gap in left-center, which would quickly end Ward’s night, as he gave way to Ryan Brady. One out away from preventing the go-ahead run from scoring, Isaac Collins sent a hot shot second that senior second baseman couldn’t handle. The ensuing error allowed Upton to score, making it 2-1 Blue Jays.

That’s all Creighton could manage on the night, but it was enough, as the Aces went quietly in th eighth and ninth frames, as Ward was the touch luck loser, while Tapani, who went 7 2/3 innings, allowing just two hits while striking out five, picked up the win, improving to 5-0. UE fell to 6-13 on the season. The Blue Jays improved to 14-6 on the year.

Evansville and Creighton are back at it again Saturday afternoon in Creighton, with the Purple Aces sending junior left hander Alex Weigand to the hill, and the Blue Jays countering with Mitch Ragan. First pitch from Omaha’s TD Ameritrade Park is at 2 p.m. Joe Downs will have the radio play-by-play on 91.5-FM WEUV.