BELLEVILLE, Ill. – The Vincennes University baseball team picked up another big win over an NJCAA Division I program Wednesday morning when the Blazers split their mid-week doubleheader at Southwestern Illinois College.

Vincennes opened the doubleheader by taking game one by the final score of 2-0 before dropping game two to the Blue Storm 11-0.

The Trailblazers opened the doubleheader with a hard fought pitcher’s duel in game one, with neither team able to break onto the scoreboard in the first four innings of the game.

VU was able to get base runners early in the game, getting runners in scoring position in the first and third but were unable to get a run across until the fifth.

Vincennes took advantage of sophomore Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, Ind.) being hit by pitch early in the fifth inning, followed by a single by freshman Jevan Andrews (Hobart, Ind.) and a walk by sophomore Nate Montgomery (Lexington, Ind.) to load the bases with one out.

Freshman Carter Gricius (Scottsburg, Ind.) broke the scoreless tie with a sacrifice fly to score Douglas from third and give the Blazers the 1-0 advantage.

VU added to their lead in the sixth with sophomore Yancey Edlin (Pekin, Ind.) leading off the inning with a walk, advancing on a successful sacrifice bunt by freshman Evan Doran (Indianapolis, Ind.).

Edlin would then move up to third with a stolen base and come in to score on an RBI groundout by freshman Cole Trevino (Jasper, Ind.) to increase the VU lead to 2-0.

The VU pitching staff would hold onto this lead as the Blazers were able to keep the Blue Storm off the scoreboard and pick up the 2-0 shutout victory over Southwestern Illinois College.

Sophomore Carson Allen (Louisville, Ky.) got the start in game one for the Blazers, throwing three innings, allowing two hits and striking out four.

Freshman Wyatt Burris (Farmland, Ind.) was the first out of the bullpen for VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney, throwing three innings, allowing one hit and striking out one to pick up the winning decision.

Freshman Jakob Hoyer (Georgetown, Ind.) came in in the seventh inning, getting the final three outs on just 12 pitches as he comes away with the save.

The Blazers looked to keep the momentum going in game two of the day but were unable to keep the offense going.

Southwestern Illinois was the first to break onto the scoreboard in game two, scoring four runs in the third inning and breaking away with seven runs in the fourth.

Vincennes was able get a base runner in the fifth inning but was unable to push a run across to keep the game going as Southwestern Illinois College picked up the 11-0 victory.

Sophomore JD Bowser (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) got the start in game two for the Blazers, throwing three innings, allowing four runs on four hits and striking out three.

Freshman Kory Kingsbury (Evansville, Ind.) entered the game in the fourth, allowing four runs on three hits in one-third of an inning on the mound.

Petrova shot a 4-under 67 in the final round

 PAWLEYS ISLAND, S.C. – Tying for the second-lowest round in program history, Kate Petrova posted a 4-under 67 on Wednesday to take the individual championship at the Golfweek/Stifel Spring Challenge at True Blue Golf Club.  Petrova’s efforts helped the University of Evansville women’s golf team earn a 5^th place finish in the team standings.

Petrova’s round of 67 marked the lowest in her Purple Aces career and gave her a 3-round score of 208.  She finished one stroke ahead of a second-place tie.  After posting a 72 to open the event, Petrova shot a 1-under 70 in Tuesday’s second round.

Tying for 26^th in the final standings was Mallory Russell.  She opened the tournament with a 71 and, following an 80 in the second round, posted a 74 on Wednesday.  He final score was a 225.  One behind Russell was Elizabeth Mercer.  A consistent weekend saw her register tallies of 75, 76, and 75 in the final round to finish with a 226.  She came in 37^th place.

Louise Standtke and Trinity Dubbs tied for 56^th with scores of 232.  Both improved as the tournament moved along.  After carding an 81 in the first 18 holes, Standtke had scores of 75 and 76 to finish with a 232.  Dubbs opened with a 79 before notching a 77 on Tuesday and a 76 in the final 18.

