GAME 1 BOX SCORE;
GAME 2 BOX SCORE
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The 14th-ranked University of Southern Indiana baseball team clinched the GLVC East Division and swept a doubleheader from Saint Joseph's College, 4-0 and 5-4, Saturday at the USI Baseball Field. USI rises to 33-15 overall and 25-8 in the GLVC, while SJC falls to 22-24-1, 15-18.
The Screaming Eagles are still in the hunt to clinch the top seed in the upcoming GLVC Tournament. USI can capture the top seed with a win Sunday over SJC or a loss by Missouri University of Science & Technology.
The Eagles clinched the GLVC East Division championship on the back of a 4-0 shutout by senior right-hander
Dan Marcacci (Jupiter, Florida) and freshman right-hander
Jim Mulvaney (Mt. Vernon, Illinois). Marcacci (5-1) went six-plus innings, scattering six hits and striking out four, while Mulvaney got the final three outs, allowing a walk and striking out one.
USI scored the only run it would need in the first inning when senior designated hitter
Tyler Choate (Carmi, Illinois) doubled in freshman rightfielder
Brad Wannemuehler (Evansville, Indiana). Choate also doubled in junior shortstop
Brad Vance (Louisville, Kentucky) with the first run of a three-run sixth that sealed the victory.
The Eagles had to come from behind to defeat the Pumas, 5-4, in the nightcap and complete the sweep.
USI struck first for the second straight game when Vance scored on a RBI single by junior rightfielder
Bryan Chestnut (West Terre Haute, Indiana). SJC would bounce back with a three-run second to take a 3-1 lead.
Junior second baseman
Benshell Garcia (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) would erase the deficit in the top of the fourth with a two-run triple to tie the score, 3-3. Garcia would cross the plate with the lead run on a single by junior centerfielder
Justin Blinn (Vincennes, Indiana).
The Eagles upped the lead to 5-3 in the eighth when Vance scored on a wild pitch. Vance had led off the eighth with a double and advanced to third on Choate's third double of the day.
The Pumas cut the Eagles' lead in half with a tally of their own in the bottom of the eighth. They would threaten in the bottom of the ninth, but left the tying run on base.
On the mound, senior right-hander
Taylor Dennis (Covington, Indiana) settled down after SJC's three-run second to win his sixth game of the year. Dennis (6-3) allowed four runs, three earned, on eight hits and two walks, while striking out seven in eight-plus innings of work.
Mulvaney came to finish his second straight game and posted his second save of the year. He struck out the final batter of the game with the tying run on third.
The Eagles and the Pumas conclude the four-game series with a single game at noon Sunday.
