The University of Southern Indiana baseball team concluded its four-game series at Lewis University with a doubleheader split Sunday afternoon in Romeoville, Illinois. USI took the opening game, 9-1, but missed a chance at winning the series by stumbling in game two, 5-4.

The Screaming Eagles watched their record go to 24-16 overall and 15-5 in the GLVC, while Lewis goes to 12-29 overall, 6-14 GLVC.

The split drops USI into a tie for first in the GLVC East Division after University of Illinois Springfield swept its second-straight doubleheader from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside this afternoon. USI holds the tie-breaker over Illinois Springfield by winning the series with the Prairie Stars last month.

In the opener, USI junior leftfielder Drake McNamara (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) and freshman centerfielder Spencer Deom (Newburgh, Indiana) homered in leading the Eagles to a 9-1 victory.

McNamara, who finished the game two-for-three with a run scored and three RBIs, had a two-run double and solo home run in his first two at-bats to ignite the Eagles’ offense. The home run was McNamara’s team-best sixth of the season.

Deom, whose two-run blast in the second inning was his second home run of the season, concluded the opener one-for-three with two runs scored and two RBIs. Senior designated hitter Jaylen Quarles (Indianapolis, Indiana) and sophomore catcher Logan Brown (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) also drove in a pair of RBIs in the victory.

Senior right-handed starter Colin Nowak (Carol Stream, Illinois) recorded his fifth win of the season and moved into a tie for first in victories on the team this spring. Nowak (5-3) struck out three in five innings of work, allowing one run on a home run.

In the nightcap, Lewis scored twice in the bottom of the eighth to win a back-and-forth battle, 5-4. USI had a 3-0 lead in the fourth and a 4-3 lead after seven-and-a-half innings before Lewis rallied for the win.

McNamara fueled the Eagles offense for the second game in a row with two RBIs, while junior rightfielder Nick Gobert (Jasper, Indiana) had a pair of hits and scored a run.

Freshman right-hander Tyler Hagedorn (Evansville, Indiana) took the loss in relief. Hagedorn (1-3) allowed two runs on three hits, striking out two, in the eighth inning.

Sophomore right-hander Austin Krizan (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) started and got a no decision. Krizan allowed two runs on seven hits, striking out one in five innings, before giving way to the bullpen. Senior right-hander Mike Ringer relieved Krizan in the sixth and allowed a run on one hit in two frames of work.

USI completes the five-game road swing Tuesday when it visits Kentucky Wesleyan College for a 2 p.m. game. The Eagles return to the friendly surroundings of the USI Baseball Field next weekend when they host the University of Indianapolis for a four-game series. The USI-UIndy doubleheader on April 30 is Senior Day for the Eagles.

4/22-23/2017 — UIS Spring Invite
Panther Creek Country Club — Springfield, IL
Par 72, 6056 yards — 8 teams, 48 players

The 34^th-ranked University of Southern Indiana men’s tennis team dropped its Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship quarterfinal Saturday evening at the Chesterfield Athletic Club, falling 5-0 to Rockhurst University.

USI fell behind 3-0 after doubles play, and was unable to come back during singles. Senior Aaron Barris (Marietta, Georgia) and junior Jack Lipchik (Kokomo, Indiana) battled at number three doubles, but came up just short, falling 9-7.

The Screaming Eagles then lost the first two singles matches that were completed. With the match having been decided, the final four matches did not finish. Lipchik won his first set 6-4, but was behind 2-0 at number six when the match was called.

The Eagles will find out Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m. if they will receive a bid to the NCAA II Tournament. Seven teams qualify from the Midwest Region, and the Eagles were fifth in the latest regional rankings.

University of Southern Indiana Softball settled for a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader split with visiting Truman State University Sunday afternoon on Senior Day. The No. 5 Screaming Eagles earned a 9-5 win over the Bulldogs in the opener before falling, 7-3, in the nightcap.

Following the games, USI honored its senior class of outfielder Grace Clark (Indianapolis, Indiana), infielder Sadie Foster (Plainfield, Indiana), catcher Haley Hodges(Portage, Indiana), outfielder Alisha Ludwig (Terre Haute, Indiana) and shortstop Lexi Reese (Lebanon, Indiana) as part of its Senior Day Festivities.

