The No. 39 Screaming Eagles were defeated by No. 21 the University of Indianapolis, 5-1, in the Championship Match of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Men’s Tennis Tournament.

USI (17-5) trailed, 2-1, after doubles play despite two close matches. The Eagles’ duo of junior Aaron Barris (Marietta, Georgia) and freshman James Hardiman (Blackwell Bristol, United Kingdom) were the only USI doubles winners. The team picked up an 8-2 win to improve their season record to 16-0. Their 16^th-straight win puts the duo one win away from tying USI’s all-time record for consecutive doubles wins.

The senior duo of Jack Joyce (Bournemouth, England) and Joel Stern (Mjoelby, Sweden) fell at number-two despite holding a 4-1 lead during the match. The team eventually lost their match 8-4. The comeback attempt for sophomore Samuel Kiladejo (London, England) and junior Paul Forichon (Nimes, France) fell short, losing the match 8-6.

Picking up the lone singles win for USI was Joyce at number-two. The senior avenged a regular season loss to the Greyhounds’ Christoph Drechsler with a 6-4, 6-3 win. With Indianapolis having four wins, Hardiman was tasked with keeping the Eagles alive in the championship match. The freshman dropped the first set 6-4 before sweeping the second set 6-0. In the third set, Hardiman fell just short, losing 6-4 as Indianapolis sealed a GLVC Championship.

The Screaming Eagles now await word on their NCAA Tournament hopes. In the most recent Midwest Region Rankings, USI was fourth with the top six teams earning a bid to the tournament. The NCAA Selection Show will be broadcast on NCAA.com Tuesday at 7 p.m.

University of Southern Indiana Tennis
#2E Southern Indiana vs #1E Indianapolis (May 01, 2016)

#21 #1E Indianapolis 5, #39 #2E Southern Indiana 2
May 01, 2016 at Plainfield, IL (5 Star Tennis Center)

The University of Southern Indiana softball team ran into a couple of buzz saws in their quest for a Great Lakes Valley Conference title Sunday as the Screaming Eagles fell to No. 2 University of Indianapolis, 8-0, in six innings and to No. 6 University of Missouri-St. Louis, 10-0, in five innings.

USI (35-19), which lost via the eight-run rule for the first two times this season, has to wait until Monday morning to find out its NCAA Division II Tournament fate. The selection show is scheduled for 9 a.m. (CDT) at www.ncaa.com.

After playing Indianapolis (49-3) to a scoreless tie through four innings of their first game of the day, the Eagles fell victim to a five-run fifth inning that featured a pair of USI errors and five unearned tallies.

USI committed two more errors in a three-run sixth inning as the Greyhounds took firm control of the contest.

The Eagles struggled to get anything going offensively as their hitters were set down on strikes eight times. Junior catcher Haley Hodges (Portage, Indiana) had two of USI’s three hits as the GLVC Player of the Year finished the contest 2-of-3 against the GLVC Pitcher of the Year in UIndy senior hurler Morgan Foley.

USI’s offensive struggles continued into its elimination game against Missouri-St. Louis. USI was held to just four hits as the Eagles were shut out for just the fifth time this season and the first time in back-to-back games.

Missouri-St. Louis, meanwhile, wrapped a pair of two-run innings around a one-run second frame as the Tritons built a commanding 5-0 advantage. The Tritons ended any chance of a USI comeback as they scored five times in the top of the fifth inning to build a 10-0 cushion.

The 10 runs marked the most USI has given up in a game this season and the most since surrendering 12 runs in a loss to Truman State University April 11, 2014.

Freshman pitcher Haylee Smith (Florence, Kentucky) was charged with the loss in both games. Smith (11-8) gave up five unearned runs off six hits in 4.1 innings of work against Indianapolis before giving up three runs off four hits in 1.1 innings of work against Missouri-St. Louis.

USI, which finishes third in the GLVC Tournament after a 2-2 effort, began the week ranked fifth in the final NCAA II Midwest Region Rankings.

Indianapolis won the conference title with a 7-1 victory over Missouri-St. Louis in the championship game.

 In the end, a fourth comeback was not in the cards for the University of Evansville baseball team as the Purple Aces fell 8-6 in 10 innings to visiting Illinois State on Sunday at Charles H. Braun Stadium.

The loss, which was the first in a rubber game this season for UE, handed the Aces (24-17, 7-5 Missouri Valley Conference) their first conference series loss of the season, and the team will now enter next weekend’s conference clash with league-leading Dallas Baptist looking to make up a 1.5-game deficit.

ISU, on the other hand, picked up their first series win of the year to improve to 14-28 with a 4-7 league mark.

