EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball lost a slugfest with the University of St. Thomas (Minn.), 7-6, Sunday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. USI is 4-7 to start the season, while St. Thomas goes 5-6.
 
USI, which won its second-straight weekend series, found itself down 2-0 after the first half and rebounded to take a 3-2 lead on an RBI-single by junior catcher Joe Ricchio (Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin) in the bottom half of the inning. The Tommies regained command in the top half of the second with a four-run rally to lead, 6-3.
 
USI would rebound once again with a three-run frame of its own, tying the 6-6 on a RBI-ground out by junior first baseman Thomas Emerich (Ava, Missouri). St. Thomas jumped back in the lead with a single tally in the top of the fourth to take a 7-6 advantage.
 
After 13 runs in the first three-and-a-half frames, bats on both sides went silent and leaved the game with a 7-6 final.
 
On the mound, junior right-hander Peyton Brown (Clemons, North Carolina) took the loss for the Eagles. Brown (0-1) allowed seven runs, five earned, on six hits and a walk in two-plus innings of work.
 

Aces drop finale to Buffalo

 

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Sunday’s finale of the Low Country Classic saw the University of Evansville softball team drop a 13-6 game to Buffalo.

The Bulls opened the game with 6-spot in the top half of the first inning, chasing UE starter Mikayla Jolly after just 2/3 of an inning.  Tianna Williams and Alyssa Wasielewski each had 2-RBI hits in the frame.  Three runs in the third and two more in the fourth extended the UB lead to 11-0.

Evansville got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Jess Willsey hit a leadoff home run to left center.  Marah Wood and Hannah Hood each posted hits in the inning with Brooke Voss later picking up a RBI.  Zoe Frossard drew a bases loaded walk for the fourth run of the frame before Willsey singled with two outs to make it an 11-5 game.

In the fifth inning, both squads scored a single run with UE’s coming from a Hood single.  The final run for the Bulls scored and that would make it the final of 13-6.  UB out-hit the Aces by an 18-7 margin with four different players picking up three hits apiece.

Willsey recorded three of the Purple Aces’ seven hits.  UE is home on Wednesday for a 3 p.m. doub

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Vincennes University men’s and women’s Track and Field teams had another outstanding showing Friday and Saturday at the 2024 NJCAA Indoor National Championships in Gainesville, Fla.

VU freshman pole vaulter Sophia Amaral got things started on Friday by winning the pole vault National Championship by clearing a height of 4.01 meters.

Sophomore Desroy Jordan picked up the second National Title for the Trailblazers Saturday in the 600 meter dash, qualifying Friday with a time of 1:18.44 before coming back even faster Saturday with a time of 1:17.31.

Sophomore Olegs Kozjakovs was the third VU event winner over the weekend putting together a stellar weekend to claim the top spot in the heptathlon.

Kozjakovs got off to a fast start in the first four events Friday, winning the shot put with a throw of 15.02 meters and placing second in the long jump at 7.03 meters.

Heading into the final three events of the heptathlon, Kozjakovs was in second place with a total of 2,954 points.

Kozjakovs would get a massive boost Saturday with an outstanding performance in the pole vault event, clearing a height of 5.00 meters to earn a massive 910 points, jumping him into the top spot on the leaderboard.

Olegs closed out the heptathlon by placing sixth in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:52.95 earning 735 points and finishing the weekend with 5,327 points to claim the National Championship.

Kozjakovs wasn’t done there however, as Olegs would claim two-time All-American status Friday in the pole vault event as well, placing second after clearing a height of 4.79 meters.

Sophomore vaulter and 2023 Indoor National Champion Julia Amaral would also pick up her third All-American honor Friday, placing eighth in the women’s vault with a height of 3.31 meters.

Sophomore Isaac Stanford (Flora, Ill.) just missed out on the podium in the 1000 meters, finishing 10th with a time of 2:28.40.

Stanford would then turn around and compete in the men’s Distance Medley Relay with freshmen Brahym Sakka (Tunisia), Clinton Laguerre and Tanner Spence (Carmi, Ill.) to place 15th with a time of 10:18.40 and close out the weekend Saturday in the 4×800 relay along side Sakka, Spence and freshman Bryaun Manuel (East St. Louis, Ill.) and place ninth with a time of 7:51.71.

Freshman Emilly Barbosa (Sao Paulo, Brazil) also served as a triple threat for the Blazers over the weekend, competing individually in the 1,000 meters and placing 17th with a time of 3:05.20 before joining freshmen Zinzile Gumpo, Jasmyn Self (Casey, Ill.) and Adi Fuller (Evansville, Ind.) in the Distance Medley Relay to place 12th with a time of 12:58.32.

Barbosa capped off the busy weekend Saturday in the 4×800 relay with Fuller, Self and freshman Grayson Haynes (Sebree, Ky.) with the team placing 13th with a time of 10:25.48.

Freshmen Olamipo Ladipo and Tumaini Skinner rounded out the Trailblazer finishers, competing in the 200 meters with Ladipo placing 32nd at 22.01 and Skinner finishing 37th with a time of 22.48 seconds.

The men’s 4×400 relay team also competed Saturday but were unfortunately disqualified for running outside of their lane and unable to post a time.

