Lincoln Memorial 4, USI 3

HARROGATE, Tenn.—The University of Southern Indiana baseball team lost its fifth straight game, this time a 4-3 setback to Lincoln Memorial University at Hennon Field on Friday.

Due to the threat of poor weather on Saturday, the two teams were going to try to play a doubleheader today. Snowy conditions, however, postponed the second game of the twinbill, putting the two teams back on their normal doubleheader schedule for Saturday starting at 11 a.m. (CST).

USI (3-6) scored a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 2-1 lead. Senior utility player Matt Keener (Newburgh, Indiana) hit an RBI double to centerfield, advancing senior centerfielder Noah Wetzel (New Salisbury, Indiana) from first to third base on the play.

Junior catcher/designated hitter Jed Davis (Grayville, Illinois) hit a sacrifice fly to leftfield in the ensuing at-bat to push Wetzel across the plate for USI's second run.

The Eagles, however, gave up their 2-1 lead in the bottom half of the inning when the Railsplitters' Brian Williams hit a one-out double to right field, scoring Derek Treece from second base. Treece led the fourth inning off with a double down the leftfield line before scoring the game-tying run.

Keener, who started the game in rightfield, came in to pitch during the fourth inning. After getting the third out in the fourth inning and a perfect fifth inning, Keener (1-1) gave up a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth inning that gave LMU a 4-2 advantage heading into the final inning of play.

USI started the seventh off in a good way when freshman first baseman Matt Malone (Chesterton, Indiana) hit a leadoff double to the right-centerfield gap. Sophomore leftfielder Justin Wolfe (Brookville, Indiana), who homered against Anderson College on Thursday and went 2-for-4 with an RBI in Friday's contest, singled through the left side of the infield to score Malone and bring the Eagles to within a run.

With the bases loaded, however, LMU reliever Mitchell Turner got Keener to ground out for the final out of the game. Turner picked up the save for the Railsplitters, who improved to 9-12 with their fourth straight victory.

USI, which has lost five games by two runs or less this season, will finish its spring trip with Saturday's doubleheader. The Eagles will play the University of Evansville Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the "Battle at the Braun II".