EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The ninth-ranked University of Southern Indiana baseball team ends the 2014 regular season on the road when it travels across town for "Battle at the Braun" game against the University of Evansville Tuesday at 6 p.m. and a pair of doubleheaders at the University of Indianapolis Friday and Saturday. Both of the USI-UIndy doubleheaders have the first pitch slated for 1 p.m.
Links to follow this week's games can be found on gousieagles.com.
SCREAMING EAGLES BASEBALL NOTES:Archuleta shooting for win number 300 at USI. USI Head Coach
Tracy Archuleta aims win his 300
th game as the head coach of the Screaming Eagles this weekend. Archuleta has a USI record of 298-145 (.673) in seven-plus seasons and is 436-269 (.618) in 12-plus seasons as a head coach. He was named the ABCA Division II Coach of the Year after leading the Screaming Eagles to the 2010 national championship.
Eagles ranked nationally. The Eagles are ranked ninth in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association top 25 poll (as of April 23) and are tied for tied for 21
st in the
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Top 30 poll.
USI sits on top of the first Midwest Region Poll. The Eagles (35-8, 26-4 GLVC) were the top-ranked team in the first NCAA Division II Midwest Region poll of 2014 (rankings as of April 23). USI was followed in the poll by Drury University, Grand Valley State University, Kentucky Wesleyan College, Ohio Dominican University, Wayne State University, Ashland University, and Lake Erie College.
Winning streak has Eagles flying high in April. USI has a 14-game winning streak, its longest of the season. The longest winning streak in program history was 15 in 2010. The Eagles also have won 21 of their last 22 games in April. Pitching rules during winning streak. USI pitching has ruled during the 14-game winning streak, producing a 1.97 ERA and holding opponents to a .219 batting average. USI hurlers leading the GLVC, ranked nationally. USI pitchers are fourth in the NCAA Division II and first the GLVC with a 2.28 ERA in 367.2 innings of work this spring. The Eagles also are leading the GLVC in opponent batting average, holding opposing hitters to a .238 mark.
ERA leaders. USI senior right-hander
David Toth (Danville, Illinois) ranks fourth nationally with a 0.71 ERA in 50.2 innings of work (10 games and six starts). Junior right-hander
Ben Wright (Newburgh, Indiana) follows Toth and ranks 23
rd nationally with a 1.61 ERA. The USI single-season record for ERA is 1.36, set by Dave Sensenbrenner in 1979 and tied by Nathan Arnold in 2006.
Win leaders. Senior right-hander
Matt Bowles (Mt. Washington, Kentucky) has won a team-best seven victories, while senior right-handed pitcher/designated hitter
Jonathon Wandling (Evansville, Indiana) and junior right-hander
Ben Wright are second with six wins each.
Strikeout leader. Senior right-hander/designated hitter
Jonathon Wandling has struck out a team-best 60 batters this year. He is 20 off the pace of 81 set by Kylan Stuck in 2001.
Leader in the pen. USI junior right-handed closer
Matt Chavarria (Carlsbad, New Mexico) has a 3-0 record and nine saves in 13 appearances out of the bullpen. The nine saves ranks 22nd nationally and first in the GLVC.
At the plate in 2014. Sophomore outfielder
Kyle Kempf (Evansville, Indiana) leads USI hitters with a .375 batting average. He also leads the team with 26 RBIs, 15 doubles, two triples, and two home runs. Sophomore outfielder
Hamilton Carr (Evansville, Indiana) follows Kempf with a .364 average in 34 games
During the homestand. At the plate, sophomore outfielder
Kyle Kempf led the Eagles through the homestand with a .469 average, 13 runs scored, five RBIs, five doubles, and two triples. On the mound, senior right-hander
Brandon Shaw (Cuba, Illinois) had a pair of victories, while senior right-hander
David Toth (Danville, Illinois) did not allow an earned run in two starts and 16 innings of work.
Eagles at the USI Baseball Field. The Eagles are 178-57 (.757) when playing at the USI Baseball Field since 2007 and 258-138 (.652) since 2000.
Evansville in 2014. The Purple Aces of Evansville (28-14) have been on a roll since the middle of April, winning six of the last seven games and four in a row.
USI vs. Evansville. The Purple Aces lead the all-time series with USI, 30-18, and has won eight-straight games from the Eagles. The last time the Eagles defeated the Purple Aces was 1988.
UIndy in 2014. The Greyhounds of UIndy (27-18, 22-10 GLVC) clinched second in the GLVC East Division and are 4.5 games behind USI in the standings. UIndy split last weekend's four-game series with the University of Illinois Springfield and has won six of the last eight games.
USI vs. UIndy. UIndy leads the all-time series with USI, 49-40, but USI took three of four last year from the Greyhounds.
| NCAA II MIDWEST REGION RANKINGS |
| 1 | Southern Indiana |
| 2 | Drury |
| 3 | Grand Valley State |
| 4 | Kentucky Wesleyan |
| 5 | Ohio Dominican |
| 6 | Wayne State (Mich.) |
| 7 | Ashland |
| 8 | Lake Erie |
THE NATIONAL POLLS 
