Sophomore completed the day at 2-under

EAST LANSING, Mich. – University of Evansville sophomore Kate Petrova had an impressive start to the NCAA Division I East Lansing Regional on Monday, posting a 2-under 70 to sit among the leaders of the pack.

Petrova completed the opening day at Forest Akers West Golf Course tied for 4^th place on the leaderboard.  Her 2-under 70 is tied with Jennifer Cai (Northwestern), Maddison Hinson-Tolchard (Oklahoma State), Marta Lopez Echevarria (Kentucky), Lauryn Nguyen (Northwestern), Catherine Park (USC), Hana Ryskova (Louisville) and Anna Zanusso (Denver).

Leading the individuals is Bailey Shoemaker of USC, who posted a 7-under 65.  Lion Higo of Pepperdine is two behind in second while Lauren Beaudreau of Notre Dame is third, three off the lead pace.

The group that is tied for 4^th are just five shots behind Shoemaker’s pace.  Petrova is competing as an individual at the event.  On the team side, USC holds a 2-shot lead over Pepperdine with the first of three rounds complete.

On Tuesday, Petrova looks to keep things rolling in the second round of 18.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Softball senior first baseman Lexi Fair (Greenwood, Indiana) was named Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week on Monday. The OVC’s weekly accolades are voted upon by the league’s communications directors.
 
The honor was the final OVC weekly accolade of the regular season and the first for Fair this season. Fair is the second Screaming Eagle to win a player of the week award on the campaign, as junior pitcher Josie Newman (Indianapolis, Indiana) was named OVC Pitcher of the Week twice earlier this season.
 
In the final weekend of the OVC regular season, Fair helped lead Southern Indiana to its seventh OVC series win at Western Illinois University. At the plate, Fair went 5-10 with three runs, two doubles, a home run, and four RBIs. The senior had a .583 on-base percentage and slugged 1.000.
 
Fair collected a pair of hits with a run in the 9-1 series-opening win at Western Illinois before adding a double and another run in the middle game of the series. Fair concluded the series with an RBI double and a three-run home, totaling four RBIs in Sunday’s game. Fair also reached base via two hit-by-pitches in the series, increasing her USI all-time record.
 
Overall, Fair leads the team with a .344 batting average and a .953 OPS. Fair also has a team-high 12 doubles with two home runs. The senior’s 25 RBIs is second on USI. Within the Ohio Valley Conference, Fair ranks top 10 in on-base percentage (.445), doubles, and hit-by-pitches (11).
 
Fair and the Screaming Eagles are getting set for their second consecutive appearance at the Ohio Valley Conference Championship Tournament, which starts on Wednesday. USI is the 4-seed and will open its postseason appearance Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. against the winner of 5-seed University of Tennessee at Martin or 8-seed Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
 

Eagles visit UE Tuesday, Little Rock this weekend

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — University of Southern Indiana freshman right-handed pitcher Grant Parson (Owensboro, Kentucky) was named the Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week after leading the Screaming Eagles to a victory over Southern Illinois University Edwardsville last week. Parson is the first Eagles’ pitcher to earn the honor since USI made the transition to Division I last season.
 
Parson was dominating versus SIUE last Friday, allowing one run on five hits and two walks in seven innings of work. He also struck out a season-high nine Cougars in the win.
 
For the season, Parson is 4-3 overall and has a 3.90 ERA in 60 innings of work. He also leads the Eagles with 60 strike outs and has held the opposing teams to a .215 batting average in 11 starts.
 
Parson and the Eagle continue action Tuesday when they visit the University of Evansville for a non-conference game. First pitch at UE is slated for 6 p.m.
 
Following the midweek game at UE, USI stays on the road with a trip to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for a three-game OVC series. The first pitch of the series is schedule for Friday at 6 p.m. and continues Saturday at 4 p.m. before concluding Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
Links to follow the Eagles during the 2024 season can be found on USIScreamingEagles.com and on the USI Baseball Schedule.
 
USI Baseball Notes
USI wins three of four for 2^nd-straight week. The USI Screaming Eagles were 3-1 for the second-straight week, falling at Southern Illinois University before sweeping SIUE over the weekend. USI senior outfielder Ren Tachioka batted a team-best .529 last week with seven runs scored, two doubles, and five RBIs. Senior first baseman Tucker Ebest led USI in RBIs with six.
 
USI won 6^th series of the year. USI won its sixth series of the season and its third in the OVC after sweeping SIUE last weekend. The Eagles won only four series all of last season.
 
