Weatherford picks up the win

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Hannah Hood was a perfect 3-for-3 while Sydney Weatherford picked up her sixth win of the season as the University of Evansville softball team clinched the series over Murray State with a 5-2 win on Sunday at  Tri-State Orthopaedics Field at Cooper Stadium.

Hood recorded three hits and two RBI as the Purple Aces tallied five runs on 10 hits.  Jess Willsey and Taylor Howe posted two hits apiece.  Weatherford threw another complete game, allowing two runs, one earned, on nine hits.

Weatherford retired the side in order to begin the game and the offense was able to get the job done in the bottom of the frame.  Alexa Davis walked and Zoe Frossard followed with a single to left center.  Next up was Brooke Voss who double down the left field line to score Davis.

Jess Willsey’s sacrifice fly brought in Frossard to make it a 2-0 game while Jenna Nink’s RBI groundout solidified a 3-0 edge at the end of the 1^st.  Evansville’s offense continued to roll, adding to the lead in the bottom of the third as Hannah Hood notched an RBI single.

Murray State got on the board with a single run in the top of the 5^th.  The Racers were primed to cut into the deficit even more before Weatherford forced the inning-ending double play to keep the Aces up by three.

Back-to-back doubles from Willsey and Hood resulted in another run to push the lead back to four in the bottom of the fifth.  After the Racers got the run back in the sixth, they rallied in the seventh trailing by three.  With two outs, MSU recorded three singles to load the bases before Weatherford got a lineout to third to end the game.

On Wednesday, UE will be at Indiana State for a 3 p.m. game before playing its final home series of the season next weekend against Missouri State.

MARION, Ind. – The Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams put together another great weekend at the 2024 Indiana Little State Championships hosted by Indiana Wesleyan University.

The busy weekend actually got started on Thursday when VU sophomore and 2024 Indoor Heptathlon National Champion Olegs Kozjakovs made the short trip up to Terre Haute to take part in a two-day Decathlon at the 2024 Gibson Invitational.

Kozjakovs had a great showing in the events, competing against NCAA Division I athletes, taking the top spot in the shot put, discus and pole vault events to claim the top spot in the Decathlon with a total of 6,778 points.

“It was a long, cold weekend but we managed to accomplish a lot with the team,” VU Head Track and Field Coach Marty Rogier said. “The conditions, again, were cold and windy. I thought our team still competed very well.”

“Olegs got things started Thursday and Friday by winning the decathlon at the ISU Gibson Invite,” Rogier added. “The goal was just to survive and qualify in this 10-event competition. He had a steady performance with nothing great but nothing bad. His 6,778 points was still good for second on the National list and very close to a school record.”

The rest of the VU Track and Field teams headed up to Marion Friday for the first day of the two-day Little State Championships, where the Blazers again had a very good showing.

The VU men’s team scorers were led off by sprinters Olamipo Ladipo, 2024 Indoor 600 meter National Champion Desroy Jordan, Tumaini Skinner and Malik Ferdinand.

Ladipo and Jordan claimed a one-two finish in the 200 meter sprint, with Ladipo edging out Jordan with a time of 21.83 seconds, to Jordan’s 21.87 seconds.

Skinner and Ferdinand also claimed a one-two finish, this time in the 400 meter dash, with Skinner taking the top spot with a time of 49.93 and Ferdinand close behind at 50.43.

On the distance side, sophomore Isaac Stanford (Flora, Ill.) got the scoring started for the Blazers by taking third in the 800 meters with a time of 1:55.77 and a second-place finish in the 1500 meters with a time of 3:56.45.

Freshman Cody Noel (Hebron, Ind.) took home fourth place in the 10k, crossing the finish line with a final time of 33:28.64.

Freshman Clinton Laguerre kept the action going in the 400 meter hurdles, finishing with a time of 54.08 seconds, good for second place and a National Qualifier.

Freshman Brahym Sakka (Tunisia) placed fourth in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a time of 9:40.00 before teaming up with sophomores Matthew Gray (Washington, Ind.) and Isaac Stanford, as well as freshman Tanner Spence (Carmi, Ill.) to take seventh in the 4×800 relay with a time of 7:57.43.

