FOOTNOTE: EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT information was provided by the EPD and posted by the City-County-County Observer without opinion, bias, or editing.
FOOTNOTE: EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT information was provided by the EPD and posted by the City-County-County Observer without opinion, bias, or editing.
The Purple Aces will compete in 24 events through Saturday and Sunday at the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships. UE was picked to finish ninth on the men’s side and 12th on the women’s side in the Pre-Championship Poll voted on by league head coaches. Indiana State was tabbed as the favorites in both the men’s and women’s polls, with all 12 first-place votes on the women’s side and six on the men’s side. Other teams earning first-place votes for the men included Illinois State and Northern Iowa.
Evansville closed out the regular outdoor season a week ago at the Billy Hayes Invitational hosted by the Indiana Hoosiers. The Aces picked up another new program record while earning podium finishes in five events at the Billy Hayes Invite. Junior thrower Gwen Darrah (Cleveland / Orange HS) set a new program record in the women’s hammer throw with a PR of 44.82 meters in UE’s first event of the day. Evansville also had 15 athletes set new PRs at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex. The Aces picked up podium finishes in the men’s 200-meter dash from sophomore Raymond Felton III (Houston / Clear Brook HS), the 4×100-meter relay race, sophomore Cedrik Flipo (Beloeil, Quebec) in the men’s 800-meter invitational race, senior Adam Oulgout (St. Paul, Minn. / Central HS) in the men’s open 800-meter race, and the women’s 3000-meter race from Avery Stephens (Newburg, Ind. / Castle HS).
UE begins the MVC Outdoor Championships in the field on Saturday morning, starting at 10 a.m. with the women’s discus event. Evansville’s first track event of the weekend will be the men’s 1,500-meter race at 2:30 p.m. While on Sunday, the Aces will begin competition at 11 a.m. with the men’s hammer throw and move to the track at 1:15 p.m. with the men’s 4×100 relay.
UNION, Mo. – The 2025 Spring VU baseball season came to an end Friday afternoon at the Central District Championships hosted by East Central College in Union, Mo.
The Trailblazers opened the day in the Semifinals against Heartland Community College where the Blazers fell to the Hawks 8-4.
Vincennes then dropped into the elimination bracket where they faced North Central College and fell to the Pirates 13-1.
VU opened their day with a Mid-West Athletic Conference rematch against Heartland Community College and were again able to strike early against the Hawks after a leadoff single by freshman Carter Gricius in the second, followed by an RBI single by sophomore Yancey Edlin to give the Blazers the early 1-0 lead.
Heartland would respond in their half of the second inning, plating five runs in the inning to grab their first lead of the afternoon at 5-1.
Vincennes continued to battle in the later innings however, using another leadoff single by sophomore Bradyn Douglas and another single by sophomore Nate Montgomery (Lexington, Ind.) to put runners on for Carter Gricius.
Gricius came through at the plate again, coming away with a big three-run home run, his seventh of the season to cut the Heartland lead back down to one at 5-4.
Heartland would get a pair of runs back in the seventh before the game was paused in the top of the eighth inning for an hour and 15 minutes for a lightning delay.
The Blazers resumed play after the delay with Gricius on second, getting his third hit of the game just before play was paused but were unable to get the run in.
Heartland extended their lead with a run in the bottom of the eighth, which Vincennes could not answer in the ninth as Vincennes dropped the Semifinal showdown to Heartland C.C. 8-4.
Freshman Eastin Whaley (Kokomo, Ind.) got the start in game one of the day for the Trailblazers, throwing into the seventh inning, allowing six runs, three earned on six hits and striking out two.
Freshman Ty Stultz (Terre Haute, Ind.) was the first out of the bullpen for VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney, throwing one inning, allowing one run on two hits and striking out two.
Freshman Grayson Reichert (Shepherdsville, Ky.) came on after the weather delay to pitch the eighth inning, allowing one run on three hits in one inning on the mound.
