GAME 1 SCORE: USI 7, Tiffin 3
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GAME 2 SCORE: USI 6, Tiffin 2
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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana baseball team climbed over the .500 mark for the first time in 2013-14 with a doubleheader sweep of Tiffin University, 7-3 and 6-2, Saturday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. USI rises to 5-4 overall, while Tiffin goes to 1-6.
The Screaming Eagles scored three unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh to win the opener, 7-3. USI sophomore rightfielder
Kyle Kempf (Evansville, Indiana) sparked the game-winning rally by reaching on a two-out error before junior centerfielder
Tyler Mikrut (Edwardsville, Illinois) recorded an RBI-single and senior designated hitter
Brent Weinzapfel (Evansville, Indiana) sealed the victory with a two-run single up the middle.
The Eagle had the early leads with a pair of runs in the first to lead, 2-0, and had to retake the lead with a single tally in the bottom of the sixth, 3-2, before the game-winning three-run rally in the seventh. The home team would add an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth for the 7-3 win.
At the plate in the opener, Weinzapfel led the Eagles with two hits, three RBIs and a run scored. Junior shortstop
Matt Chavarria (Carlsbad, New Mexico) and Mikrut also had multiple hits in game with three and two, respectively.
On the mound, senior right-hander
Jonathon Wandling (Evansville, IN) posted his first victory as an Eagle. Wandling (1-1) pitched seven innings, allowing three runs, two earned, while striking out 10 batters. Senior right-hander
Brandon Shaw (Cuba, Illinois) pitched a scoreless eighth, while sophomore right-hander
Tyler Nichols (Newburgh, Indiana) finished the game with a scoreless ninth.
In the nightcap, Tiffin took its first lead of the series with a tally in the first. The lead, however was short lived as USI tied the score, 1-1, when Wandling singled in Mikrut with two outs.
The score would remain tied until the bottom of the sixth when the Eagles got the go-ahead runs to led 3-1. Wandling would score on a passed ball, while sophomore third baseman
Trent Gunn (Tell City, Indiana) scored on a RBI single by senior second baseman
Caleb Eickhoff (Evansville, Indiana).
The Eagles would seal the 6-2 victory with an insurance run in the seventh and a pair of tallies in the eighth.
Offensively, USI was led in the second game by Kempf, who had three hits and posted his fifth multi-hit game of the season, and sophomore first baseman
Andrew Cope (Evansville, Indiana), who had a pair of hits.
USI senior right-hander
Matt Bowles (Mt. Washington, Kentucky) got the win on the mound. Bowles (2-1) went six innings, allowing one run on four hits and a walk. He also struck out four.
Bowles gave way in the seventh to senior right-hander
David Toth (Danville, Illinois), who allowed a run on two hits and struck out in two innings of work. Chavarria finished the game for the Eagles, throwing a scoreless ninth in his USI debut on the mound.
The Eagles continue their 13-game homestand March 7 when they start the Dunn Hospitality Classic against Wayne State College. The first pitch next Friday is 6 p.m.
