JOLIET, IL – The Evansville Otters dropped the series opener to the Joliet Slammers on Friday, May 10 at Duly Health and Care Field. Errors plagued the club early as the Otters (0-2) allowed six unearned runs to the Slammers (1-0) before eventually falling 10-3.

First blood was struck in the bottom of the second frame. With one out, shortstop Riley Delgado made a throwing error to allow a baserunner. Three batters later, with two on and two outs, the Slammers ignited a rally of four hits in a row, scoring four runs.

The Otters sprung onto the board in the fourth with their first home run of the season, courtesy of Mason House who blasted a solo shot over the right-center wall.

In the bottom of the frame, Joliet responded with another run.

In the fifth, their second of three multi-run innings came on another defensive mistake from left fielder Donivan Williams. The ball kicked off his glove on a fly ball, elevating Joliet’s lead to six.

Each team scored one run in the sixth inning. Jake Green picked up his first hit of the season with an RBI single to left field, scoring Joe Burke who walked earlier in the frame.

Evansville plated its final run in the eighth inning. After a leadoff walk from House, David Menham brought him home with an RBI double to right field. Their third run was not enough, trailing 8-3. Joliet padded the scoring with two more men touching the plate in the bottom frame, finalizing the scoring with a 10-3 finish.

Despite the errors, the Otters had two incredible defensive highlights.

In the third inning, Austin Bost robbed Jake Marti of a line drive hit on a jumping dive toward the second base bag. House also flashed the leather in the bottom of the seventh inning, crashing into the right field wall while making a running catch to end the frame. Both men saved more Slammers’ runs.

House scored two of the three Otters’ runs, also nabbing an RBI. Jomar Reyes and Mendham each had two hits, with Mendham grabbing an RBI as well. Green was the only other Evansville hitter to drive a man in.

Braden Scott had a tough 2024 debut. The southpaw tossed 4.0 innings, allowing five runs (one earned) on seven hits with a pair of walks and three strikeouts. He took the loss, while Zac Westcott earned the win for Joliet, throwing 6.0 innings of two-run ball in the quality start.

Tyler Driver, Pat Miner, Tristan Harvin and Grif Hughs all made their 2024 debuts out of the bullpen. Harvin tossed a scoreless inning and Driver did not allow an earned run.

The Otters’ middle contest of their three-game set versus Joliet will resume tomorrow. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. CT. Coverage available on FloSports and the Otters Digital Network.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball could not hold off the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and lost 11-9 Friday evening in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Screaming Eagles are 22-28 overall and 11-11 OVC, while Trojans go to 27-21, 14-8 OVC.
 
With the loss, USI falls to sixth in the OVC standings. The Eagles also remain a game behind fifth-place University of Tennessee at Martin and two games Tennessee Tech University with five conference games remaining.
 
USI struck first in the opening game of the series, taking a 1-0 lead in the first frame. USI junior second baseman Thomas Emerich (Ava, Missouri) laced a double to right field to score senior first baseman Tucker Ebest (Austin, Texas) from second base.
 
The lead would remain 1-0 until the fourth inning when the Trojans pushed a pair across the plate for a 2-1 lead. USI responded to regain the lead, 4-2, with three runs in the top of the fifth.
 
USI junior centerfielder Terrick Thompson-Allen (Sioux, Iowa) scored from second and senior rightfielder Ren Tachioka (Japan) raced around the diamond from first when junior third baseman Ricardo Van Grieken (Venezuela) reached on a sacrifice bunt and throwing error. Van Grieken would come home to roost for the fourth run of the game and third of the frame on a sacrifice fly Emerich.
 
Little Rock would take its turn at the lead, 8-4, after posting a run in the bottom of the fifth and five in the bottom of the sixth. The Trojans scored all five of their runs in the sixth with two outs.
 
The Eagles flew back into the lead in the top of the seventh, 9-8, with a five-run frame of their own. Ebest started the rally with an RBI-single before sophomore second baseman Caleb Niehaus (Newburgh, Indiana) and junior leftfielder Adam Euler (Evansville, Indiana) forced in a run each with bases-loaded walks. Junior catcher Logan Mock (Livermore, California) finished the scored in the frame with a two-run single to right.
 
Little Rock bounced back once again to get the lead, 10-9, with a pair of tallies in the bottom of the seventh. The Trojans added to the lead with another run in the eighth to seal the 11-9 decision.
 
USI junior right-hander Peyton Brown (Clemmons, North Carolina) took the loss in relief. Brown (1-2) allowed three runs on four hits and one walk, while striking out three in two innings of work.
 
The Eagles started with junior right-hander Gavin Morris (Brazil, Indiana) on the bump. Morris threw the first 5.2 innings, allowing seven runs on 11 hits and a walk.
 

NORMAL, Ill. – The Vincennes University baseball season came to an abrupt end Friday evening as the Trailblazers fell in their two games to start the 2024 NJCAA Division II Region 24 Pod A Tournament hosted by Heartland Community College in Normal, Ill.

The Blazers fell to host and defending National Champion Heartland C.C. 10-9 on a walk-off sac fly, before falling to Spoon River 11-8 in the very next game.

VU got off to a great start to the day in game one against Heartland Community College, opening up the scoring in the fourth with four big runs.

Vincennes got the rally going with a double by sophomore Blake Heyerly (Monroe, Ind.), followed by three straight singles by sophomore Trevor Newman (Fort Wayne, Ind.), freshman Nate Montgomery (Lexington, Ind.) and sophomore Kade Hinton (Fort Wayne, Ind.), Montgomery’s and Hinton’s singles driving in runs.

VU would add on with a run scoring groundout put in play by redshirt freshman Holden Clifton (Louisville, Ill.) before capping off the inning with an RBI double by sophomore Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) to put the Blazers on top 4-0.

Heartland immediately answered back on the home turf, scoring five runs in the bottom of the inning to take their first lead of the game at 5-4.

The Trailblazers would get back on top in the sixth with the help of three straight doubles by Hinton, Clifton and Parnin and an RBI single by sophomore Carter Whitehead (Huntingburg, Ind.) to regain the lead for VU at 7-5.

Vincennes would tack on two more runs in the seventh after a leadoff double by freshman Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, Ind.) and Blake Heyerly being hit by pitch for the second time in the game.

Douglas would come around to score on a sacrifice fly by Nate Montgomery, while Heyerly would be driven in on an RBI single by Kade Hinton to put the Blazers ahead 9-5.

Heartland again struck back with a big inning of their own in the bottom of the seventh, rallying back to even the score at 9-9 heading into the late innings of the game.

VU continued to battle, including getting a leadoff double by Blake Heyerly in the ninth, his fifth time reaching base safely in the game, but the Blazers were unable to capitalize and retake the lead.

Heartland found a way in the end, coming away with the game one victory in walk-off fashion with a sacrifice fly to give the Hawks the 10-9 victory and send the Blazers immediately into an elimination game against Spoon River College.

Sophomore Max Lines (Indianapolis, Ind.) got the start for the Blazers in game one and did his job, pitching two shutout innings, allowing just one hit and striking out one.

Freshman Bryce Gross (Bridgeport, Ill.) gave the Blazers some big momentum innings in the middle of the game, going two and two-thirds innings without allowing a hit and striking out two.

Sophomore Josh McCormick (Indianapolis, Ind.) was called on to get the Blazers out of a jam in the seventh and held on to pitch the final two and two-thirds innings of the game, allowing one run on four hits and striking out three.