USI (39-9, 18-6 GLVC) concludes its 2017 regular-season home schedule Monday at 11 a.m. when it hosts Quincy University for Awareness Day. The Hawks (15-25, 7-17 GLVC) lost both ends of a GLVC twin bill to host Bellarmine University Sunday in Louisville, Kentucky.

Game 1 | Southern Indiana 9, Truman State 5

–Box Score

Senior shortstop Lexi Reese (Lebanon, Indiana) went 3-of-5 with a home run, double and career-high five RBIs as the Eagles won a wild game one.

Reese opened the game with a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead; then had an RBI-single in a three-run second inning that lifted USI to a 4-0 advantage.

Truman (32-18, 15-9 GLVC) got a lead-off home run from senior catcher Lex Van Nostrand in the top of the fourth inning to get on the scoreboard; then tacked on two more tallies to trim USI’s advantage to one run.

Reese’s three-run double in the Eagles’ five-run fifth inning gave USI a 7-3 advantage, while an RBI-double by junior first baseman Marleah Fossett (Brownsburg, Indiana) put USI up, 8-3. Senior outfielder Grace Clark (Indianapolis, Indiana) drove in the Eagles’ fifth run of the inning as USI built an insurmountable six-run edge.

The Bulldogs, however, made a late charge in the top of the seventh inning as a two-run home run by freshman third baseman Alyssa Rivera trimmed USI’s lead to four runs. Back-to-back singles following the home run chased USI freshman pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky) out of the game.

Sophomore pitcher/outfielder Caitlyn Bradley (Forest, Indiana), however, came into the contest to get back-to-back outs to preserve USI’s win. Leonhardt (23-1) earned her 20^th straight win after giving up five runs off nine hits in 6.1 innings of work, while Bradley racked up her team-best third save of the year.

Game 2 | Truman State 7, Southern Indiana 3

–Box Score

Truman scored six unanswered runs to turn a 3-1 deficit into 7-3 victory over USI in the nightcap.

USI, which saw an eight-game winning streak end with the loss, scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 2-1 lead. The Eagles scored their first tally on a wild pitch, while Clark had an RBI-single to give USI the one-run cushion.

The Eagles tacked on another tally in the third inning to extend their lead to 3-1; but the Bulldogs got a solo home run from sophomore designated player Morgan McMahan in the fourth frame and a two-out, RBI-single from Rivera in the fifth to tie the contest at 3-3.

Another two-out single in the sixth inning off the bat of junior outfielder Riley Cook gave the Bulldogs a 4-3 lead; then a three-run seventh frame staked Truman to a commanding four-run advantage.

USI got back-to-back hits to lead off the last half of the seventh inning, but a hard-luck double-play ball took momentum out of the Eagles’ charge as they could not overcome the deficit.

Bradley (6-3) was charged with the loss after giving up five runs, four earned, off 10 hits in seven innings of work. Sophomore pitcher Courtney Atkisson (Bringhurst, Indiana) relieved Bradley for a brief moment in the seventh inning but was tagged for two runs off three hits before giving the ball back to Bradley to finish the frame.

Southern Indiana 9, Truman State 5 (Apr 23, 2017 at Evansville, IN) (Game 1)

———————————————————————-

Truman State…….. 000 300 2 -  5  9  2      (31-18, 14-9 GLVC)

Southern Indiana…. 130 050 X -  9 13  0      (39-8, 18-5 GLVC)

———————————————————————-

Pitchers: Truman State – Simpson, Nicolette; Hajduk, Alyssa(2) and Van Nostrand, Lex.

Southern Indiana – Leonhardt, Jennifer; Bradley, Caitlyn(7) and Hodges, Haley.

Win-Leonhardt, Jennifer(23-1)  Save-Bradley, Caitlyn(3)  Loss-Simpson, Nicolette(13-6)  T-2:05  A-334

HR TSU – Rivera, Alyssa (7); Van Nostrand, Lex (10).

HR USI – Reese, Lexi (4).

