TULSA, Okla. –  University of Evansville freshman left-hander Kenton Deverman struck out eight men in 6.0 innings of relief work on Saturday, and UE graduate students Chase Hug and Mark Shallenberger launched three-run home runs, as the Purple Aces pounded out a 14-3 victory at #26 Oral Roberts to even the season-opening series at one-game apiece.

“What a great response from our ballclub today to even up this series,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll.  “I knew we would get this type of effort from our guys with the experience that we have, and for a freshman like Kenton Deverman to compete like he did was really special to see.

“It really sets up a big game for both of our programs tomorrow.  We both have some pretty high expectations, and for us to get a season-opening series win against a quality opponent like this would be huge for us.  So, we need to come out ready for a battle and ready to compete.”

The Golden Eagles, ranked #26 in the NCBWA preseason poll and receiving votes in the USA Today/Coaches Preseason Poll, came out of the gates hot early, scoring a pair of runs in the first inning off of UE starter Nick Smith to take a 2-0 lead.

The lead would not last long though for ORU, as Evansville would answer back in the top of the third inning thanks to some wildness and the bat of Chase Hug.  After the inning opened with back-to-back hit-batters, Hug crushed a long home run over the bullpen in right field for his first home run of the year to give UE a 3-2 lead.

From there, Deverman took over in relief on a cold day in Tulsa, and he shut down a potent Oral Roberts attack.  After yielding a single to left field by reigning all-regional player Holden Breeze in his first collegiate at-bat, Deverman recorded eight-straight outs to silence the Golden Eagles’ bats.  Evansville would then explode for six runs in the fifth inning to make life easier on the mound for the freshman.

Evansville worked three walks to load the bases to begin the frame.  Then, after a pair of run-scoring wild pitches by the ORU bullpen, graduate catcher Brendan Hord knocked the first of two run-scoring doubles on the afternoon to give UE a 6-2 lead.  After another hit-by-pitch by ORU, Shallenberger then launched a mammoth three-run home run to deep right field to give UE a 9-2 lead.

UE would tack on five more runs in the seventh inning, powered by a run-scoring ground out by Hug, an RBI single by senior right fielder Kip Fougerousse, an RBI double by junior second baseman Cal McGinnis, and a two-run double by Hord to push the lead to 14-2.  Deverman would yield his only run of the afternoon on a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, but he earned the win in his collegiate debut, holding Oral Roberts to a single run on five hits in 6.0 innings of work, while striking out eight.

Offensively, Hug went 1-for-4 with two run scored, a home run and four RBI, while Shallenberger and Hord both had two hits and drove in three.  Fougerousse and McGinnis also had two-hit days for UE.  Evansville out-hit Oral Roberts once again, 12-8, on the afternoon.

The rubber match of the three-game series will take place on Sunday at 1 p.m. at ORU’s J.L. Johnson Stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Freshman left-hander Kevin Reed will get the start for UE in his collegiate debut.

CARTERVILLE, Ill. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers hit the road Saturday afternoon for another Region 24 showdown, this time facing off against the Lady Vols of John A. Logan College in Carterville, Ill.

VU freshman Destinee Hooks (Indianapolis, Ind.) was a clear and obvious player of the game again for the Lady Blazers, finishing with another double-double with 37 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and five steals, including 22 points in the second half, 15 of which coming in the fourth quarter.

Vincennes got off to a very slow start at John A. Logan, with the Lady Volunteers jumping out to an early 18-5 lead over the Lady Blazers.

VU would look to rally back and cut the deficit by closing out the first quarter on a 9-0 scoring run to end the first 10 minutes of action trailing 22-19.

The Lady Trailblazers would add to the scoring run to begin the second quarter, battling all the way back to take a 24-22 lead early in the second quarter.

The second quarter was very back and forth with the lead changing hands six times in the quarter with John A. Logan holding firm with a 45-42 halftime lead over the Blazers.

Vincennes looked to take the game up to another level in the second half, coming out in the third quarter firing to take a 55-51 lead and using an 11-0 scoring run to take a 68-55 advantage.

John A. Logan responded back in a big way closing out the third quarter on a 13-0 scoring run to even the game at 68-68 going to the fourth quarter.

The Lady Trailblazers struck first in the fourth quarter using an 8-0 scoring run to take an 81-74 lead.

John A. Logan would cut the deficit back down to four but were unable to take the lead back as the Lady Blazers closed out strong to come away with the 93-89 victory over the Lady Vols.

VU was led offensively by another 30-point night by freshman Destinee Hooks, who finished the game with 37 points and ending with 11 rebounds for her third collegiate double-double.

Hooks also led the Lady Blazers with seven assists and five steals on the game.

Freshman Giavonnie Belton (Indianapolis, Ind.) came off the bench to record 18 points on the day, naturally coming in the form of six made three-pointers.

Sophomore Elikya Baseyila (Paris, France) just missed out on another double-double, finishing with 12 points and nine rebounds.

Freshman Makyla Tucker (Indianapolis, Ind.) was the fourth VU Lady Blazers scorer in double figures, coming off the bench to add 11 points, four assists and three steals.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Track & Field earned a fifth-place finish at the ISU Open Saturday evening after a pair of Screaming Eagles nabbed a podium placements to help give the squad 23 points.
 
