EVANSVILLE, Ind .— The University of Southern Indiana baseball team hits the road in Great Lakes Valley Conference action this week, looking to get on the right track. The Screaming Eagles hope to break their four-game losing streak overall and in the GLVC when they visit the University of Missouri St. Louis for a four-game series March 20-22.
The series starts Friday at 2 p.m., continues Saturday with a noon doubleheader, and concludes Sunday with a noon single game. Live coverage of the USI-UMSL series, including audio, video, and live stat links, can be found on GoUSIEagles.com.
SCREAMING EAGLES BASEBALL NOTES VS. MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS: USI Baseball 3-7 after restarting the season last week. Mother Nature allowed the Eagles to restart their season last week after eight games were cancelled over the three weeks in February and March due to snow.
Eagles go 2-5 during homestand. USI was 2-5 during its seven game homestand, including a 0-4 series with Truman State University to start to GLVC play. USI batted .309 during the homestand, averaging 5.0 runs per game, while the opponents hit .305 and averaged 7.1 runs per contest. The Eagles also had trouble re-adjusting to the grass and dirt, committing 19 errors in the seven games.
The losing streak. The four-game losing streak in the GLVC is the longest for the Eagles since 2013 when they lost seven straight over three conference series.
Eagles fall out of the rankings. After last week's homestand, the Eagles have fallen out of the
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper/Division II Top 30 poll and the NCBWA Division II Top 25 poll.
Wins on the mound. Three separate pitchers have posted wins for the Eagles so far in 2015. Freshman right-hander
Sean Pedley posted USI's first win in the series with the University of Tampa, while senior shortstop/right-hander
Matt Chavarria and junior right-hander
Alex Holder picked up wins two and three, respectively.
Leaders at the plate. Among the active players, junior rightfielder
Kyle Kempf (Evansville, Indiana) leads the Eagles with a .372 average in 2015. Senior shortstop/right-hander
Matt Chavarria and freshman utility player
Sam Griggs follow Kempf with .368 batting averages. Chavarria also has a team-high 13 RBIs.
Batting leader during the homestand. Freshman utility player
Sam Griggs led the Eagles during the home stand with a .389 batting average. Senior shortstop/right-hander
Matt Chavarria had a team-high nine RBIs.
Home run totals already up. USI has hit five home runs through 10 games this season, compared to 10 round trippers in all of 2014. Senior shortstop/right-hander
Matt Chavarria (Carlsbad, New Mexico) leads the Eagles with a pair of round trippers.
Archuleta at the helm. USI Head Coach
Tracy Archuleta has a USI record of 315-157 (.667) in eight-plus seasons and is 463-281 (.622) in 13-plus seasons as a head coach. He has been named the ABCA Division II Coach of the Year twice (2010 and 2014) after leading the Screaming Eagles to a pair of national championships. He also has earned a pair of GLVC Coach of the Year awards (2011 and 2014).
The GLVC in 2015. USI is picked to win the GLVC East Division in a preseason vote of the league's 16 head coaches. The Eagles will be seeking their fifth division title and second GLVC Tournament championship since 2007.