Overall, the VU men’s team placed 10th after earning 27 points and the VU women’s team placed 23rd with 11 points, very good showings for both teams.

“We had a very exciting weekend at the NJCAA Indoor Championships this weekend,” VU Head Track and Field Coach Marty Rogier said. “It started with Olegs being named the Midwest Region Field Athlete of the Year for the Indoor Season. That’s a really big honor coming from our Region.”

“The men’s team had a great showing, finishing in the top 10,” Rogier added. “Our program had three National Champions with Sophia, Desroy and Olegs all claiming the top spot on the podium. In addition to that, we earned two more All-American honors and broke two school records. To compete at this meet is such a thrill because the level of competition is so high. The quality and depth of talent was probably one of the best in this championship’s history.”

“Our sister tandem from Brazil, Sophia and Julia, got us off to a good start Friday in the pole vault where they scored our only points on the women’s side,” Rogier said. “Sophia, once again, dominated the meet, clearing 4.01 meters, easily surpassing the second place finisher by over a foot to win her first National title.”

“Julia, last year’s National Champion, added an eighth place finish to earn her third All-American award over the past year,” Rogier added. “I’m very excited for outdoor season to see what the girls might do when they get a little wind at their back.”

“Saturday Desroy ran a brilliant race to win the 600 meters in dramatic fashion,” Rogier said. “He closed in the last 150 meters to pass the two top ranked athletes in the country to capture his first National Title. It was really exciting to see Desroy get a championship of his own. Desroy was ranked fourth in the 600 and seventh in the 400 prior to this weekend, so it was a tough decision to decide which race to go after because the sprints are extremely competitive at this level. I wish I could say it was great coaching, but Desroy is a fierce competitor and has the ability to measure up to others during a race and just close the door at the right time. It was a well-deserved win.”

“Olegs was again just outstanding,” Rogier said. “Friday was the first day of the Heptathlon, where he competed in the 60 meter sprint, long jump, shot put and high jump. He was in second place at the end of the first day’s events but wasn’t done. After hat five hour event, he competed in the open pole vault competition. We were not sure about trying this difficult double but the schedule provided the opportunity and he managed to tie for second place in a very good competition, clearing 4.79 meters. I was hoping that he might pull off the win but it was a lot to ask of him to compete in five events in one day.”

“He returned Saturday for day two of the Heptathlon sitting in second place with three events left,” Rogier said. “It started a little rough with the hurdles, where he dropped to fourth place in overall points. But he rallied back in the second event, which was his specialty, the pole vault. He got it going and cleared five meters, which was higher than the winning height in the open competition. That big point total put him in the lead with only the 1000 meters left. The 1000 meters is not exactly Olegs’ favorite event and he had to stay within 15 seconds of his closest competitors. He gutted it out and closed out the event with 5,327 points, beating Harry Crosby of South Plains by only 50 points.”

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University baseball team ended a very productive weekend on a bad note Sunday morning at Jerry Blemker Field.

The Blazers hosted a rematch against the No. 12-ranked Kellogg Community College Bruins and came up on the bad end of some big innings to fall 26-8 to end the weekend.

VU got off to a fast start Sunday morning, breaking open the scoring in the bottom of the first with an RBI single by redshirt freshman Holden Clifton (Louisville, Ill.) and a two RBI single by freshman Nate Montgomery (Lexington, Ind.).

Kellogg would answer back with a run in the second and another run in the third to cut the VU lead to one before breaking the game open in the fourth with a massive 10-run inning to take a 12-3 lead.

The Bruins weren’t done there though as Kellogg followed that inning with an eight-run fifth to take a 20-3 lead.

Vincennes would get a run back in the bottom of the fifth after a leadoff walk by sophomore Keegan Schlotterbeck (Centerville, Ind.), a single by freshman Reed Drabant (Columbia, Ill.) and another walk by freshman Noble Johnson (Terre Haute, Ind.) to load the bases.

Schlotterbeck would come in to score on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Brandon Juarez (Evansville, Ind.) to cut the deficit to 20-4.

Kellogg would score six in the sixth before VU again refused to give in in the bottom half of the inning starting with back-to-back singles by freshman Brody Fessel (DePauw, Ind.) and sophomore Dylan Ecken (Louisville, Ky.), followed by a walk by freshman Damon Kay (Spencer, Ind.) and a bases loaded hit by pitch by freshman Brody Shaw (Cory, Ind.).

Reed Drabant would then clear the bases with a three-RBI triple, giving him two hits in back-to-back innings and making the score 26-8.

This would be as close as the Vincennes comeback attempt would get however as the Bruins finished out the weekend with a 26-8 victory over the Trailblazers.

“Obviously when you go 3-1 on the weekend it’s a positive thing,” VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. “The bad thing is not playing your best baseball in the last game of the weekend. It is what it is today but going 3-1 on the weekend with three quality wins over Kellogg, Lincoln Trail and Glen Oaks that’s a real positive.”

“Today was just one of those days,” Barney added. “A lot of things fell for them, not a lot for us. We didn’t do a very good job of swinging it and had three errors. We were competitive for about three or four innings and then the bullpen kind of blew up today.”