The VU relay team of Tumaini Skinner, Clinton Laguerre, Olamipo Ladipo and Desroy Jordan closed out the VU scoring by taking third in the 4×400 relay with a time of 3:24.43.

The Vincennes University men’s team took home second place as a team at the Little State Championships after scoring a total of 76 points over the weekend meet.

“We then moved to Indiana Wesleyan with the rest of the team to compete in the Little State Championships,” Rogier said. “This is a really great meet and I learned that this is the second longest running invitational in the United States. It’s the one meet we focus on trying to score as a team and not so much on individual performance.”

“The men had a good day

PEORIA, Ill. –  The University of Evansville baseball team completed a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series sweep of the Bradley Braves on Sunday afternoon with a 7-2 victory at Dozer Park in Peoria, Illinois.

“This whole weekend started on the mound for us,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll.  “I thought that we got great starting pitching in all three games, and our bullpen was lights out this weekend.

“Today, Shane Harris started a little slow, but after the first inning, he was electric and really did a great job of keeping them off-balance.  Then, I thought that what we got out of Drew Fieger and Jakob Meyer out of the bullpen today was really special.  Overall, I was proud of the effort today, and hopefully, we can keep rolling this week with a very big week against Purdue and Missouri State.”

Evansville gave starter Shane Harris a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, as graduate first baseman Chase Hug hit a high pop up to left that the Bradley left fielder lost in the sun and had go in and out of his mitt for a run-scoring error.  Bradley would scratch across single runs in the first and second innings against Harris to take its only lead of the weekend after two innings, but that lead was short-lived.

Evansville scored two runs in the third inning to take a 3-2 lead on a run-scoring wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by freshman second baseman Brodie Peart.  Peart then added a two-run single in the fifth inning to push the lead to 5-2, before senior shortstop Simon Scherry added a sacrifice fly in the frame to give Harris a four-run advantage.  Graduate third baseman Brent Widder capped the scoring with an RBI ground out in the seventh inning.

Meanwhile, Harris was nearly untouchable after the second inning, as he allowed just a single and a walk after the second.  In fact, at one point, he retired 11-straight Bradley batters in order.  Overall, Harris (4-4) earned the victory by scattering two runs on six hits in 6.0 innings of work while striking out six.  Fieger then tossed two scoreless innings, allowing only one base hit, while Meyer worked a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts.

Peart drove in three runs to help lead the UE offense, while junior outfielder Harrison Taubert and senior outfielder Kip Fougerousse both had two-hit days.  Fougerousse roped a pair of doubles for UE, while Taubert added a double as well.

With the victory, Evansville extended its winning streak to eight-straight games, while improving to 22-17 overall and 10-5 in the MVC.  UE has now had eight-game winning streaks in each of the last four years for the first time in program history.  Bradley, meanwhile, suffered its ninth-straight defeat while falling to 10-27 overall and 4-11 in the MVC.

The Purple Aces will wrap up its current five-game road trip on Tuesday night, as UE will travel to West Lafayette, Indiana to face the Purdue Boilermakers.  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 Network-Plus streaming service.

CANTON, Ill. – The Vincennes University baseball team closed out their weekend Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) series at Spoon River College Sunday afternoon.

The VU offense produced plenty of runs, but unfortunately came out on the wrong end of an 11-9 final in game one and an 18-8 final in game two.

The day got off to a rough start for the Blue and Gold as Spoon River opened the scoring in the first inning with four runs.

Vincennes would answer back and get a couple of runs back in the second on an RBI single by sophomore Dylan Ecken (Louisville, Ky.) and a bases loaded walk by sophomore Jack Robinson (Mooresville, Ind.) to cut the deficit in half at 4-2.

Spoon River would get a run in the bottom of the second, which VU countered again with an RBI single by sophomore Bryan Kohlmeyer (Paris, Ill.) and a two-RBI double by freshman Bryce Gross (Bridgeport, Ill.) to even the score at 5-5.

Vincennes would take the lead in the fourth on a big two-run home run by sophomore Blake Heyerly (Monroe, Ind.), his third of the season.

Spoon River responded back in their half of the fourth inning with a big six-run inning to swing the game back to their dugout with an 11-7 advantage.