Vincennes dropped into an elimination game to close out the day, facing off against the Pirates from North Central College in Trenton, Mo.
The Blazers found themselves playing from behind in this game with the Pirates striking early with a run in the first and three runs in the second to take an early 4-0 lead.
North Central continued to apply pressure at the plate, breaking the game open with four more runs in the third and adding five runs in the fourth.
Vincennes kept battling to the end, getting on the board in the fifth with a solo home run by sophomore Brody Fessel (DePauw, Ind.), his first home run of the season and first home run as a Trailblazer.
VU was unable to keep this momentum going however and unable to extend the game as the Blazers dropped game two of the day to North Central College 13-1.
Sophomore JD Bowser (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) got the start on the mound for Vincennes in game two, throwing two and two-thirds innings, allowing eight runs, three earned on seven hits and striking out two.
Freshman Jakob Hoyer (Georgetown, Ind.) came in out of the bullpen to throw two-thirds of an inning, allowing three runs on four hits before turning the game over to sophomore Colton Okes (Evansville, Ind.) who threw the final two-thirds of an inning, allowing two runs, one earned on one hit.
The 2025 Region 24 B Champion Vincennes University Trailblazers closed out their 2025 season with a final record of 28 wins and 34 losses.
The Blazers had a very successful season however, securing the most wins by a VU Baseball squad since 2016, capturing VU’s first Region Championship since moving to Region 24 in 2016 and winning the first Mid-West Athletic Conference Championship in VU Baseball
ST. CHARLES, Mo. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball bounced back behind a strong pitching performance by junior right-hander Andres Gonzalez to defeat Lindenwood University, 7-5, Friday evening in St. Charles, Missouri. USI is 26-28 overall and 14-12 in the OVC, while Lindenwood goes to 27-27, 14-11 OVC.
With the win, USI is tied for fifth with Lindenwood in the OVC standings and a game behind fourth-place Southeast Missouri State University. SEMO kept control of fourth by defeating the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 10-4, this afternoon.
To earn a first-day bye in the OVC Championship next week, USI needs a win and a SEMO loss on Saturday to earn the fourth seed in the upcoming tournament. A SEMO win on Saturday means USI will be the fifth or sixth seed depending on the outcome of the USI-Lindenwood game tomorrow.
Gonzalez (2-4) picked up his second win of the year in his longest start of the season. He went a season-high six-plus innings, allowing four runs on six hits and one walk, while striking out three.
The Eagles turned the tables on the Lions and took the early lead with a tally in the opening inning and a run in the third for a 2-0 lead. USI sophomore second baseman Anthony Umbach got the scoring started with an RBI single in the opening inning, while sophomore rightfielder Cameron Boyd extended the margin to 2-0 with a sacrifice fly in the third.
The Lions roared back in the third with a pair of tallies to tie the game, 2-2. USI would respond by exploding for four runs in the top of the fourth to regain the lead, 6-2.
Boyd put USI back in front, 3-2, with the first of three RBI singles through the right side of the infield in the fourth inning. The single extended Boyd’s hitting streak to a USI season-best 19 games. The overall hitting streak record is 26 games, which is held by Kyle Kempf (last 12 games of 2015 and the first 14 of 2016), while the single-season record is 21 games, which is held by Logan Brown (2018).
Junior designated hitter Kannon Coakley extended the margin to 4-2 with a looping RBI single to the right side, scoring junior first baseman Cole Kitchens. The margin continued to grow when sophomore third baseman Parker Martin produced the third RBI single to the right side for a 5-2 score.
USI junior catcher Micajah Wall finished the scoring in the fourth on an RBI liner to left for the 6-2 advantage.
After USI increased the lead to 7-2 with a tally in the top of the seventh, Lindenwood made a run at the Eagles with three runs in the bottom half of the frame to close the gap to 7-5. USI senior right-hander Ian Anderson and sophomore right-hander Abdriel Figueroa closed the door on the Lions in the final three innings to preserve the win.
