The University of Southern Indiana baseball team was dominating in a doubleheader sweep of McKendree University, 13-1 and 7-0, Sunday afternoon in Lebanon, Illinois. USI saw its record go to 22-14 overall and 11-5 GLVC, while McKendree ends the series with a 13-23 mark, 5-11 GLVC. Sunday’s doubleheader sweep keeps the Screaming Eagles in a tie for first in the GLVC East Division with the University of Indianapolis.
USI junior right-hander Devin Williams (Evansville, Indiana) posted his third-straight dominating start and his team-best fifth win of the year in the game one 13-0 win. Williams (5-3) allowed one unearned run on two hits and one walk, while striking out eight in the seven-inning complete game.
The junior right-hander is 3-0 with a 0.42 ERA in his last three starts and 21 innings of work, while scattering 13 hits, walking four batters, and striking out 23 batters.
The Eagles provided Williams with plenty of offense in the opener, scoring 13 runs on 16 hits. USI scored two runs in each of the second, third, and fourth innings, while sealing the victory with three runs and four runs in the sixth and seventh, respectively.
Offensively, senior centerfielder Hamilton Carr (Evansville, Indiana) and senior rightfielder Kyle Kempf(Evansville, Indiana) provided the highlights in the game one victory. Carr hit his third home run of the season, a solo shot, in the sixth, while Kempf hit his first homer of the year, a two-run blast, in the seventh.
In addition to Carr and Kempf’s blasts, sophomore second baseman Sam Griggs (Evansville, Indiana) was four-for-five with two runs scored and a RBI.
In the nightcap, freshman right-hander Austin Krizan (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) made the most of USI’s record-breaking seven-run fourth inning to lead the Eagles to a 7-0 win.
Krizan (3-0) posted his first collegiate shutout and his second complete game of the year in getting his third win of the season. The freshman right-hander scattered eight hits and one walk, while striking out one in nine innings of work.
The Eagles’ bats needed one inning to get all of the runs Krizan would need for the win. USI smacked a single-inning school record three home runs in a 7-run fourth inning. Kempf and sophomore leftfielder Drake McNamara (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) hit back-to-back shots, a two-run and a solo shot respectively, before  senior first baseman Andrew Cope (Evansville, Indiana) blasted a two-run round tripper in the record-breaking frame. Senior shortstop Kyle Niemeier (Evansville, Indiana) and senior third baseman Trent Gunn (Tell City, Indiana) also had RBI hits in the run-scoring inning.
Kempf finished the day with a pair of hits and is now five short of the USI career-record of 270 set by Mike Peerman (1997-2000).
The Eagles return to the friendly surroundings of the USI Baseball Field for a 10-game homestand, beginning with Oakland City at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The homestand also includes a four-game set with Lewis University (April 23-24), a single-game with the University of Missouri-St. Louis (April 27), and a four-game set with Saint Joseph’s College (April 30-May 1). The USI-SJC series also includes Senior Day for the Eagles on May 1.