The Trailblazers would continue to battle, as freshman Corbin Napier (Indianapolis, Ind.) ripped a two-RBI double in the sixth to put the Blazers within two but were unable to get any closer as Spoon River closed out game one of the day by the final score of 11-9.

Freshman Alex Wandersee (Centerville, Ind.) got the start in game one for the Blazers, throwing three and one-third innings, allowing nine runs on nine hits and striking out a career-high six.

Freshman JD Bowser (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) allowed two runs on two hits in one-third of an inning, before turning it over to sophomore Max Lines (Indianapolis, Ind.).

Lines pitched two and one-third shutout innings, allowing two hits and striking out three.

VU looked to close out the weekend strong and come away with a series split in the finale and early on looked to be off to a great start out of the gates.

Vincennes opened the game with a single by sophomore Carter Whitehead (Huntingburg, Ind.), who later scored on an RBI single by freshman Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, Ind.).

Douglas would also come around to score on a sacrifice fly by Corbin Napier, giving the Trailblazers an early 2-0 lead.

Spoon River’s offense again came back in a big way in the bottom of the first, taking the lead with a big five run inning.

VU would get a run back on an RBI double by Whitehead, his second hit in as many innings to cut the deficit to 5-3.

Spoon River broke the game open with four more runs in the second to take a 9-3 lead before VU would again get a run back in the third on an RBI single by sophomore Trevor Newman (Fort Wayne, Ind.).

The two offenses traded blows back-and-forth all game, with the Snappers countering in the bottom of the third with three runs to take a 12-4 lead.

VU plated another run in the fourth on an RBI double by Bradyn Douglas, his second RBI of the game and third hit of the game.

Spoon River firmly grabbed control of the game in the bottom of the fourth with a big six-run inning to take an 18-5 lead into the fifth.

Looking to extend the game, the Blazers offense continued to fight, with Corbin Napier leading off the fifth with a double and scoring on a two-RBI double by Bryce Gross.

Vincennes would get another run on a sacrifice fly by Jack Robinson but were unable to get a fourth run across to extend the game as Spoon River closed out the series with a big 18-8 victory in game two.

Sophomore Josh McCormick (Indianapolis, Ind.) got the start in game two for Vincennes, throwing one and two-thirds innings, allowing nine runs on six hits and striking out one.

Sophomore Christian Pinson (Elizabethtown, Ky.) was the first out of the pen for VU, throwing an inning and one-third, allowing six runs on six hits and striking out two.

Freshman Colten Okes pitched one-third of an inning, allowing three runs on two hits and striking out one, before sophomore Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) pitched the final two-thirds of an inning, allowing one hit and striking out one.

The Trailblazers will look to bounce back as they begin next week on the road again as VU prepares to head to Robinson, Ill. to take on Lincoln Trail College Thursday, April 25 at 4 p.m. eastern.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana senior first baseman Tucker Ebest (Austin, Texas) hit a third inning grand slam and junior right-hander Gavin Seebold (Jeffersonville, Indiana) took a no-hitter into the sixth as the Screaming Eagles defeated the University of Tennessee at Martin, 4-2, Saturday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. USI is 16-23 and 6-8 in the OVC, while UTM goes to 14-24, 6-8 OVC.
 
Seebold (5-2) was dominating through six innings, setting down 13 of the first 15 Skyhawks. The junior right-hander allowed one run on two hits (both in the sixth) and one walk, while striking out five batters.
 
USI freshman right-hander Clayton Weisheit (Ferdinand, Indiana) finished the game for the Eagles, going two innings to get his third save of the season. Weisheit allowed a hit and struck out one in his two innings.
 
Junior right-hander Peyton Brown (Clemmons, North Carolina) followed Seebold to the mound, allowing a run on three hits and struck out two in the seventh.
 
Ebest provided all the offense the Eagles would need with one swing of the bat. The senior first baseman, who has hit round trippers in back-to-back games, crushed a two-out grand slam over the center field wall to give USI a 4-0 lead and the margin of victory. The home run was sixth of the season for Ebest, who had a team-high 38 RBIs this spring.
 
