EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball could not hold onto an early 3-0 lead and fell to Lindenwood University, 9-4, Sunday at the USI Baseball Field. USI is 14-18 overall and 4-5 OVC, while Lindenwood goes to 10-21, 4-5 OVC.
 
USI junior second baseman Lane Crowden (Jackson, Missouri) shifted the momentum early to the Screaming Eagles in the third inning. Crowden saved a run defensively in the top of third with a diving stop before leading off the bottom half of the frame with a single to start a three-run USI rally.
 
Crowden singled and scored along with senior rightfielder Ren Tachioka (Japan) when sophomore shortstop Caleb Niehaus (Newburgh, Indiana) singled and advance to third on a two-base Lindenwood error. Niehaus would come the plate with the third run of the frame on a sacrifice fly by senior designated hitter Jack Ellis (Jeffersonville, Indiana).
 
USI would hold the 3-0 lead until the top of the fifth when Lindenwood exploded for four runs on three hits and one Eagles’ error. The Lions’ bats would erupt for five more runs in the eighth inning to extend Lindenwood’s lead to 9-3.
 
The Eagles would get one of the runs back in the bottom of the ninth when junior third baseman Ricardo Van Grieken (Venezuela) hit a bomb over the right field fence to close the gap to the final score of 9-4. The home run was Van Grieken’s second of the season.  
 
On the mound, junior right-hander Gavin Morris (Brazil, Indiana) started and took the loss. Morris (3-3) went 4.1 innings, allowing four runs, two earned, on five hits and two walks.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Vincennes University golf team got their top two scorers back this weekend for the two-day Battle of the Woods tournament at Hulman Links in Terre Haute.

While they were still battling lingering injuries, the Trailblazers showed tremendous improvement on another tough course in windy conditions to come away with a third-place finish as a team.

The two-day, 36-hole tournament began Saturday morning with the first round and the Blazers looked to be in great shape after the first 18 holes of the tournament.

Freshmen Alex Nealis (Olney, Ill.) and Andy Clark got off to a great start, finishing the first round with a six-over 78, placing them in a tie for fifth on the individual leaderboard.

Sophomore Aaron Brink (Nashville, Ill.) returned to the course after an injury to shoot a first round 80, good for a tie for 10th after the first day.

Sophomore Preston Broce (Indianapolis, Ind.) also returned to the links after an injury and was ablet to come away with a first day 81 for a tie for 13th.

Freshman Xavier Brown (Franklin, Ind.) rounded out the VU golfers Saturday with an 89, putting him in a tie for 24th overall.

The Trailblazers looked to be well within striking distance of top spot on the team leaderboard, ending the first round with a team score of 317 in second place, nine shots out of first.

The Blazers returned to Hulman Links Sunday morning for the final round of the tournament and the windy conditions and injuries again looked to get the better of VU.

Preston Broce led the Blazers Sunday with an 80, giving him a tournament score of 161 and a tie for 5th place finish overall.

Broce tied with fellow VU sophomore Aaron Brink, who finished his round Sunday with an 81, giving him a tournament score of 161 as well.

Alex Nealis slid a little in the windy conditions, shooting an 84 on Sunday but was still able to place in the top-10 in a tie for 8th.

Andy Clark shot an 88 on Sunday, giving him a tournament score of 166 and a tie for 15, before the Blazers were rounded out by Xavier Brown, who had the biggest improvement from round one with an 86 on Sunday and a tournament score of 175 for a tie for 22nd place finish.

The Trailblazers as a team shot a 331 on Sunday, giving them a tournament total of 648 which was good for a third-place finish as a team.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. –  Belmont starting pitcher Joe Ruzicka tossed a complete-game, three-hit shutout on Sunday, and the Bruins launched five home runs, as Belmont salvaged the series finale over the University of Evansville Purple Aces with a 12-0 victory at E.S. Rose Park in Nashville, Tennessee.

Belmont would get all of the offense that it would need just two batters into the contest, as after a lead-off walk by Sam Slaughter, second baseman Jack Rando launched a two-run home run to left field to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead.

Belmont would add a solo home run in the second inning, and a three-run home run in the fourth inning off of UE starter Nick Smith (2-5) to build a 6-0 lead.  Smith suffered the loss after giving up six runs on five hits, including three home runs in 3.1 innings.

Belmont would add a pair of solo home runs in the fifth inning, as Ruzicka held UE without a hit until the sixth inning, when senior shortstop Simon Scherry roped a ball through the left-side of the infield for UE’s first hit of the game.  UE put the first two men on in the sixth inning, but a strikeout and a double-play ground ball ended the UE threat.  Belmont would tack on four runs in the home-half of the sixth inning to provide the final margin of victory and enact the mercy rule in the series finale.

Outfielder Michael Lareau went 3-for-3 with a double and a home run out of the bottom spot in the Belmont batting order to lead the Bruins offensively.  Evansville was limited to just three hits overall, with Scherry, graduate third baseman Brent Widder, and graduate first baseman Chase Hug each collecting a hit on the day.

With the victory, Belmont improves to 17-15 overall and 5-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference.  Evansville, meanwhile, sees its four-game winning streak snapped and falls to 14-17 overall and 4-5 in the Valley with the loss.  The Purple Aces will hit the road briefly on Tuesday with a mid-week game at Butler at 3 p.m. central time, before returning home to German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium next weekend for a three-game series against Illinois State beginning on Friday.

Evansville, In.:  In a game that served as the final preview between the Thunderbolts and Bulls before they meet in the playoffs, the Thunderbolts were unable to hold off a late Bulls rally, as Birmingham came back to defeat Evansville 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday at Ford Center.   The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Thursday, April 11^th against the Birmingham Bulls, puck drop at 7:00pm CT.

The Bulls struck first, only 16 seconds into the game, as Scott Donahue put Birmingham ahead early.  Evansville rallied well, tying the game at 14:12 as Adam Pilotte scored from Brendan Harrogate and Grant Spence to tie the game at 1-1.  Only 21 seconds later, Evansville took a 2-1 lead as Myles Abbate wired a shot past Drennen Atherton at 14:33 from Lincoln Hatten and Matthew Hobbs.  The score remained 2-1 until the final minute of the third period, when Atherton was pulled by the Bulls, who scored with 33 seconds remaining in regulation with a Drake Glover goal to force overtime.  In the shootout that followed a scoreless overtime, MacGregor Sinclair and Taylor Brierley scored for the Bulls while Hobbs provided the lone Evansville tally, as the Bulls took the shootout 2-1 and the game 3-2.

Pilotte and Abbate scored Evansville’s regulation goals, while Hobbs scored Evansville’s lone shootout goal, as well as an assist in regulation.  In goal, Ty Taylor finished with 26 saves on 28 shots in regulation and overtime, and 4 of 6 in the shootout.  These two teams will face off in the first round of the President’s Cup Playoffs this coming week, Game One at Birmingham on Wednesday, April 10^th, Game Two at Ford Center on Thursday, April 11^th, and Game Three (if necessary) at Birmingham on Saturday, April 13^th, all games beginning at 7:00pm CT.