Another strong outing from starting pitcher Alex Weigand and opportunistic base-running from Boomer Synek proved the difference for the University of Evansville baseball team on Sunday afternoon as the Aces sealed a second consecutive Missouri Valley Conference series victory with a 2-0 decision over Bradley at Charles H. Braun Stadium.

Weigand, a freshman left-hander, looked every bit an experienced arm on the mound for the second straight week as the Bourbonnais, Ill., native struck out five over six scoreless innings to help the Aces (20-14, 4-2 MVC) to their fourth shutout victory of the season.

“Weigand isn’t throwing like a freshman anymore,” explained Synek, who is UE’s every day starter behind the plate. “He’s a great competitor, and he’s not scared of any of the teams that he’s going up against. He did a really good job of letting the game come to him today, and he was commanding his off-speed pitches today better than he has all year.”

“That’s back-to-back weekends that Alex has answered the call for us in a series-deciding game,” UE head coach Wes Carroll said. “He put the team on his back again, and gave us a chance to win the series. That’s just a fantastic outing and a gutsy performance from him.”

Weigand was hardly the lone standout for the Aces on the mound as both Brent Jurceka and Ryan Brady proved effective as well, holding the Braves (16-13, 2-3 MVC) to just one hit over the final three innings.

“I think our bullpen was really locked in this entire weekend,” Carroll said. “They did a tremendous job for us, and I think they’re the reason we won this series. Our relievers have been putting up a lot of goose eggs on the scoreboard recently, and it’s a great thing to see.”

For the weekend, the UE bullpen allowed just three hits over 11 innings of work.

While Weigand and BU starter Brent Stong battled for much of the contest, the Aces were unable to cash in on a number of scoring opportunities over the game’s first seven innings. That would all change in the bottom of the eighth. Ben Olson took to the mound for the Braves and gave up a one-out single to Synek to put a runner on, and the Braves hurler would throw a wild pitch moments later to move him into scoring position. From there, another BU reliever, Eric Scheuermann tossed two more errant pitches to allow the run to score.

“I was definitely keeping an eye on the pitchers with the situation that we were in,” Synek said. “I was just trying to make good reads on the ball. Coach Carroll told me to be prepared for them if they bounced a couple or got a little bit wild, and it just ended up happening that way.”

Later in the frame, the Aces tacked on another as Nathan Stong issued a bases-loaded walk to Shain Showers to make it 2-0.

From there, Jurceka, who struck out three during the seventh and eighth innings, gave up a single and a walk in the ninth, paving the way for Brady to take the mound. The sophomore out of St. Louis allowed a walk to load the bases, but he bounced back emphatically by striking out both Andy Shadid and Carson Weber to end the game.

“Brady is just a different animal when he gets into the game,” Synek explained. “You see him in the dugout, and he seems like a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, but when he steps in between the lines and gets that ball, he means business and operates like he’s the best guy on the field in that moment. It’s really cool to see him dig deep and make that kind of progress.”

Jurceka picked up the win to move to 4-2 on the season, and Brady earned his second save.

The Aces will return to action on Wednesday with another home contest at Braun Stadium. UE will welcome in Western Kentucky before setting out for another MVC series at Missouri State. Tuesday’s previously scheduled game against UT Martin has been canceled.

The University of Southern Indiana baseball team was dominating in a doubleheader sweep of McKendree University, 13-1 and 7-0, Sunday afternoon in Lebanon, Illinois. USI saw its record go to 22-14 overall and 11-5 GLVC, while McKendree ends the series with a 13-23 mark, 5-11 GLVC. Sunday’s doubleheader sweep keeps the Screaming Eagles in a tie for first in the GLVC East Division with the University of Indianapolis.

USI junior right-hander Devin Williams (Evansville, Indiana) posted his third-straight dominating start and his team-best fifth win of the year in the game one 13-0 win. Williams (5-3) allowed one unearned run on two hits and one walk, while striking out eight in the seven-inning complete game.

The junior right-hander is 3-0 with a 0.42 ERA in his last three starts and 21 innings of work, while scattering 13 hits, walking four batters, and striking out 23 batters.

The Eagles provided Williams with plenty of offense in the opener, scoring 13 runs on 16 hits. USI scored two runs in each of the second, third, and fourth innings, while sealing the victory with three runs and four runs in the sixth and seventh, respectively.

Offensively, senior centerfielder Hamilton Carr (Evansville, Indiana) and senior rightfielder Kyle Kempf(Evansville, Indiana) provided the highlights in the game one victory. Carr hit his third home run of the season, a solo shot, in the sixth, while Kempf hit his first homer of the year, a two-run blast, in the seventh.

