Next Game: vs. Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Championship | 5/22/2024
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball completed a series sweep of Western Illinois University with a 10-3 win on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. The Screaming Eagles are 25-30 overall and 14-13 in the OVC, while Leathernecks finish their year 13-37, 8-19 OVC.
With the series sweep of WIU, USI is the fourth seed in the upcoming OVC Baseball Championship, presented by SERVPRO, and scheduled for May 22-25 at Mountain Dew Park in Marion, Illinois. The Eagles earned a first-round bye and will play the winner of the first-round game between the to be determined fifth and eighth seeds at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
The first two rounds of OVC Baseball Championship are single elimination on Wednesday, followed by the double elimination portion on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
The series sweep is the third of the year and the seventh series win of the spring for the Eagles.
In the series finale, USI overcame an early 1-0 deficit by scoring six unanswered runs between the second and fifth innings to lead 10-1. USI junior leftfielder Thomas Emerich (Ava, Missouri) scored the Eagles’ first run of the game on a ground out by senior designated hitter Jack Ellis (Jeffersonville, Indian), while junior centerfielder Terrick Thompson-Allen (Sioux City, Iowa) scored to put USI in the lead in the second, 2-1, on a RBI-single by junior second baseman Lane Crowden (Jackson, Missouri).
USI increased the advantage to 3-1 in the third when Emerich drove in junior second Caleb Niehaus (Newburgh, Indiana) with a sacrifice fly. The Eagles exploded for five more runs in the bottom of the fourth to extend the margin five, 6-1, taking advantage of three walks, a hit batter, and a WIU error.
The margin was increased to nine, 10-1, when USI scored twice in the fifth on RBI-singles by junior third baseman Ricardo Van Grieken (Venezuela) and senior first baseman Tucker Ebest (Austin, Texas) and two more runs in the fifth. WIU closed the gap with a pair of runs in the eighth before USI sent WIU down in order in the ninth for the 10-3 win.
Van Grieken finished the game with a team-high two RBIs and was joined by Crowden with two hits each.
On the mound, junior left-hander Will Kiesel (Wadesville, Indiana) posted his first win of the season in his first start of the campaign. Kiesel (1-3), who was the first of five USI hurlers on a staff day, allowed one run on three hits, while striking out three in three innings of work.
The OVC Baseball Championship Is Up Next:
The Ohio Valley Conference will officially announce the pairings of the league’s post-season tournament tonight after the final game of the regular season.