Figueroa earned his second save of the season, permitting a hit and a walk in two innings. He also struck out two.
Coakley had a team-best three hits in the game, while Boyd recorded a team-best two RBIs.
The Otters jumped out ahead in the top of the first with a Graham Brown solo home run, but after back-to-back base hits, they couldn’t add another run.
Jon Beymer got the start for Evansville and even though he struggled to find command early, he gained control and helped the Otters stay alive while he was in the game, including three shutout innings to finish his start. He finished his day with five innings pitched, allowing six hits, striking out seven, giving up only one free pass.
Evansville would add one more run on an Alain Camou liner in the fifth to cut the lead to one. But despite the fantastic effort from Beymer to keep the deficit at one, the Mud Monsters added four runs in the sixth to pull away from the Otters.
Amidst the tough evening, Graham Brown was a bright spot, reaching in four of his five plate appearances. Keenan Taylor scored two runs Friday night.
The Otters’ comeback fell short, even after the Mississippi defense afforded the Otters two late inning runs – the Mud Monsters taking the series opener 8-4.
STATEHOUSE – The 2025 legislative session ended with passage of the state’s next two-year budget as well as tax relief and other key priorities for Hoosiers, according to Vanderburgh County lawmakers.
“This session showed how Indiana can stay fiscally responsible while meeting the needs of Hoosier families,” said State Rep. Tim O’Brien (R-Evansville), who is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee and chair of the K-12 Subcommittee. “We cut taxes, crafted a balanced budget, invested in education and improved transparency around health care costs.”
The budget accounts for lowering Indiana’s state income tax each of the next two years, which will save taxpayers over $200 million per year. The legislature also advanced major property tax relief and reform legislation this session. Together, these two tax cuts will save Hoosiers $1.3 billion in taxes over the next two years. Key investments were also made in K-12 education and public safety, including expanding Indiana’s school choice scholarship program to all Hoosier families beginning next year.
“This legislative session tackled a lot of different issues, including several important fiscal matters,” said State Rep. Wendy McNamara (R-Evansville). “By passing a balanced, responsible budget, our state government will work more efficiently while still cutting taxes for Hoosiers. We also made important progress to continue improving our criminal justice system and supporting our youth.”
All eight of the House Republican priority items advanced to the Governor’s desk by the adjournment of session, including:
“Our approach every session is to listen to the concerns of Hoosiers and respond with thoughtful, effective legislation,” said State Rep. Matt Hostettler (R-Patoka). “We advanced new ideas that reduce burdens on families, support local control and respect the taxpayer. I look forward to continuing to hear from members of our community on how we can make further progress for our region.”
CenterPoint has awarded more than $3.25 million to support over 1,600 safety projects since launching this grant program
Grants available to support local governmental agencies
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – –CenterPoint Energy is currently accepting applications for this year’s Community Safety Grant Program through May 31, 2025. The company will award grants of up to $2,500 for local governmental agencies to fund community safety equipment and safety-related projects within CenterPoint’s electric and natural gas service areas in Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio and Texas.
Since launching the program in 2003, CenterPoint has awarded more than $3.25 million in grants for over 1,600 safety-related projects in communities throughout the company’s footprint.
“At CenterPoint, safety is our top core value, and this drives every effort we take as a company for the customers and communities we are privileged to serve,” said June Deadrick, CenterPoint’s Vice President, Community Relations. “Through our Community Safety Grant Program, we are thrilled to recognize the work our emergency responders, local officials and many others do to help support the health and safety of our customers across the communities we, too, call home.”
Through this program, the grants have enabled communities to install public AEDs (automated external defibrillators), update emergency communication equipment, purchase personal protective equipment for first responders, install traffic control signs, buy gas monitoring devices and complete many other types of safety projects.
Each community CenterPoint serves can submit one grant application with information on a safety-related problem, issue or need in the community and how a Community Safety Grant would help address those needs.