EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana junior shortstop Clayton Slack singled in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth to lift the Screaming Eagles to an 8-7 victory over the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Sunday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. USI is 12-15 overall and 4-2 in the OVC after the second game of the series, while Little Rock goes to 10-18, 1-5 in the OVC.
 
USI was in a hole to start the game as Little Rock scored five times in the top of the first to lead 5-0. USI junior designated hitter Cole Kitchens pushed the Eagles’ first run of the game across in the bottom of the first with an RBI single that extended his hitting streak to 16 games.
 
The 16-game streak is the longest by any Screaming Eagle since Logan Brown produced a 21-game stretch in 2018.
 
The Trojans re-extended the lead back to five runs with a tally in the second before the Screaming Eagles exploded for four runs in the third to pull to within one, 6-5. Slack led the charge in the four-run frame with a two-run single to finish the scoring in the inning.
 
In the top of the fifth, the Trojans threatened to take command once again, loading the bases with no one out, but USI junior left-hander Jake Porter struck out the side to preserve USI’s one-run deficit.
 
USI pulled ahead for the first time, 7-6, with a tally to tie the score in the fifth and another in the sixth on an RBI double by Kitchens. Little Rock tied the game in the seventh, 7-7, with a home run and set the stage for Slack and USI in the ninth.
 
In the ninth, Kitchens reached on an error, while sophomore pinch runner Anthony Umbach pinch ran and advanced to second when junior third baseman Patrick McLellan reached on a walk. Umbach advanced to third on a fly out by junior first baseman Kannon Coakley and scored the 8-7, USI game-winner on the single by Slack.
 
On the mound, USI senior right-hander Ian Anderson picked up his second win in relief. Anderson (2-0) pitched four innings, allowing one run on one hit, while striking out two.
 
Porter preceded Anderson to the mound, throwing three scoreless relief innings, allowing four hits and a walk. He also struck out a season-high six batters.
 

 FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – Two-time reigning platform champion and Indiana senior Carson Tyler will try to make it three consecutive championships in the event to close his illustrious career Saturday (March 29) night at the 2025 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships inside the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.

One competitor standing in his way is classmate and the similarly well-decorated Quinn Henninger, joining him in the championship final. The pair will look to repeat the one-two finish they earned on the 3-meter springboard Friday night.

Indiana will send nine Hoosiers to Saturday’s final session of the NCAA Championships with six in championship finals and three in ‘B’ finals. Additionally, junior and reigning NCAA 1,650-yard freestyle champion Zalán Sárkány will swim the fastest heat of the mile, the event kicking off the session at 9 p.m. ET. IU’s 400-yard freestyle relay is the No. 6 seed in the final race of the meet. The Hoosiers sit third in the team standings with 304 points, 8.5 points from second-place Cal and 64 points out of first place.

Two Hoosiers broke program records in morning heats.

Graduate student Jassen Yep shattered the 200-yard breaststroke program record by 44 hundredths, his 1:49.39 placing second in the morning. At the Big Ten Championships, Yep and senior Josh Matheny became the second and third Hoosiers ever to break 1:50 in the event, with the latter breaking Ian Finnerty’s 2019 program record with a 1:49.83 to win the conference title. Now, Yep is inching towards 1:48 and will challenge for the NCAA title as the No. 2 seed in the final.

Graduate transfer Caspar Corbeau finished fourth in the 200 breast prelims with a 1:50.07 to join Yep, and Matheny made the ‘B’ final in 1:50.41.

Junior Matt King snuck into the 100-yard freestyle consolation final with a 41.14, his personal best knocking down Olympian Blake Pieroni’s 41.16 from the 2018 championships. He’ll swim again from lane eight and then again in the 400 freestyle relay.

PROGRAM RECORD TRACKER

 St.LOUIS, Mo. and TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams opened their 2025 Outdoor seasons this past weekend.

The Blazers split the weekend between competing at the WashU Distance Carnival in St. Louis and the Pacesetter Invitational hosted by Indiana State University in Terre Haute.

VU opened the weekend in St. Louis and freshman Anis Abdaoui (Kairouan, Tunisia) opened the Outdoor season with a bang, taking 10th place in the 1500 meters with a final time of 3:49.79, setting a new school record in the event.

The Vincennes distance team continued with sophomore Caden Hostetler (LaGrange, Ind.) placing 166th overall in the 10,000 meters with a time of 34:50.58.

Sophomore Cody Noel (Hebron, Ind.) and freshman Lane Connaway (Carmi, Ill.) also took part in the 10k race, with Noel finishing with a time of 36:24.16 and Connaway posting a time of 36:38.22.

The men’s distance results were rounded out at the Distance Carnival by freshman Jeremy Mendez (Velpen, Ind.) and sophomore Nathan Whitehead (Vincennes, Ind.) who competed in the 5,000 meters.

Mendez came in with a final time of 16:45.36 to place 293rd overall and Whitehead placed 323rd overall with a time of 17:30.39.

The women’s distance results were led by sophomore Adi Fuller (Evansville, Ind.) who took 222nd overall in the 5,000 meters with a time of 21:18.51.

Freshman Alexis Hale (Evansville, Ind.) finished just behind Fuller in the 5k, placing 223rd overall with a time of 21:20.19.

“Friday did not have good conditions for running fast the majority of the day,” VU Interim Head Track and Field Coach Tyler Steigenga said. “Every team had to deal with a warm day that we hadn’t experienced since October that was not optimal for distance running. The winds picked up in the afternoon as well and made for some slow times in every heat. We did not have the day we were looking for for a lot of our events, but we were not alone in that.”

“Caden and Alexis had the best races in the morning,” Steigenga added. “Caden ran a very consistent effort for the entire 25 laps of the 10k. He went out in last place and kept moving up the entire race, passing over half the field. Alexis came away with a new PR in the 5k, but the time doesn’t really tell the whole story. She has improved a ton since she ran her old PR during Cross Country. She’ bound to drop a lot more time this outdoor season.”

“Anis was the highlight of the meet as he was the last distance runner to compete, four hours after the rest had run,” Steigenga said. “The weather changed a lot during that time, which resulted in conditions that were a lot more optimal for racing fast. He took advantage of it by placing 10th overall in the 49 athlete field and setting a new school record of 3:49.79, just under the old record by 0.13 seconds.”

The rest of the Trailblazer Track and Field teams headed to Terre Haute Saturday for the 2025 Pacesetter Invitational.

The VU men’s track results were headlined by the 4×400 relay team of freshmen Devin Wilson (Indianapolis, Ind.), ArTezz Butler-Sanders (Indianapolis, Ind.), Kelvin Kipsang (Kapsabet, Kenya) and sophomore Tanner Spence (Carmi, Ill.).

The VU relay team placed eighth overall with a final time of 3:33.53.