GAME SCORE: USI 7, Saint Joseph's 2
Box Score (Sortable) | Box Score (HTML) EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana senior designated hitter
Brent Weinzapfel (Evansville, Indiana) hit a three-run inside the park home run to lead the ninth-ranked Screaming Eagles to a 7-2 victory over Saint Joseph's College Friday evening at the USI Baseball Field. The Eagles go to 32-8 overall and 23-4 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, while Pumas fall 17-26, 12-17 GLVC.
The victory takes USI's winning streak to a season-high 11 games and 18 of the last 19 contests. The Eagles also lowered its magic number to win the GLVC East Division to five games. Any combination of five USI wins or University of Indianapolis losses will allow the Eagles to take East Division.
USI had to come from behind Friday night after Saint Joseph's touched Eagles junior right-handed starter
Ben Wright (Newburgh, Indiana) for a pair of runs in the first. The Eagles got one of the runs back in the bottom half of the frame when junior rightfielder
Kyle Kempf scored from second when Weinzapfel reached on an error.
The score would remain 2-1 until USI's game-winning rally in the fifth. Sophomore catcher
Ryan Bertram (Zionsville, Indiana) got the inning going with a double and crossed the plate to tie the score, 2-2, on back-to-back singles by Kempf and sophomore first baseman
Andrew Cope (Evansville, Indiana).
After Kempf was called out when he was hit by junior shortstop
Matt Chavarria's (Carlsbad, New Mexico) single between second and third, Weinzapfel cleared the bases with an inside the park, three-run home run. He drilled the first pitch off the center field wall and circled the bases as the ball squirted away from Pumas centerfielder Austin Bartle, who collided with the wall near the 380 sign. The home run was Weinzapfel's first of the season.
USI would go on to seal the victory with a pair of tallies in the bottom of the eight. Senior second baseman
Caleb Eickhoff (Evansville, IN) drove in the two runs with a double to right center.
On the mound, Wright (6-1) pitched eight of the nine innings to claim his sixth win of the year and tie for first on the staff. He allowed the two first inning runs, while scattering six hits and four walks overall. The junior right-hander also struck out six batters.
USI junior right-hander
Jay Hachmeister (Tennysen, Indiana) finished the game for the Eagles, pitching a scoreless ninth after loading the bases. The Pumas put runners on with an error, a walk, and a single.
The Eagles and the Pumas continue the four-game series Saturday with a 2 p.m. doubleheader. The series concludes Sunday with USI Senior Day at 2 p.m.