After the blast to go up 4-0, the Skyhawks challenged with a run in the sixth and seventh to cut the USI margin to 4-2 before the Eagles shut the door on the victory.
 

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – University of Southern Indiana Softball played a marathon 16-inning game to open its weekend series at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Saturday, getting edged 2-1, before capturing a 4-2 victory in the late cap of a doubleheader.

Saturday’s 16-inning series opener was three innings shy of the longest game in USI Softball history against Columbus State University in March 1999. The last time a USI Softball game went at least 15 innings was a 16-inning affair in April 2005 against the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Junior pitcher Josie Newman (Indianapolis, Indiana) went mano-a-mano against SIUE senior pitcher Sydney Baalman in the pitching circle. Newman set a new career high with 15.2 innings pitched while throwing 189 pitches (138 for strikes). Her counterpart, Baalman, made 250 pitches (154 for strikes) in 16 innings of work.

Newman set the tone early by striking out the side in order in the first inning and fanning the first four batters faced. Both pitchers were dialed in, posting zeroes through the first four frames.

It was in the top of the fifth inning when the Screaming Eagles struck first. A double by Newman was followed by an RBI double from freshman infielder Sydney Long (Haubstadt, Indiana) to give USI a 1-0 lead.

Southern Indiana maintained its 1-0 advantage, looking to close out the game in the bottom of the seventh, but SIUE did not surrender. The Cougars tied the game at one after back-to-back doubles to push the game into extra innings.

SIUE threatened with a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth inning, but the duel between starting pitchers carried on. USI had its chances with a runner in scoring position in the 11^th and 12^th innings but could not get one across home plate. The stalemate continued.

USI had runners at second and third with one out in the top of the 15^th, but SIUE was able to get out of the jam. Reaching the bottom of the 16^th inning, SIUE had a leadoff single and advanced the runner to third before a one-out sac fly was deep enough to left field to bring in the game-winning run.

SIUE’s Baalman struck out nine, allowed one run off 10 hits and five walks, and improved to 4-13 on the season. Newman dropped to 14-8 with the hard-luck loss after giving up two runs – one earned – off eight hits with 13 strikeouts.

Newman’s performance pushed her OVC-leading season totals for strikeouts to 188 and innings pitched to 162.2. Both totals would rank in the top five in the nation, but USI does not qualify for official NCAA statistical rankings as a reclassifying program. Through Saturday, Newman has already set career highs this season for complete games (21), innings (162.2), and strikeouts (188).

In the second game of the twin bill, USI wasted no time generating some offense in the first inning. The Screaming Eagles got runners to second and third before senior Lexi Fair (Greenwood, Indiana) doubled home a run. A sac fly by senior Sammie Kihega (Greenfield, Indiana) brought in a second run, giving USI a 2-0 advantage.

While sophomore pitcher Raegan Gibson (Louisville, Kentucky) started the game and was in good rhythm through the first three innings, Southern Indiana doubled its lead in the fourth inning. Following a leadoff double by Kihega and a single from Sydney Long, freshman infielder Shelby Stivers (Louisville, Kentucky) doubled to right field to drive in both Kihega and Long to put USI ahead 4-0.

The Cougars would answer with two runs off a solo home run and an RBI single to cut the Screaming Eagles’ lead in half, 4-2, through four innings.

From that point on, Gibson and Southern Indiana’s defense shut out SIUE to even the weekend series.

The performance by Gibson was her first win of the season, improving to 1-3, and her first career complete game. Gibson’s previous career mark for innings pitched was 5.1 innings against the University of St. Thomas earlier this season on USI’s opening weekend.

SIUE’s senior pitcher Kelsey Ray was dealt the loss, moving to 7-7 this season. Ray lasted 3.2 innings, allowing four runs and two earned before handing the ball off to sophomore hurler Rylie Pindel for the final 3.1 innings.

Following the doubleheader split, Southern Indiana went to 17-18 on the season and 11-9 in the Ohio Valley Conference. SIUE ended the day 15-28 overall and 7-13 in conference play.

CANTON, Ill. – The Vincennes University baseball team opened their weekend Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) series at Spoon River College Saturday afternoon with an excellent pitching performance by freshman Carson Allen (Louisville, Ky.).

