MOREHEAD, Ky. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball shocked Morehead State University with an 80-73 victory Tuesday evening in Morehead, Kentucky. The Screaming Eagles rise to 8-20 overall and 5-10 in OVC play, while the MSU Eagles are 20-8 overall, 11-4 OVC.
 
With the win, USI takes command of eighth in the OVC standings. The Screaming Eagles are a half-game ahead of ninth-place Tennessee Tech University and only two games back of seventh-place Eastern Illinois University. USI has three games remaining in 2023-24, while TTU and EIU have four contests left in the regular season.
 
The top eight teams at the end of OVC play advance to the league tournament March 6-9 at the Ford Center in Evansville.
 
USI and MSU battled back and forth through the first 10 minutes before the MSU Eagles used an 8-0 run to lead 23-16. The Screaming Eagles would close the gap to one point, 26-25, with an 8-3 surge before going into the intermission trailing by one 31-30. Overall in the first 20 minutes, the game feature six lead changes and three times.
 
USI junior forward Jack Mielke (Downers Grove, Illinois) led the way for the Eagles in the opening half with 13 points that include four three-point buckets.
 
In the second half, USI quickly jumped out to a six-point lead, 39-33, with a 9-2 run. The Screaming Eagles ran the lead to eight points, 47-39, on a three-pointer by junior guard Jeremiah Hernandez (Chicago, Illinois).
 
MSU bounced back with a 11-3 rally to tie the score for the fourth time in the game, 50-50. Mielke and sophomore guard Ryan Hall (Kettering, Ohio) grabbed the momentum back for USI with back-to-back three-point bombs, igniting a 10-1 run to get the Screaming Eagles back in control 60-51 with 7:21 to play.
 
USI had to withstand another MSU Eagle rally as they cut the Screaming Eagles’ advantage to two, 72-70, with 1:10 left. Hernandez put USI back up four, 74-70, with a bucket with 45 seconds to play before MSU got back to within two with 35 seconds left, 74-72.
 
USI sophomore guard/forward AJ Smith (Edwardsville, Illinois) sealed the USI victory with four-straight free throws put the Screaming Eagles back in control the 78-72. USI junior guard Sam Mervis (Indianapolis, Indiana) capped off the scoring for the Screaming Eagles with two charity shots before a final MSU free throw in the 80-73 victory.
 
Overall, USI outshot MSU, 49.1 percent (26-53) to 45.1 percent (23-51), and outrebounded the MSU Eagles, 34-23. The Screaming Eagles also were a blistering 19-of 20 from the stripe (95 percent), converting eight-straight trips to the line in the final five minutes.
 
Individually, Hernandez led the Screaming Eagles with a game-high 28 points and is averaging 29 points per game versus MSU this season (the junior guard scored 30 versus MSU in the first meeting in January). He was 10-of-17 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, and six-of-seven from the stripe.
 
Smith followed with 18 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, while Mielke added three points in the second half and finished with 16.

MOREHEAD, Ky. – In only the second season since making the jump to NCAA Division I and joining the Ohio Valley Conference, University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball claimed the outright 2023-24 Ohio Valley Conference regular season title Tuesday night following a 72-64 road win at Morehead State University.
 
After missing out on the OVC Tournament in their inaugural season in 2022-23, the Screaming Eagles accomplished in 2023-24 what only one other women’s basketball program has achieved in recent years – win a conference title during a reclassification period. The last women’s basketball program to win a conference title during a reclassification period was California Baptist University in 2020-21. The Lancers won the Western Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championships.
 
Tuesday was Southern Indiana’s (19-6, 14-1) fifth win in a row, as USI has won 15 of its last 16 contests. The Screaming Eagles entered Tuesday with a share of the OVC regular season title and the No. 1 seed in next month’s OVC Tournament already clinched. However, USI went to Morehead State looking to claim the outright OVC crown.
 
Southern Indiana got off to another good start to open Tuesday’s game at Morehead State. Within the first two minutes, sophomore guard Ali Saunders (Depauw, Indiana) capitalized on a three-point play. Saunders was named OVC Player and Newcomer of the Week on Tuesday morning. With USI leading 7-5 three minutes into the contest, the Screaming Eagles took off on a big run. USI scored 11 straight points over five minutes to jump ahead 18-5, as senior forward Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana) scored six of those 11 points. Raley tallied eight first-quarter points, helping USI shoot over 50 percent in the opening period and grab a 22-9 lead through one.
 
Midway into the second quarter, Southern Indiana pushed its advantage to 14, 31-17, after a three-pointer from Saunders. Then the Screaming Eagles’ offense ran into a cold spell from the field. Southern Indiana went three minutes scoreless before a couple of made free throws by freshman forward Chloe Gannon (Manchester, Tennessee). Meanwhile, Morehead State closed into USI’s lead, cutting the deficit down to five, 33-28, at halftime. The Screaming Eagles went without a field goal for the last 4:48 of the first half.
 
