MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball rolled through Middle Tennessee State University with a 12-9 victory Tuesday afternoon in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. USI is 8-8 in the non-conference season, while MTSU goes to 8-8.
The victory was the fourth-straight for the Screaming Eagles, marking the longest winning streak since May 2022 when USI swept four on the road from the University of Indianapolis.
USI opened the scoring in the second inning when junior centerfielder Terrick Thompson-Allen (Sioux City, Iowa) scored on an error to put the Eagles up 1-0. The Raiders bounced back in the bottom half of the frame to knot the game up at 1-1.
Following a scoreless third inning, USI opened up offensively with a tally in the fourth and a five-spot in the top of the fifth. USI junior catcher Logan Mock (Livermore, California) put the Eagles in front with an RBI-single in the fourth, scoring Thompson-Allen for a second time.
Senior first baseman Tucker Ebest (Austin, Texas) started the USI rally in the fifth with a RBI-single for a 3-1 lead, before senior designated hitter Jack Ellis (Jeffersonville, Indiana) got the Eagles really rolling at the plate with a two-RBI single to make the score 5-1 with one out.
USI junior third baseman Lane Crowden (Jackson, Missouri) pushed another run across with a ground out to extend the lead to 6-1, while Mock struck again with a RBI-double down the left field line for a 7-1 margin.
The Raiders struck for three in the bottom of the sixth to cut the USI advantage to 7-4, but the Eagles got two of the runs back in the top of the seventh when senior leftfielder Trent Robinson (Louisville, Kentucky) dropped a two-run double into left center for a 9-4 lead.
MTSU matched the USI two-run rally in the bottom of the seventh to make the score, 9-6. The Eagles, once again, extended their lead to six, 12-6, with a three-spot in the eighth. Mock struck again with a run-scoring double, while senior rightfielder Ren Tachioka (Japan) pushed USI’s final two runs across the plate with a single.
USI’s six-run lead was cut in half for the second time in the game when MTSU matched the Eagles’ rally with three more runs in the bottom of the eighth to make the score, 12-9.
After USI left a runner on in the ninth, MTSU got the tying run to the on-deck circle before the Eagles closed the door on a hard fought 12-9 win.
At the plate in the game, Mock led the Eagles by going four-for-four with a run scored and three RBI and two doubles. Ellis and Tachioka followed with three hits, three runs scored and two RBI each.
The win went to junior right-hander Carson Seeman (Auburn, California) in relief. Seeman (1-1) threw a pair of scoreless innings, allowing a walk, in getting the win.
USI junior right-hander Tyler Hutson (Villa Hills, Kentucky) posted his third save of the season, throwing a scoreless ninth inning. Hutson (3) walked two and struck out three versus the five batters faced.
