EVANSVILLE, Ind.—University of Southern Indiana Softball racked up another 21 runs Saturday as it defeated Northwood University, 13-11, and Ohio Dominican University, 8-1, on day 2 of the Midwest Region Crossover at Deaconess Sports Park.

The Screaming Eagles (6-0) had a combined 23 hits, led by sophomore utility player Caitlyn Bradley (Forest, Indiana). Bradley had four hits and scored four runs, earned the save in the opening game, and had the complete-game victory in the nightcap.

Southern Indiana (6-0): 13, Northwood (1-2): 11

USI scored three runs in both the second and third innings and tacked on two more in the top of the fourth for an 8-0 lead; but a seven-run fourth inning for Northwood left the Eagles feeling uneasy heading into the final three frames.

The Eagles responded in the fifth inning as senior catcher Haley Hodges (Portage, Indiana) and senior shortstop Lexi Reese (Lebanon, Indiana) had RBIs to increase USI’s lead to 10-7.

USI added three more runs in the sixth as sophomore second baseman Claire Johnson (Pittsboro, Indiana) scored on a wild pitch, while Reese and junior outfielder Shelby Tate (Mattoon, Illinois) each had RBIs to put the Eagles up 13-7.

Northwood (1-2) hit its second grand slam of the game in the sixth inning to cut the Eagles’ advantage to two runs; but Bradley came on in seventh to close the door on the Timberwolves’ rally.

Earlier in the game Johnson had a two-run triple in the third inning, while Hodges had a two-run home run in the fourth. Junior third baseman Mena Fulton (Bloomington, Indiana) also had a run-scoring double in the third inning.

Freshman pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky) came on in relief to earn her third win of the year.

Southern Indiana: 8, Ohio Dominican (3-6): 1

The Eagles scored once in the top of the first and twice in both the second and third innings before a three-run fourth frame broke the game wide open.

Senior outfielder Grace Clark (Indianapolis, Indiana) hit a two-run home run to put the Eagles up, 3-0, in the second inning. Clark followed Fulton’s sacrifice fly in the third inning with an RBI-groundout as the Eagles went up, 5-0.

In the fourth, Reese and Johnson sandwiched RBIs around a pinch-hit, RBI-single by junior Alex Logan (Carleton, Michigan) as USI extended its advantage to 8-0.

Bradley’s bid for a no-hitter was broken up in the fifth inning as Ohio Dominican pitcher/infielder Casey Murdoch’s double led to a tally, which extended the contest for the Panthers.

Bradley (1-0) had six strikeouts and no walks as she scattered five hits throughout the final three innings of the game to earn the decision in her first start of the year.

USI concludes the Midwest Region Crossover Sunday when it takes on Hillsdale College at 10 a.m. and Saginaw Valley State University at noon.

Southern Indiana 13, Northwood 11 (Feb 25, 2017 at Evansville, IN)

———————————————————————-

Southern Indiana…. 033 223 0 – 13 14  2      (5-0)

Northwood……….. 000 704 0 – 11  6  3      (1-2)

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Pitchers: 

Southern Indiana – Atkisson,Courtney; Leonhardt, Jennifer(4); Bradley, Caitlyn(7) and

Hodges, Haley.

Northwood – Taylor Wright; Makenzie Norton(3); Marissa Tiano(5); Lexie Rabidue(6)

and Riley Ostapowicz.

Win-Leonhardt, Jennifer(3-0)  Save-Bradley, Caitlyn(1)  Loss-Taylor Wright(1-1)  T-2:34  A-77

HR USI – Hodges, Haley (1).

HR NU – Riley Ostapowicz; Sydni Pauley 2.

Weather: Cold & windy

Atkisson, C. faced 5 batters in the 4th.

Tiano faced 4 batters in the 6th.

Game: 5-CROSS

Southern Indiana 8, Ohio Dominican 1 (Feb 25, 2017 at Evansville, IN)

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Southern Indiana…. 122 300 0 -  8  9  2      (6-0)

Ohio Dominican…… 000 010 0 -  1  5  3      (3-6)

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Pitchers: 

Southern Indiana – Bradley, Caitlyn and Hodges, Haley.

Ohio Dominican – Bailey Miller; Casey Murdoch(4) and Kelly Wallace.

Win-Bradley, Caitlyn(1-0)  Loss-Bailey Miller(0-1)  T-1:52  A-77

HR USI – Clark, Grace (2).

Weather: Sunny, cold, & windy

Game: 6-CROSS

Aces travel to Oklahoma next week

 Morgan Lambert notched five RBIs, including a grand slam, as the University of Evansville softball team swept both ends of a doubleheader at Tennessee State on Saturday.  The Purple Aces took game one by a final of 8-1 before winning the second one, 9-4.

“I thought our defense played well in both games and our bats came alive today, which we have been waiting on,” UE head coach Mat Mundell said.  “We got some great base running, which really helped some of our scoring efforts.”

