EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The 13th-ranked University of Southern Indiana baseball team erased a five-run deficit and defeated Missouri University of Science & Technology, 9-8, in a non-conference match-up on the second day of the Dunn Hospitality Classic at the USI Baseball Field. USI, which has rallied from a five-run-or-more deficit in each of its three wins in the classic, watched its record rise to 3-1, while Missouri S&T goes to 3-3.
The Screaming Eagles used a four-run rally in the eighth inning to record their third win of the year. Senior leftfielder Drake McNamara (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) ignited the comeback with a two-run double to pull the Eagles to within one, 8-7, before junior second baseman Jacob Fleming (Evansville, Indiana) scored on a wild pitch to tie the game, 8-8.
After McNamara moved to third on the wild pitch, sophomore Spencer Deom (Tell City, Indiana) pinch ran and scored the game-winning tally on a ground out by junior pinch hitter Jaylen Beshears (Evansville, Indiana).
On the mound, senior right-hander Nick Coudret (Newburgh, Indiana) set the Miners down in order in the ninth to pick up the win in relief. Coudret (1-0) allowed two hits, one walk, and one unearned run over four innings of relief work, striking out four. The appearance on the mound was Coudret’s first since the 2016 season and sitting out last year with an injury.
The Eagles fell behind by two runs early when the Miners pushed a pair of tallies across the plate in the top of the second. USI managed to cut the deficit in half with a single tally in the bottom half of the frame on a sacrifice fly by freshman shortstop Ethan Hunter (Terre Haute, Indiana) to make the score, 2-1, after two.
Missouri S&T pushed the lead back to two runs, 3-1, on a tally in the top of the third and to 5-1 on two more in the fifth. USI got one of the runs back in the bottom of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by McNamara.
After the Miners put another pair across the plate in the top of the sixth and extend their lead to five runs, 7-2, the Eagles answered with a small rally of their own by plating two runs to narrow the margin to three, 7-4. Senior rightfielder Buddy Johnson (Shelbyville, Kentucky) and freshman centerfielder Bryce Krizan(Mt. Vernon, Indiana) provided the offense with RBI-singles in the frame.
USI and Missouri S&T would trade runs in the seventh to make the score 8-5 and set the stage for the Eagles game-winning rally in the bottom of the eighth.
Junior left-hander Chase Partain (Evansville, Indiana) got a no-decision in his first start of the season. Partain went four-plus innings, allowing four runs, two earned, on eight hits and one walk. He also struck out four batters.
USI concludes the Dunn Hospitality Classic Tuesday when it takes on Grand Valley State University in a noon doubleheader. The Lakers, 1-3 to start the season, have split their two games in the classic, falling to Missouri S&T, 10-7, Sunday night and defeating Hillsdale College, 19-3, Monday afternoon.
