UE Sophomore Wins Second Consecutive MVC Championship

WATERLOO, Ill. – Kate Petrova came out on the winning end of a 3-hole playoff to claim her second Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Golf Championship crown.  Her win marked the fourth time in the last eight seasons that the University of Evansville has had the individual league champion.

Trailing by four strokes entering the final round, Petrova carded a 3-under 69 to force a playoff with Ali Schrock of Illinois State.  Petrova birdied the third playoff hole to seal the victory.  On Sunday, Petrova finished with scores of 72 and 75 at Annbriar Golf Course.  Her winning tally was a 216.

Petrova is Evansville’s first 2-time MVC women’s golf champion.  Kayla Katterhenry (2017) and Sophia Rohleder (2021) are Evansville’s other champions.  Along with being Medalist, Petrova was named to the All-Conference and All-Tournament Teams.  She is the 7^th golfer to earn MVC Medalist two or more times.

Allison Enchelmayer was second for UE.  Her third-round score of 78 gave her a total of 232.  She tied for 30^th place.  Coming home in 45^th was Jane Grankina.  She carded an 80 on Monday to complete the weekend with a 239.  Her low round of the event was a 77.

Trinity Dubbs posted a final tally of 244 after posting an 81 in the final round while Carly Frazier rounded out the team.

On the team side, the Purple Aces finished 11^th with a 931.  They were two behind Southern Illinois, who took the 10^th position.  Illinois State cruised to the team win, defeating UIC by 12 strokes.  The Redbirds posted an 889 with UIC taking the runner-up spot by one stroke over Drake.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. –  The surging University of Evansville baseball team will hit the road on Tuesday night to begin a five-game road trip, as the Purple Aces will travel north to Bloomington, Indiana to take on the Indiana Hoosiers.  First-pitch is set for 5 p.m. central time and Tuesday’s game can be heard live in the Tri-State area on 107.1 FM-WJPS and seen live on the Big Ten Plus streaming service.

Evansville will bring an 18-17 overall record into Tuesday night’s game after sweeping Illinois State in a three-game series over the weekend.  The Purple Aces out-scored the Redbirds, 28-7, in the three-game series, with the seven runs allowed equaling the lowest three-game series run total for the UE pitching staff since 2020.  All nine UE starters collected a hit in Sunday’s series finale 13-1 victory, with senior outfielder Kip Fougerousse leading the way by going 3-for-5 with three RBI.

Tuesday’s game will be a homecoming of sorts for Fougerousse, as he began his collegiate career at IU and played two seasons for the Hoosiers.  Last year, Fougerousse earned first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference honors at second base for UE, and so far this year, he has hit .322 with eight home runs and 31 RBI.  Last week, Fougerousse hit .529 (9-for-17) with two home runs and a team-best nine RBI to help UE rattle off four-straight wins.

Overall, UE has won eight of its last nine games going into Tuesday’s game.  Graduate outfielder Mark Shallenberger continues to lead the UE offensive attack with a .383 batting average, and he collected his 200th career hit over the weekend against Illinois State.  Junior outfielder Harrison Taubert is second on the squad in hitting this year at .331, and since Taubert moved into the lead-off spot in the batting order on April 2, UE has gone 7-1.

Indiana will bring a 20-16 overall record into Tuesday’s game.  The Hoosiers won two of three games at home against Penn State over the weekend.  Sophomore infielder Tyler Cerny currently paces the Hoosier attack with a .348 batting average, 15 doubles, six home runs and 39 RBI.  Five Indiana regulars bat above .330 on the season overall, with IU ranking among the national leaders in scoring at 8.5 runs per game.

All-time, Indiana leads the series over Evansville, 34-20, after last year’s 6-2 win in Bloomington in mid-May.  Since 2020, the two teams have split the last six series meetings.  Freshman LHP Kevin Reed (2-0, 8.13 ERA) will get the start for Evansville on the mound.  IU has not yet named a starting pitcher for Tuesday’s contest.

SPRINGBORO, Oh. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Golf closes out regular season play at the Wright State Invitational with a fourth place finish. The event featured 11 highly-competitive teams who all played in 36 holes on Sunday and 18 holes on Monday.
 
The format included six competing golfers from each squad with the top four scores in each round counting towards the team scores. The Screaming Eagles scorers were junior Jason Bannister (Laguna Niguel, California), senior Trevor Laub (Edwardsville, Illinois), sophomore Carter Goebel (Breese, Illinois) junior Sam Vertanen (Ames, Iowa), junior Spencer Warren (Dextor, Missouri), and senior Jace Day (Bloomington, Indiana).
 
Round One
The Eagles posted a respectable first round team score of 289 (+5). Warren had one of the best tournaments of his USI career starting with a first round score of 71 (E). Bannister has been a model of consistency this season starting with a 71 (E).
 
Round Two
USI dropped a few shots in the second round with a team score of 291 (+7). Goebel caught fire in round two leading the Eagles with a 71 (E). He shot an outstanding 33 in the final nine. Warren added a score of 72 (+1) finishing with a 36-hole score of +1.
 
Round Three
The Eagles finished their tournament with a third-round score of 284 (E). Goebel produced a season low round of 67(+4) with five birdies. Bannister and Vertanen followed with impressive round scores of 72 (+1) each. USI flirted with jumping two spots into second place but fell two stokes short at twelve over.

Both Goebel and Warren have found their stroke at the perfect time of year. Goebel led the Eagles individually tied for fifth place (-2), while Warren finished in a tie for 13th place (+3). Bannister and Day were right behind with tie for17th place (+8) giving the Eagles an impressive four golfers in the top-20. 
 
USI concludes the regular season with other memorable feats including: first place at The Buddy at Murray State University, third place at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate at Tennessee Tech University, fifth place at the Jewell at Northern Kentucky University, and a match-play victory over University of Evansville.