Tachioka igniting Eagles’ bats. USI senior outfielder Ren Tachioka is on an 11-game hitting streak and has been igniting the Eagles’ offence. During the streak, Tachioka is hitting .468 (22-47) with 16 runs scored, four doubles, one triple, and 10 RBIs.
 
Van Grieken heating up. USI junior third baseman Ricardo Van Grieken has been heating up the last 10 games. Van Grieken has raised his batting average 29 points over the last week (.189 to .219) by hitting .343 (12-35) in the last 10 games. He also has scored eight runs, driven seven more, and banged four doubles.
 
Kapust the surprise hitter this spring. Senior catcher Tyler Kapust, who has played nearly as many games this season (25) as he has the first three seasons (31), is having a career year at the plate. Kapust is hitting .297 (19-64) this season, compared to the .188 career average (10-53) he entered the season with. He also has a career-high eight RBIs and one home run.
 
Comes down to pitching. USI’s 22 wins in 2024 (year two of the Division I transition) are five victories better than last season with eight regular season games to play and a lot of this year’s improvement has come down to pitching. The Eagles have a 5.79 ERA, 1.91 better than last season’s 7.70 ERA and the lowest since 2021.
 
One run games. The Eagles are battle tested in close games this spring, playing in nine one-run games, going 2-7, and 10 two-run games, going 4-6.
 
USI in the OVC. USI is tied for fifth in the OVC standing (11-10) after sweeping the series and tiebreaker with SIUE. Senior outfielder Ren Tachioka leads USI at the plate in conference play, batting .441 (30-68). Senior first baseman Tucker Ebest has a team-high 21 RBIs and four home runs in league action.
 
USI in non-conference. In the 27 non-conference games, senior outfielder Ren Tachioka leads the Eagles with a .366 average (30-82), while senior first baseman Tucker Ebest has a team-high 26 RBIs. Ebest also is tied with senior designated hitter Jack Ellis with a team-best four home runs outside of the OVC. Four pitchers have a team-best two victories each in the non-conference schedule.
 
Season leaders at the plate in 2024. Senior outfielder Ren Tachioka is hitting a team best .400 (60-150) in 38 of the 48 games, while senior infielder/designated hitter Tucker Ebest has hit a team-high eight home runs and driven in a team-best 47 RBIs.
 
Leaders on the mound in 2024. USI junior right-handers Gavin Seebold has recorded a team-best six wins this season (6-2). Freshman right-hander Grant Parson follows with four wins and has a team-high 60 strikeouts. Freshman right-hander Clayton Weisheit leads USI hurlers with a team-low 2.92 ERA in 37.0 innings this season.
 
At home versus the road. USI, as a team, is hitting .296 at the home (23 games), compared to .271 on the road (23 games). Senior rightfielder Ren Tachioka is hitting a team-high .444 at the USI Baseball Field, but team-high .359 on the road. On the opposite side, junior outfielder Adam Euler is batting .314 on the road, compared to .259 at the USI Baseball Field.  
 
Multi-hit/Multi-RBI Games. USI junior centerfielder Terrick Thompson-Allen leads the Eagles with 22 multi-hit games (20 with 2; 2 with 3), followed by senior outfielder Ren Tachioka has 20 (13 with 2; 6 with 3; 1 with 4). Senior first baseman/designated hitter Tucker Ebest has a team-high 14 multi-RBI games. Sophomore infielder Caleb Niehaus has the top RBI game of the season with five versus Southeast Missouri State University.
 
In the OVC statistically. USI as a team is third in the OVC in pitching with a team 5.79 ERA and fifth in the league in hitting with a .282 team batting average. Senior outfielder Ren Tachioka is second in the OVC with a .400 batting average, while freshman right-hander Grant Parson is fourth with a 3.90 ERA and sixth with 60 strikeouts.
 
In OVC Games Only. USI is fourth in the league with a .303 team batting average and fourth with a 5.97 team ERA in OVC games only.
 
UE in 2024. The Aces are 27-20 overall in 2024 and are 17-4 in the last 22 games after starting 10-16.         
 
USI vs. UE. Evansville leads the all-time series with USI, 33-20, but the Eagles won the last meeting in 2018, 5-3.  
 
Little Rock in 2024. The Trojans of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock are 26-20 overall and 13-8 in the OVC after taking two of three from Western Illinois University. Little Rock has won six of the last 10 games, entering this week.   
 
USI vs. Little Rock. Little Rock leads the all-time series with USI, 2-0, after taking both games of the series last season at the USI Baseball Field. The third game was rained out.