Junior Audrey Comastri (Indianapolis, Indiana) secured second place in the 400 meters with a time of one minute and 00.32 seconds, nearly beating her personal best from last year’s ISU Open. Also recording a second-place finish was sophomore Emily Rempe (Owensboro, Kentucky) in the 800 meters with a time of 2:17.03, marking it the third-fastest indoor time in program history.
 
Continuing her early success was freshman Zoe Seward (Rochester, Indiana) who produced another top-five finish, this time in the mile with a time of 5:15.40. The final Eagle to secure a top-five placement was junior Blair Rexing (Fort Branch, Indiana) in the 3,000 meters with a time of 12:44.09 to capture fifth place. Also earning points for USI was junior Emma Thompson (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) who crossed the line in seventh place in the mile with a personal-best time of 5:24.72.

MOBILE, Ala.- University of Southern Indiana Baseball brought the bats on Saturday but couldn’t avoid the big innings defensively. The Screaming Eagles fell short the University of North Alabama, 13-7, Saturday afternoon in Mobile, Alabama.
 
Junior Carson Seeman (Auburn, California) worked his way out of trouble in the first two frames leaving two Lion runners on the base paths in back-to-back innings.
 
The Eagles pushed across two runs in the first off an RBI sacrifice fly from senior Lane Crowden (Jackson, Missouri) after the first three batters reached base. Freshman Cameron Boyd (Villa Hills, Kentucky) took one for the team with a bases loaded hit by pitch to bring in another run and put the Eagles up by two after the first.
 
Junior Terrick Thompson-Allen (Sioux City, Iowa) singled in junior Joe Ricchio (Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin) in the third to extend the lead to three. However, the USI pitching staff started to falter giving up four runs in back-to-back innings in the fourth and fifth. The Eagles countered in the bottom of the fifth after senior Ren Tachioka (Saitama, Japan) and sophomore Caleb Niehaus (Newburgh, Indiana) delivered RBIs to cut the deficit to 8-5.
 
The Eagles couldn’t avoid the big inning on defense as the Lions tagged three more runs in the top of the sixth. Senior Tucker Ebest (Austin, Texas) and Crowden both singled and scored in the bottom of the eighth to bring the Eagles within five. Pitching and defense proved to be the demise for the Eagles today, resulting in a 13-7 loss.
 
Tachioka led the Eagles offensively with three hits. Neihaus, Ebest, and Thompson-Allen collected two hits each.
 

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball was stopped by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 80-62, Saturday afternoon at Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Screaming Eagles fall to 7-20 overall and 4-10 in OVC play, while the Trojans are 16-11 overall, 10-4 OVC.
 
Despite the loss, USI remains eighth in the league and in the race to secure a spot in the OVC Tournament in March. The Eagles are tied for eighth at 4-10 with Tennessee Tech University, while Southeast Missouri State University is a game behind USI with four games to play in the 2023-24 season. USI, which currently owns the tiebreaker with TTU, and SEMO are scheduled to face off at Screaming Eagles Arena on the last day of 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 has three games on the road remaining before hosting a pair on the final weekend of conference play.  
 
USI fell behind quickly in the opening half as Little Rock scored the first seven points of the game and had an early 12-2 lead. The Eagles rallied to cut the deficit to single-digits three times by the midway point of the first half, but the Trojans took a 38-26 lead into the intermission. Sophomore guard/forward AJ Smith (Edwardsville, Illinois) kept the Eagles in the contest through the first 20 minutes, scoring 13 of the team’s 26 points.
 
The Eagles kept pace with the Trojans in the second half but could not gain ground. USI was never able to cut the deficit to single-digits, slipping to within 10 points, 38-28, with the opening bucket of the final 20 minutes. Little Rock led USI in the second half by as many as 19 points before closing out the 80-62 decision.
 
Smith was the only Eagle to reach double-digits in scoring, adding 10 second half points for a game-high 25 in the loss.
 
Next Up For USI:
USI starts the second half of the four-game road swing Tuesday when it visits OVC front running Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky. Tipoff is set of 6:30 p.m.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Freshman Cole Hess (Cannelton, Indiana) led the University of Southern Indiana Men’s Track & Field group at the ISU Open Saturday evening with a first-place finish in the 800 meters. With Hess crossing the line in one minute and 53.17 seconds, he now holds the Screaming Eagles’ 800-meter indoor record, a feat that has sat atop since 2006.
 
With the success of Hess, USI was able to capture fifth place at the meet with 26 points. This is the Eagles best finish in 2024 ahead of the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships.
 
Making some noise was senior Mitchell Hopf (Santa Claus, Indiana) who placed fourth in the mile with a time of 4:16.31 while senior Draven Thompson (Huntertown, Indiana) closed out USI’s top-10 mile finishers with a time of 4:26.01 to earn eighth place. In the pit, junior James Butler (Evansville, Indiana) secured fifth place with a leap of 20 feet, 3.5 inches in the long jump. Also earning points was freshman Mukal Verma (Palatine, Illinois) with an eighth-place finish in the 3,000 meters after crossing the line in 9:10.02.