Evansville earned a 5^th place finish with a score of 886.  Coastal Carolina took the team championship with an 855, finishing six strokes ahead of Middle Tennessee State.

On Sunday, the Aces open the ISU Spring Invite in Terre Haute.

PAWLEYS ISLAND, S.C. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Golf wrapped up play at the Golfweek/Stifel Spring Challenge in Pawleys Island, South Carolina on Wednesday, placing 16^th on the team leaderboard.
 
The Screaming Eagles took on True Blue Golf Club in a highly competitive, deep tournament field this week. USI shot a team score of 892 (297, 300, 295) over the three-round tournament, which started on Monday, March 31. The teams played 18 holes each day of the tournament.
 
Senior Jason Bannister was USI’s highest finisher on the individual leaderboard, placing tied for 44^th with a three-over 219 (75, 74, 70). Junior Carter Goebel was one stroke behind at 220 (72, 76, 72) and tied for 49^th.
 
St. John’s University won the tournament with a total of 841 (285, 275, 281) and 23 under par. Out of the 17-team field, nine schools finished at even par or better.
 
On day one, Goebel paced the Eagles with an even 72. While the front nine tended to give the field some difficulty throughout the tournament, Goebel went out one under par on the front nine in round one. Goebel tallied a birdie and eight pars in the first nine on Monday. As a team, USI was 15^th after the first 18 holes.
 
On a tough second day, USI dropped a spot to 16^th. Bannister and freshman Alex Peck tied for Southern Indiana’s lowest rounds in round two with each sporting a 74 on Tuesday. For Peck, the 74 was one stroke off his career-best low round. The freshman notched five birdies in the second, while Bannister began his second 18 holes with 12 consecutive pars. The two each moved up a few spots on the individual leaderboard.
 
While the Screaming Eagles had their best team score in the third and final round on Wednesday, USI remained in 16^th place. Individually, Bannister and Goebel were the biggest movers in the final round. Bannister leaped up 21 spots after a two-under 70 for USI’s best individual round of the tournament. Goebel jumped up 12 spots after his second even 72 of the tournament. Bannister and Goebel matched Peck’s birdie count in round two with five birdies of their own in the third round. Goebel had a stretch of three birdies in four holes on the front nine of Wednesday’s final round.
 
Southern Indiana will quickly turn around and get ready for the Tennessee State University Big Blue Intercollegiate at The Hermitage in Nashville, Tennessee next week April 7-8. With two spring tournaments down, USI has only a couple more weeks and three more competitions on the schedule before the Ohio Valley Conference Championship April 20-23.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. –  The weather forecast of heavy rains this week and weekend has forced changes to the University of Southern Indiana Baseball three-game series with Morehead State University. The series, which was originally slated for singles games Friday-Saturday-Sunday, has been tentatively changed to a 1 p.m. single game Saturday and a 1 p.m. doubleheader Sunday.  

The weather forecast also has forced a change of location for USI and MSU. The games Saturday and Sunday will now be played at the University of Evansville’s German American Field at Charles Braun Stadium.

The Screaming Eagles (13-15, 4-2 OVC) are 3-1 during the current seven-game home stand after defeating Northern Kentucky University, 10-0, Tuesday evening at the USI Baseball Field. The shutout was the second in the last three games.

The MSU Eagles, who were picked to finish fourth in the OVC this season, are 10-16 overall and 1-5 in the OVC after losing two of three with Eastern Illinois University last weekend in Morehead, Kentucky. The MSU Eagles have lost six of the last eight games, but posted a win at Ohio University Tuesday, 4-3.

MSU leads the all-time series with USI, 6-1, after taking three of four last spring. MSU took two of three in the regular season series in Morehead, Kentucky, before eliminating USI from the OVC Tournament last May in Marion, Illinois.

Following the end of the Evansville homestand, USI will be on the road for a nine-game road trip for the next two weeks.