EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana baseball team split a twin bill with Bellarmine University Wednesday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. The Screaming Eagles took the opener, 8-7, in 10 innings, but the Knights rallied to take the nightcap, 6-4.
 
USI saw its record go to 7-13 overall and 4-10 in the GLVC, while Bellarmine finishes the evening 13-11 overall, 7-7 GLVC.
 
USI junior rightfielder Kyle Kempf (Evansville, Indiana) provided a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10^th to give the Screaming Eagles an 8-7 win in the opening game. Kempf led USI with three hits, including a two-run triple in the third, and three RBIs.
 
The Knights started the scoring in the opening game, taking a 4-0 lead before the Eagles could come to the plate. USI, which got a run back in the bottom half of the first frame, took its first lead of the third when it sent 10 batters to the plate and scored six times.
 
The six-run third was highlight by the two-run triple by Kempf and a two-run home run by senior leftfield Tyler Mikrut (Edwardsville, Illinois). The home run was Mikrut's second of the season.
 
USI would hold onto the 7-4 lead when Bellarmine cut the lead to 7-6 in the fifth and tied the game in the ninth, 7-7, setting the stage for Kempf in the 10^th.
 
Senior right-hander Andrew Mercer (Mt. Pearl, Newfoundland) picked up his first win of the season in relief. Mercer pitched the final 1.2 innings, allowing a hit.
 
In the nightcap, the Knights used a four-run fifth inning to defeat the Eagles, 6-4. Bellarmine took an 1-0 lead in the first, but USI scored four times in the third on two hits and a pair of Knight errors to post a 4-1 advantage.
 
Bellarmine cut the deficit to two runs with a tally in the fourth and scored the deciding four runs in the fifth. The Eagles could not get the bats going after the third frame, going down in order three of the last four innings.
 
Mercer (1-1) also picked up the loss in relief in the nightcap. He allowed two unearned runs on two hits without picking up an out in the fifth.
 
Senior right-hander Ben Wright (Newburgh, Indiana) started and got a no decision. Wright allowed four runs on eight hits and struck out four in 4.1 innings of work.
 
The Eagles continue the six-game homestand this weekend when they host the Greyhounds of the University of Indianapolis Saturday and Sunday for a pair of doubleheaders (the series was rescheduled from Friday-Saturday due to the forecast of heavy rains on Thursday and Friday). Saturday's doubleheader is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch, while Sunday's action is scheduled to start at noon.
 
The Greyhounds are sitting on top of the GLVC East Division with a 14-10 overall record and an 10-4 conference mark. UIndy posted a doubleheader sweep of Saint Joseph's College, 5-2 and 8-0, at home this afternoon.
 
USI trails UIndy in the all-time series, 50-44, but took four of the five meetings with the Greyhounds last season. The Eagles won three of the four regular season games at UIndy last year before winning the final meeting of 2014, 5-3, in the first round of the NCAA II Midwest Regional at the USI Baseball Field last May.