The Redbirds finished the regular season with a 20-10 overall record and a 13-7 MVC record to earn the fifth seed at Hoops in the Heartland. Illinois State is led into the postseason by three players, graduate forward DeAnna Wilson, junior forward Kate Bullman, and senior guard Maya Wong. Wilson and Wong lead the team in points per game with both in double figures while Bullman leads the team in rebounds (8.0), blocks (2.1), and minutes played (30.7).

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — University of Southern Indiana Baseball continues a rigorous nine-game road swing this weekend when it visits the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois, for a three-game set. The series is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday; 3 p.m. Saturday; and 1 p.m. Sunday.
 
Links to follow the Eagles during the opening weekend of 2024 can be found on USIScreamingEagles.com and on the USI Baseball Schedule. All three-games of the first showdown between USI (8-8) and Illinois (5-10) is scheduled to be on Big10+, while Friday’s game also will air on 95.7FM the Spin.
 
Following the three-game series at Illinois, USI finishes its nine-game road trip at Western Kentucky University (12-6) March 19 in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
 
USI Baseball Notes:

Archuleta gets 700^th win. USI Head Coach Tracy Archuleta reached 700 career wins after the Eagles defeated Middle Tennessee State University on Tuesday.

USI reaches .500 with four-game winning streak. The USI Screaming Eagles have reached the .500 mark for the first time in 2024 after winning their last four games. USI is hitting .342 as a team during the winning streak, while the hurlers have a 4.50 ERA in the four games and 36.0 innings of work.

Longest winning streak since 2022. USI’s four-game winning streak is the team’s longest since the Eagles won four at the end of the 2022 season and opened with a win to start the 2023 campaign. The five-game streak featured a sweep of the University of Indianapolis to end 2022 and started last year with a win over Western Illinois University.

Mock, Tachioka, & Ebest lead USI during winning streak. USI junior catcher Logan Mock leads USI during the winning streak, hitting .600 (6-10) with two runs scored, two doubles, a home run, and five RBIs. Senior infielder Austin Tucker and senior outfielder Ren Tachioka have driven in a team-best eight RBI and seven RBI, respectively, during the four-game stretch. Tachioka is second in batting average behind Mock with a .600 mark (10-18).

Eagles are 4-1 on first half of road swing. The Eagles are 4-1 in the first half of the nine-game road swing, hitting .307 as a team and posting a 4.09 ERA on the mound. USI also is averaging 7.6 runs per game, while their hosts are averaging 4.6 tallies per game.

Leaders on the road trip. USI junior catcher Logan Mock and senior outfielder Ren Tachioka are hitting .545 (6-11) and .524 (11-21), respectively, during the road trip. Senior infielder Austin Tucker has driven in a team-high nine RBI in the five games, while Tachioka has driven seven runs after returning to the lineup. Junior right-hander Tyler Hutson has a 1.80 ERA out of the bullpen, posting a team high two saves and 11 strikeouts in five innings of work.  

USI under Archuleta. The Eagles are in their 18th season under Head Coach Tracy Archuleta, who has led the Eagles to two NCAA Division II national championships (2010, 2014) in his 17 years at the helm. He also has been recognized as the Division II ABCA National Coach of the Year twice (2010, 2014); the ABCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year five times (2007, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018) and the GLVC Coach of the Year twice (2011, 2014) since taking over the program in 2007. He also is the winningest coach in the history of the program with 552 victories in 17-plus years.

First series sweep since 2022. The Eagles three-game sweep of Bellarmine University Sunday and Monday was the first series sweep since USI took four from the University of Indianapolis to end the 2022 season.

Taking the long way home. The Eagles are in the middle of playing 14 of 17 games away from the USI Baseball Field.  

USI predicted 8^th in 2024 OVC. The USI Screaming Eagles are predicted to place eighth in the Ohio Valley Conference in 2024.  

Illinois in 2024. The Fighting Illini of the University of Illinois start the weekend 5-10 overall, losing its last four games and five of the last six. The Illini lost a 7-6 game at Indiana State University in their only midweek game Tuesday.

USI vs. Illinois. The Eagles’ visit to Champaign marks the first game and series between USI and Illinois in the history of the baseball programs.

WKU in 2024. The Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky University are 12-6 after winning a pair of midweek games, defeating the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Austin Peay State University. WKU, which has won six of its last seven games, visits Southeast Missouri State University Friday, Saturday, and Sunday before hosting USI. 

USI vs. WKU. WKU leads the all-time series with USI, 8-2, and have won the last four meetings, including both games in 1988 (9-6, 4-2). The last time USI defeated WKU in baseball was in 1981, 8-7.