The 30th-ranked University of Southern Indiana baseball team was swept by University of Illinois Springfield, 9-8 and 5-1, Saturday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. USI saw its record fall to 14-10 overall, 3-3 in the GLVC, while Illinois Springfield finished the day 11-10 overall, 4-2 GLVC.
The Screaming Eagles battled from behind during the entirety of the opening game, but lost 9-8 in the end. USI fought back from deficits of 2-0, 5-2, 6-3, and 9-5, before leaving the tying run at third base after senior shortstopKyle Niemeier (Evansville, Indiana) pulled the Eagles to within 9-8 on a three-run triple in the bottom of the ninth.
Niemeier finished the first game with a team-high three RBIs, while senior third baseman Trent Gunn (Tell City, Indiana) and junior designated hitter Cody Montgomery(Shepherdsville, Kentucky) followed with two RBIs each.
On the mound, junior right-hander Colin Nowak (Carol Stream, Illinois) suffered his second defeat of the season. Nowak (2-2) allowed five runs on eight hits and three walks, while striking out five through five innings of work.
Illinois Springfield started game two the same way it started the opener by jumping out to a lead in the first inning. The Stars increased the margin to 5-0 by the middle of the seventh before the Eagles scratched a run across the plate in the bottom of the final frame.
USI got its only run of the game when senior rightfielder Kyle Kempf (Evansville, Indiana) drove in Niemeier with an RBI-single to right center in the seventh.
USI junior right-hander Lucas Barnett (Sellersburg, Indiana) was tagged with the loss in the nightcap. Barnett (4-2) allowed two runs, one earned, on six hits, in five innings of work, while striking out eight batters for the second game in a row.
The Eagles and the Prairie Stars concluded the four-game series Sunday with a noon doubleheader.