Out of the intermission, Southern Indiana made an emphasis on going inside. Back-to-back baskets from senior forward Madi Webb (Bedford, Indiana) and then consecutive buckets by Gannon helped USI build its lead back to double digits, 45-34, by the halfway point of the third quarter. Webb and Gannon continued to feast in the paint, while USI’s defense held Morehead State scoreless for nearly three minutes. Webb poured in 10 third-quarter points. Southern Indiana took a 51-42 lead to the fourth period.
 
The Screaming Eagles opened the fourth frame with back-to-back triples by junior guard Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) and Raley. Later in the fourth, Southern Indiana and Morehead State picked up the pace, exchanging baskets. With 2:36 left, freshman guard Triniti Ralston (Louisville, Kentucky) swished a three-pointer to put USI up 12, 68-56. Morehead State continued to fight, pulling within six points, but USI connected on late free throws to seal the win and the 2023-24 OVC regular season title.
 
Southern Indiana was 27-60 for 45 percent from the floor Tuesday evening, hitting five threes. USI was 13-21 for 62 percent at the charity stripe. Southern Indiana had a season-low nine turnovers and 42 points in the paint. The Screaming Eagles had five players in double figures for the first time since December 2022. Webb and Gannon each had 14 points, Saunders and Raley each chipped in 13, and Ralston tallied a career-high 10 points.
 
Morehead State, who was looking to keep pace for the potential No. 2 seed, dropped to 8-7 in conference play and 13-13 overall. Morehead State went 25-62 for 40 percent in overall shooting, cashing in seven triples. The host Eagles were 7-12 for 58 percent at the foul line. Morehead State won the rebounding battle, 44-34. Junior guard Matilda Soderlund led Morehead State in scoring with 23 points.
 
USI is set to travel to Macomb, Illinois on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tilt against Western Illinois University to conclude the four-game road swing. A win on Saturday would give USI its 14^th 20-win season and first since 2021-22. Saturday’s game can be seen live with a subscription to ESPN+ and heard on 95.7 FM The Spin (http://957thespin.com). 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. –  The University of Evansville baseball team exploded for nine runs in the fifth inning on Tuesday to cruise to a 16-6 victory over visiting Bellarmine at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium in the 2024 home opener for the Purple Aces.

“Overall, I thought it was a really good team effort today,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll.  “I was really happy with our offense today.  It kept plugging along early, and we left some guys on base, but then finally it broke through with that big nine-run inning to take control of the game.

“I was also glad to see some different guys be able to get up on the mound for us today.  Guys who weren’t able to see time over the weekend at Oral Roberts, but who are going to be key guys for us this season.  I thought Ethan Bell did a tremendous job of coming in and throwing strikes and keeping us in the contest until we got the offense fully going.  Overall, really pleased with today’s effort, and now it is on to New Orleans.”

Bellarmine jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a pair of unearned runs, but UE would answer right back to take a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the first.  Graduate third baseman Brent Widder roped an RBI double down the left-field line, before UE was able to load the bases and get a run-scoring walk and fielder’s choice.

The Knights would tie the game at 3-3 in the second inning on a sacrifice fly, before UE senior shortstop Simon Scherry delivered an RBI single to help UE retake a 4-3 lead.

Another sacrifice fly by Bellarmine in the fourth inning would tie the game at 4-4, and it would stay that way until the fifth inning, when Evansville exploded for nine runs to put the game out of reach.  Junior outfielder Harrison Taubert opened the scoring with an RBI double to break 4-4 tie, and then pushed across two more runs to cap the nine-run frame thanks to the help of a Bellarmine error.  In between those plays, freshman catcher Kaleb Wilkey drove in his first collegiate run, junior second baseman Cal McGinnis and senior first baseman Kip Fougerousse both knocked RBI doubles, and Scherry and graduate designated hitter Brendan Hord had RBI base hits as well.

The Knights would scratch across two runs in the seventh inning to get within 13-6, before UE would cap the scoring with a three-run eighth inning.  Graduate outfielder Mark Shallenberger crushed a two-run home run to right-center field, and McGinnis added an RBI triple in the frame.

In all, all nine members of the UE starting lineup produced RBI on Tuesday and eight of the nine collected hits.  Taubert drove in a team-high three RBI.  Both Shallenberger and McGinnis finished just one hit shy of the cycle, as Shallenberger needed just a triple, and McGinnis fell just a home run shy of the cycle.  Fougerousse also had a three-hit game for UE.

The victory on the mound went to redshirt sophomore right-hander Ethan Bell, who allowed just a run on a single hit while striking out four men in 3.0 innings of relief work.

With the victory, Evansville improves to 3-1 on the season after winning the last three games in a row.  Bellarmine, meanwhile, falls to 1-3.  Evansville will now travel south to New Orleans to battle the Privateers (2-1 entering a Wednesday game against Southern Miss) in a three-game series beginning on Friday night at 6:30 p.m.  All three games of the weekend series can be seen live on ESPN+.