BOX SCORES AND PLAY-BY-PLAY:
Game 1: USI 6, NKU 5
Game 2: NKU 9, USI 5

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. — The 15th-ranked University of Southern Indiana baseball team split a non-conference showdown at Northern Kentucky University Wednesday afternoon in Highland Heights, Kentucky. USI took the first game 6-5, while NKU snatched the nightcap, 9-5.

The Screaming Eagles, who were ranked first in the NCAA Division II Midwest Region today, took its overall record to 31-9, while NKU went to 29-12 in 2010. The game two loss also stopped USI's latest winning streak at six games.

The Eagles held on to win the opener 6-5 as the Norse scored five times and left the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning. USI built a 6-0 lead with a tally in the first, three in the third, and one more in each of the sixth and seventh.

Leading the way at the plate for the Eagles were senior third baseman Wes Fink (Clarksville, Tennessee), who was two-for-three with two runs scored and a RBI, and junior centerfielder Justin Blinn (Vincennes, Indiana), who was two-for-four with a run scored and one RBI.

Fink has been on fire through the last seven games, hitting .462 (12-26) with 12 runs scored, six RBIs, and one home run.

USI junior right-hander Dan Marcacci (Jupiter, Florida), who was perfect through the first four and was one strike away from getting his first shutout as an Eagle, recorded his fourth win of the year in his longest outing in a month. Marcacci (4-1) allowed five runs in the seventh and six hits before giving way to closer/shortstop Wandy Rosario (Boston, Massachusetts) for the final out.

Rosario got the last out to record his eighth save of the year after allowing two inherited runners to score.

In the nightcap, the Norse outscored the Eagles 8-1 in the second, third, and fourth innings and went on to win 9-5. Rosario started the second game for USI, but only lasted three innings after allowing four runs on seven hits.

Trailing 9-1 in the top of the seventh, USI scored four times to cut the lead in half before having the rally end. The big hit of the inning was a two-run single by senior second baseman Kevin O'Hair (Scottsdale, Arizona).

The Eagles return to the friendly surroundings of the USI Baseball Field for the final time in the 2010 regular season this weekend when they host a four-game series with Missouri University of Science. The schedule for the four-game series has changed with USI and Missouri S&T playing a 6 p.m. single game Friday; a 2 p.m. single Saturday; and a noon doubleheader Sunday for Senior Day.