BOX SCORES AND PLAY-BY-PLAY:
Game 1: USI 6, MU 0
Game 2: USI 10, MU 6
ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The 30th-ranked University of Southern Indiana baseball team completed a four-game sweep Maryville University by taking both ends of a doubleheader Monday afternoon in St. Louis, Missouri. USI won the opener, 6-0, and the nightcap, 10-6.
The victories raised the Screaming Eagles to 21-7 overall and 10-2 in the GLVC, while the Saints fell to 4-17, 1-10 GLVC. The 10-2 GLVC mark puts USI in statistical tie for first in the GLVC West Division with Drury University, who visits the Eagles this weekend.
In the opener, the Eagles scored three times in the first and three times in the fifth the defeat the Saints, 6-0. USI scored its three runs in the first on a two-run double by senior rightfielder Caleb Ehmke (Waterloo, Indiana) and a RBI double by junior centerfielder Justin Blinn (Vincennes, Indiana)
Junior leftfielder Michael Huling (South Bend, Indiana) started the fifth inning rally by scoring on a wild pitch, while sophomore second baseman Brad Vance (Louisville, Kentucky) doubled in a run and stole home for the final two runs.
On the mound, senior right-hander Casey Geiger (Albion, Indiana) posted his second win of the year with his longest outing of the season. Geiger (2-0) worked six innings and scattered three hits, while striking out two. Junior left-hander Scott Handley (Schererville, Indiana) finished game one by pitching a scoreless seventh.
After Maryville jumped out to a 1-0 lead in game two, USI took control with three-run fifth. The Eagles tied the game on a RBI single by senior second baseman Kevin O'Hair (Scottsdale, Arizona) and a two-run double by Blinn.
USI followed up the fifth with another two runs in the sixth, one in the seventh, and a four-run rally in the eighth to lead 10-2. The four-run eighth was highlighted by a two-run double by Vance.
The Saints scored four times in the bottom of the ninth to cut the lead to the 10-6 final score.
Eagles' junior right-hander Jared Canterbury (Petersburg, Indiana) picked up the win in the nightcap for USI. Canterbury (2-0) allowed two hits and one run, while striking out three in 5.1 innings of work. Junior right-hander Mark Walther (Kankakee, Illinois), Handley, and junior right-hander Todd Martin (Rockport, Indiana) combined to finish game two for the Eagles.
The Eagles return to the friendly surroundings of the USI Baseball Field Tuesday night when they host Indiana University Southeast, which is 21-8 overall this year. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
USI leads the all-time series with IUS, 28-8, and will be playing the Grenadiers for the first time since 2005. The Eagles split with the Grenadiers in 2005, losing 6-4 and winning 12-1.