In addition to Carr and Kempf’s blasts, sophomore second baseman Sam Griggs (Evansville, Indiana) was four-for-five with two runs scored and a RBI.

In the nightcap, freshman right-hander Austin Krizan (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) made the most of USI’s record-breaking seven-run fourth inning to lead the Eagles to a 7-0 win.

Krizan (3-0) posted his first collegiate shutout and his second complete game of the year in getting his third win of the season. The freshman right-hander scattered eight hits and one walk, while striking out one in nine innings of work.

The Eagles’ bats needed one inning to get all of the runs Krizan would need for the win. USI smacked a single-inning school record three home runs in a 7-run fourth inning. Kempf and sophomore leftfielder Drake McNamara (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) hit back-to-back shots, a two-run and a solo shot respectively, before  senior first baseman Andrew Cope (Evansville, Indiana) blasted a two-run round tripper in the record-breaking frame. Senior shortstop Kyle Niemeier (Evansville, Indiana) and senior third baseman Trent Gunn (Tell City, Indiana) also had RBI hits in the run-scoring inning.

Kempf finished the day with a pair of hits and is now five short of the USI career-record of 270 set by Mike Peerman (1997-2000).

The Eagles return to the friendly surroundings of the USI Baseball Field for a 10-game homestand, beginning with Oakland City at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The homestand also includes a four-game set with Lewis University (April 23-24), a single-game with the University of Missouri-St. Louis (April 27), and a four-game set with Saint Joseph’s College (April 30-May 1). The USI-SJC series also includes Senior Day for the Eagles on May 1.

The University of Southern Indiana women’s golf team trailed after the first round but shot a 317 on the second day to win the UIS Spring Invitational. The final event before post season tournaments for the Screaming Eagles was hosted by the University of Illinois Springfield and was held at Piper Glen in Springfield, Illinois.

The Screaming Eagles trailed UIS by three strokes heading into the second round, but USI was able to defeat the Prairie Stars by three strokes finishing with a score of 646 (329-317). Maryville University finished in third place with a 693 and Saint Joseph’s College rounded out the field with a 770

USI placed four individuals in the top-five and four in the top-ten. Senior Brittanie Garrison (Evansville, Indiana) was one of four individuals to shoot a 70 in round-two, finishing in second with a total of 160 (+16). Sophomore Taylor Howerton (Evansville, Indiana) and senior Molly English (Martinsville, Indiana) finished in third and fourth place. Howerton finished the event plus-17 while English carded a two-round 162. Finishing the top-ten scorers for USI, junior Kori Jacobsen (Bedford, Indiana) and senior Anastasia Carter (Granger, Indiana) finished in ties for fifth and seventh. Rounding out the field for USI was junior Allison Koester (Wadesville, Indiana) finishing with a 170.

The Eagles now look forward to the GLVC Championships which will be begin this Friday at Annbriar Golf Course in Springfield, Illinois. The format for the three round event will consist of an 18-hole round each day with the final round concluding on Sunday. Live video coverage and stats can be found at glvcsports.com.

University of Southern Indiana Golf
4/16/2016 — UIS Spring Invite

4/16/2016 — UIS Spring Invite
Piper Glenn, — Springfield, Illinois
Par 72, 5872 yards — 4 teams, 25 players

# Indicates individual player

The University of Southern Indiana men’s golf team finished the first 36-holes of the Great Lakes Valley Championship in fourth place with a score of 588. The Screaming Eagles sit one stroke ahead of host, the University of Illinois Springfield heading into tomorrow’s final 18-holes before the field is cut.

After the first round of play, the Eagles found themselves in a tie for seventh with Maryville University with a team score of 297. Sophomores Preston Van Winkle (Santa Claus, Indiana) and Kyle Tanriverdi(Pewaukee, Wisconsin) carded the lowest round one scores for USI with 73’s. Tanriverdi began his opening round strong with three birdies on his first nine moving to the front with a score of plus-two. Van Winkle finished with four birdies in his opening round, finishing one-over-par. After an even opening nine, senior Alex Wade (Wadesville, Indiana) finished the first round of the day with a 75 ( 3).

The second round saw senior Trevor Grant (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) finish with three birdies on each nine holes. Grant shot a second-round 68, minus-four to sit in a tie for tenth as an individual heading into the final round. Tanriverdi matched his first-round 73 with another in the second that was highlighted by an eagle on his opening hole. The sophomore holed his third shot on the 526 yard par-five. Junior Grant Saylor (Newburgh, Indiana) sits a combined seven-over-par after scores of 77-74.

After Monday’s 18-hole round, the top four teams will advance to the match play round of the event to crown a team champion. Medalists and the All-GLVC teams will be awarded after the conclusion of Monday’s round. Live video coverage and stats for the next two days can be found at glvcsports.com.