Weather: Partly cloudy, windy

Game: 47-TSU

Truman State 7, Southern Indiana 3 (Apr 23, 2017 at Evansville, IN) (Game 2)

———————————————————————-

Truman State…….. 100 111 3 -  7 13  1      (32-18, 15-9 GLVC)

Southern Indiana…. 201 000 0 -  3  5  3      (39-9, 18-6 GLVC)

———————————————————————-

Pitchers: Truman State – Dale, Lauren and Van Nostrand, Lex. Southern Indiana –

Bradley, Caitlyn; Atkisson,Courtney(8) and Hodges, Haley.

Win-Dale, Lauren(15-6)  Loss-Bradley, Caitlyn(6-3)  T-1:36  A-334

HR TSU – McMahan, Morgan (2).

Weather: 60s, sunny

Atkisson, C. faced 3 batters in the 7th.

Game: 48-TSU

Trailing 2-0 entering the sixth inning, the University of Evansville softball team rallied for four runs in that frame on their way to a 4-2 victory over Indiana State on Sunday afternoon at Cooper Stadium.

“This was huge for us to find a way to get the win.  Our bats have been a little quiet this weekend and I feel like we were pressing just a little bit,” Purple Aces head coach Mat Mundell said.  “When Deja came to the plate and got that hit, it really gave us some life.  Morgan’s home run was obviously huge too, she has evolved a real clutch hitter for us.”

Evansville (20-26, 11-9 MVC) registered two hits on the day, but they came at the biggest time.  Indiana State (20-25, 5-15 MVC) picked up nine hits while Kenzie Ihle heled UE hitless through five innings.

The top of the third inning featured great defense by the Purple Aces.  After the Sycamores put a runner on third with one out, Morgan Florey connected with Hayli Scott for the out at the plate.  After the next ISU batter singled to shallow center, Michal Luckett threw out another Sycamore runner at home to end the inning.

Indiana State threatened in each inning and finally came through in the fourth as Gabi Carter laced a 2-run single to center field for the first scoring of the contest.

Evansville was held hitless until the bottom of the 6^th inning when Deja Shelton doubled to left field to lead off the inning.  She advanced to third on a Brittany Hay sacrifice before coming home on a sac fly by Florey.

Two hit batters put a pair of runners on for Morgan Lambert, who responded with her 7^th home run of the year, a 3-run shot, to give UE a 4-2 lead.  That proved to be the difference as Florey finished it off in the top of the seventh for UE.

A trip to Carbondale, Ill. awaits UE on Tuesday as they finish their season series with Southern Illinois.  The final home games of the year are on tap next weekend as the Aces welcome Illinois State.

In a battle to the finish, the University of Evansville women’s tennis team picked up an impressive 4-3 victory over Drake on Saturday.

“This was a real nail-biter! We needed 1 win out of the last three courts still playing and it came down to our last chance at #4 singles,” Aces head coach Jayson Wiseman said.  “Even as she watched Andjela lose a heartbreaker in three sets right next to her at #6 singles, and heard the Drake fans cheering wildly when they tied it up with a win at #1, Dasha kept her composure and calmly served out her match to clinch the win.”

“Despite the fact that 5 of the 6 singles matches were straight set affairs, that doesn’t really reflect how tight and how close this match was,” he continued.  “Coach Tran had her team ready to defend their home turf and we were fortunate to escape with a victory. We were able to answer their intensity early to take the doubles point and then do just enough to get the win, sometimes it’s not pretty and it’s a grind, but we will definitely take it! “

After taking the doubles point, UE clinched the win with three singles triumphs.  In doubles, Diana Tkachenko and Nicoli Pereira picked up a 6-2 win in the second flight while Andjela Brguljan and Daria Pentsova earned a 6-3 victory in flight #3.

Tkachenko was also victorious in singles, defeating Tess Herder, 6-3, 6-4, in the second flight.  Daria Pentsova defeated Kenya Williams, 7-5, 6-3, in the fourth slot while Theodora Soldatou won in the fifth flight, 6-4, 5-2, over Alex Kozlowski.

Tomorrow, UE faces UNI in Cedar Falls at 10 a.m.