COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball concluded the 2023 regular season and a three-game series with Tennessee Tech University by holding on to win, 8-6, Saturday afternoon in Cookeville, Tennessee. USI watched its record go 17-37 overall and 8-15 in the OVC, while TTU is 19-32, 10-14 OVC.
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The victory wrapped up an Ohio Valley Conference Championship berth for the Screaming Eagles, who will be the eighth seed in the tournament which is slated for May 24-27 at Mt. Dew Park in Marion, Illinois. USI will play fifth-seeded Eastern Illinois
University in the first-round game at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
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USI jumped out in front early during the series finale with a pair of runs in the second inning. Senior catcher Lucas McNew (Floyds Knobs, Indiana) put the Screaming Eagles up 1-0 with his fifth home run of the season and the 25th of his career.
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The USI Eagles followed McNew’s homer with a second run when freshman third baseman Caleb Niehaus (Newburgh, Indiana) singled in junior designated hitter Parker Stroh (Grand Forks, North Dakota).
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USI followed the two-run second with a five-run fifth, scoring five times on four hits, two walks, and an error to extend the lead to 7-0. The 7-0 margin lasted until the bottom of the sixth when the Golden Eagles closed the gap to 7-1.
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After allowing the sixth-inning tally, USI pushed the lead back to seven, 8-1, when junior first baseman Tucker Ebest (Austin, Texas) scored on a ground out by junior rightfielder Ren Tachioka (Japan). TTU bounced back to cut the USI advantage to 8-4 with a three-run seventh.
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The Golden Eagles made a game with it in the ninth, scoring a pair of runs on a two-run homer, cutting the gap to 8-6, and proceeded to put another pair of runners on with one out against USI sophomore right-hander Gavin Seebold (Jeffersonville, Indiana). Seebold settled down to get the final two Golden Eagles to preserve the 8-6 victory.
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Seebold posted his first save of the season, allowing two runs on three hits and one walk. He also struck out two in three innings of work.
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On the mound, sophomore right-hander Tyler Hutson (Villa Hills, Kentucky) gave USI a great start and posted his second win of the year. Hutson (2-7) allowed one run on eight hits and two walks, while striking out five in 5.2 innings of work.
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Up Next for the Post-Season Eagles:Â Â
The Screaming Eagles’ first opponent in a NCAA Division I post-season is the Panthers of EIU. USI took the series in April, taking two of games (W 26-6; L 12-22; W 15-8) and scoring 53 runs in the three contests.
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EIU (33-18, 13-11 OVC) enters the post-season on a seven-game winning streak and has won11 of 14.
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The winner of the USI-EIU contest would advance to play fourth-seeded Southeast Missouri State University (26-29, 14-10 OVC) at 4 p.m. The first two rounds of the OVC Championship on Wednesday (May 24) are single-elimination before the double-elimination portion begins on Thursday (May 25).
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In addition to USI, EIU, and SEMO, the OVC Championship field includes top-seeded Morehead State University (34-19, 16-7 OVC); second-seeded University of Arkansas at Little Rock (30-21, 14-8 OVC); third-seeded University of Tennessee at Martin (22-33, 14-10 OVC); sixth-seeded TTU; and seventh-seeded Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (26-27, 9-15 OVC).