With the sweep, the Aces improve their season record to 4-5.  Lambert led the way with four hits in nine at-bats on the day.  Morgan Florey pitched a complete game in the first contest and hit .600 on the day with three hits in five trips to the plate.

Tennessee State took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning and held that advantage until the top of the sixth.  That is when the Aces got rolling.  Michal Luckett and Brittany Hay each drew one-out walks.  A single by Chandra Parr loaded up the bases to bring up Morgan Lambert, who came through with a grand slam to left center.  It was the first homer for the Aces this year.

Four more runs crossed the plate in the seventh for the Aces as Hayli Scott singled to right to bring two runs home before Tess Hupe stole home.  Later, Hay hit a sacrifice fly to left to bring home Michal Luckett.  Morgan Florey threw a complete game in the circle striking out 8 batters while allowing three hits.  Lambert led the way with four RBI while Scott had two.  Luckett paced UE with two runs scored.

In game two, it was the Aces who struck first as Tess Hupe and Courtney Land scored on a TSU error.  The duo struck again in the fifth as Land hit a sacrifice bunt to plate Ashlee Kawall.  Hupe later hit an RBI single to left, which sent McKenzie Johnson home.

The bottom half of the fifth saw Tennessee State rally back to tie it up as Reese Weber had an RBI double and Patton Akers draw a bases loaded walk as the Tigers scored four runs.

Evansville broke the tie in the top of the sixth as Chandra Parr hit a home run to center.  Two batters later, Florey drove in the second run of the frame as her double to right center brought home Lambert.  Florey would score the third run of the inning when McKenzie Johnson hit a sac fly to center.  Two more runs scored in the seventh as the Aces had their top offensive game, winning by a final of 9-4 while mustering up 14 hits.

Ashleigh Downing made the start in game two, going three innings while giving up two hits.  Emily Lockhart went two frames before Florey pitched the final two.  Lockhart was credited with the win while Florey notched the save.

Next weekend, UE heads to Norman, Okla. for the Courtyard Marriott Tournament Friday through Sunday.

The University of Southern Indiana baseball team got back in the win column with an 8-2 victory over Notre Dame College (Ohio) Saturday afternoon in game four of the Dunn Hospitality Invitational. USI is 2-3 to start the spring, while NDC goes to 1-3 in 2017.

The Screaming Eagles jumped out in front with a four-run second inning. Senior rightfielder Cody Montgomery (Shepherdsville, Kentucky) started the scoring with a swinging-bunt RBI-single to score junior third baseman Sam Griggs (Evansville, Indiana) for the 1-0 lead.

USI junior second baseman Joe Redburn (Newburgh, Indiana) followed with a two RBI-double to left, while junior centerfielder Buddy Johnson (Shelbyville, Kentucky) finished the four-run frame with an RBI-single and the 4-0 lead. The Eagles would extend the lead to 5-0 in the fifth when junior shortstop Angel Torres (Puerto Rico) scored on a wild pitch after tripling with one out.

After Notre Dame cut the lead to 5-2 in the sixth, USI sealed the game with a three-run eighth inning for the 8-2 final. The three-run outburst in the eighth was highlighted by the two-run double by junior first baseman Nick Gobert (Jasper, Indiana) with one out.

On the mound, senior right-hander Colin Nowak (Carol Stream, Illinois) posted his first win of the season. Nowak allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits and three walks, while striking out four in six innings of work.

Freshman right-hander Tyler Hagedorn (Evansville, Indiana), senior right-hander Mike Ringer (Springfield, Illinois), and senior right-hander Justin Watts (Bryan, Ohio) finished the game on the mound for the Eagles, each throwing a scoreless inning.

The Eagles returns to the road next week when they travel to Trevecca Nazarene University for a three-game series March 3-4. Game time Friday in Nashville is 6 p.m., while the Saturday doubleheader is set of 4:30 p.m.

The 34^th-ranked University of Southern Indiana men’s tennis team picked up a pair of 7-2 wins, defeating the University of Charleston on Friday evening and defeating Fairmont State University on Saturday.

In the match against Charleston, USI took a 2-1 lead after doubles play thanks to 8-4 wins by the duos of sophomore James Hardiman (Backwell Bristol, United Kingdom) and freshman Denis Davydov (Chorvatsky Grob, Slovakia) and sophomores Ilia Karelin (Ekaterinburg, Russia) and Andrew Dones (Georgetown, Indiana).

The Screaming Eagles would then go on to win five of the six singles matches. Hardiman won at number one, Davydov at number two and Karelin at number five. Also winning tor the Eagles were senior Aaron Barris (Marietta, Georgia) at number four and junior Jack Lipchik (Kokomo, Indiana).

Against Fairmont State on Saturday, USI again picked up two doubles wins from the duos of Hardiman and Davydov and Barris and junior Samuel Kiladejo (London, England).

In singles play, USI once again won five of the six matches. Picking up victories for the Eagles were Hardiman, Davydov, Kiladejo, Barris and Karelin.

USI is back in action tomorrow morning when they visit West Virginia Wesleyan at 7:00 a.m. (CST) in Buckhannon, West Virginia.