For the fourth straight week, the Aces turned to Alex Weigand on the mound to win the series, and for the most part, the freshman southpaw excelled. He bounced back from allowing a run in the first to hold the Redbird bats silent for much of the game before surrendering a score in both the fourth and the seventh innings. It marked the first time the Bourbonnais, Ill., native had allowed multiple runs in a start since April 2.

After playing a role in driving home the early equalizer in the second inning, Jonathan Ramon loudly announced his presence in the fourth inning with a game-tying solo blast to make it 2-2. It marked the 10^th homer of the season for the senior, and the Jackson Heights, N.Y., native is now the first Aces hitter to record double-digit homers since the NCAA adjusted its bat standards prior to the 2011 season.

Ramon was one of six different Aces hitters to record multiple hits on the day. He finished 2-for-4 at the plate, and Josh Jyawook led the team with a 4-for-5 outing.

UE would take the lead with a Trey Hair single an inning later, but it was short-lived as the Redbirds touched home four times over the course of the seventh and eighth innings to grab the 6-3 edge.

A lead-off triple from Ramon got things going for UE in the bottom of the eighth, and an Eric McKibban single as well as Stewart Nelson flyout brought the Aces within one. Ramon followed up an inning later with a ninth-inning sac fly to make it even at 6-6.

However, ISU would surge ahead once again in the 10^th as Brian Jestice surrendered a hit and a pair of walks to load the bases with one out. A sliding defensive play from McKibban at first base nearly helped the Aces get out of the jam, but ISU’s Owen Miller delivered a two-out bases-loaded single to left to plate the game-winning scores.

Miller finished with a 4-for-6 showing at the plate with five runs batted in, handing Jestice (2-1) his first loss of the season.

UE will be back in action later this week as the Aces are slated to close out the homestand with games against Murray State and Belmont before next weekend’s conference showdown in Dallas.

NOTES: The Aces are now 2-2 this season in extra-innings games … Jonathan Ramon’s homer marked the 40^th of the season for the Aces, the most since 2010 … Since 1978, the Aces are 52-59 all-time against Illinois State … The first meeting between the two schools was a 1-1 tie in 1948 … Last season, the Aces took home two out of three in a series that was staged in Normal … UE won all three meetings by a combined 27-6 score in 2014, which was the previous trip to Evansville for the Redbirds.

An errant throw in the 11^th inning created the opening that the University of Evansville baseball team was looking for as the Aces salvaged a split with visiting Illinois State at Charles H. Braun Stadium on Friday night.

The Aces, who dropped the first game 4-0 before rebounding with the 4-3 victory in the nightcap, improved to 24-16 on the season with a 7-4 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference. Meanwhile, the Redbirds will head into Saturday’s rubber game at 13-28 on the year with a 3-7 record in league play.

After dropping the first contest of the day, UE jumped on the visiting Redbirds in the opening stanza. Singles from Eric McKibban and Boomer Synek as well as a Korbin Williams walk loaded the bases for Josh Jyawook with two outs, and the senior out of Hoffman Estates, Ill., delivered, singling to center to score a pair. Jonathan Ramon followed up with a single of his own to cash in the third.

Both Synek and Jyawook would be the only Aces with multiple hits in the contest as each finished 2-for-6 at the plate.

Brandon Gomer, who got the nod on the mound for UE, was able to hold the visitors from Normal, Ill., scoreless in each of the first two innings, but the Redbirds mounted a two-out rally of their own in the third. Sean Beesley cut the deficit to one with a double to right center, but Gomer was able to ultimately negate the threat, getting Ryan Hutchinson to swing at strike three to end the inning.

Brent Jurceka, who proved effective for most of the night, was ultimately on the hook for allowing the tying score in the eighth as Jean Ramirez followed up a failed pickoff attempt from Synek with a single up the middle to level the game, and it would stay that way until the bottom of the 11^th.

In that final inning, Trey Hair led off with a single to center, and he moved into scoring position after Korbin Williams was hit by a pitch. In the ensuing at-bat, Jyawook flied out to left, and in an attempt to catch Williams off the bag at first base, ISU shortstop Owen Miller overthrew his intended target, allowing Hair to touch home and bring the game to an end.

UE, which has yet to lose an MVC series this season, will play in a fourth consecutive series-deciding game three on Saturday, and first pitch is slated for 2 p.m.

NOTES: Friday marked the fourth walk-off victory of the season for the Aces … The team is now 2-1 this season in extra-innings games … UE will be aiming to win a fourth consecutive league series for the first time since the 2014 campaign … Since 1978, the Aces are 52-58 all-time against Illinois State … The first meeting between the two schools was a 1-1 tie in 1948 … Last season, the Aces took home two out of three in a series that was staged in Normal … UE won all three meetings by a combined 27-6 score in 2014, which was the previous trip to Evansville for the Redbirds.