Allen would throw a nine-inning complete game in game one of the doubleheader to guide the Trailblazers to a 9-3 win.

This is the first nine-inning complete game for the Trailblazers since May 2, 2021, when Sam Steimel threw a nine-inning shutout at Parkland College.

Spoon River would bounce back in game two, picking up a 7-6 victory in walk-off fashion to split the first two of this four-game series.

Vincennes got on the scoreboard first in game one of the day, driving in a run on four-straight two out walks by sophomores Brandon Juarez (Evansville, Ind.), Trevor Newman (Fort Wayne, Ind.), Kade Hinton (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.).

VU would add to this early lead in the fourth after Newman led off the inning with a double and came in to score on a successful squeeze play sac bunt by Jace Parnin, giving him two early RBIs.

Spoon River would get a run back in the fifth before VU regained control of the game with a big five-run sixth inning.

Kade Hinton got the action on the base paths started with a single, the third of five times he would reach base safely in this game.

After walks by Parnin and sophomore Jack Robinson (Mooresville, Ind.) loaded the bases, freshman Bradyn Douglas cleared the bases with a three-RBI single to put the Blazers ahead 5-1.

VU wasn’t done there though, after sophomore Blake Heyerly (Monroe, Ind.) reached on a hit by pitch, freshman Nate Montgomery (Lexington, Ind.) came through with a two-RBI single to give the Trailblazers a commanding 7-1 advantage.

Spoon River would answer back in the bottom half of the sixth with a pair of runs, however, this would be as close as the Snappers would get as VU added a pair of runs in the ninth on an RBI singles by Trevor Newman and Jace Parnin, giving Parnin three RBIs in the game.

Spoon River would get a base runner in the ninth but were unable to push a run across as the Trailblazers closed out game one and picked up the 9-3 victory.

Freshman Carson Allen got the start in game one for the Trailblazers and the freshman finished what he started, going all nine innings, allowing three runs on nine hits and striking out three.

Allen was able to go the distance on the mound by being very efficient, throwing 15 or less pitches in eight of his nine innings, including retiring the side in the third inning on just three pitches.

VU looked to keep this momentum going into game two of the day and complete the daily doubleheader sweep, but unfortunately had to play from behind early after Spoon River scored two runs in the second.

Vincennes would get on the scoreboard in the fourth after back-to-back walks led off the inning by Blake Heyerly and Nate Montgomery.

Freshman Corbin Napier (Indianapolis, Ind.) would drive in the first run of the game for the Trailblazers with an RBI single and later come around to score on a passed ball to even the score at 2-2.

Spoon River would regain the lead with a run in the bottom of the fourth, but the Trailblazers continued to fight and took their first lead of the game in the sixth.

Nate Montgomery led off the sixth inning with a single, giving him two hits in the game and reaching base safely in all three plate appearances, followed by a pinch hit, hit by pitch by freshman Noble Johnson (Terre Haute, Ind.).

Kade Hinton put the Blazers on top for the first time in the game with a clutch three-run home run, his third career home run and first of the season.

Spoon River would get a run back in the bottom of the sixth to cut the VU lead to 5-4 before the Blazers added an insurance run in the seventh after Jack Robinson led off the inning with a walk, his third free pass of the game.

Robinson would come around to score on a pinch hit RBI single by sophomore Bryan Kohlmeyer (Paris, Ill.) to give the Blazers a 6-4 lead going into the bottom of the seventh.

Spoon River would battle back unfortunately, taking advantage of some walks and an error to come all the way back and pick up the walk-off victory 7-6 over the Blazers.

Freshman Kaleb Marrs (Terre Haute, Ind.) got the start in game two of the day for the Trailblazers, throwing five innings, allowing three runs, two earned on three hits and striking out three.

Freshman Yancey Edlin (Pekin, Ind.) got the call out of the bullpen for the final inning and one third, allowing four runs, two earned, on four hits and striking out two.

The Trailblazers will look to bounce back and close out the weekend strong in the final two games of this MWAC series tomorrow, Sunday, April 21 at Spoon River College. First pitch tomorrow is scheduled for 1 p.m. eastern.