EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana baseball team exploded for 26 runs on 27 hits in sweeping a doubleheader from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, 13-4 and 13-0, Saturday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. The Screaming Eagles saw their record go to 12-15 overall and 9-11 in the GLVC, while the Rangers finish the doubleheader 8-15, 7-13 GLVC.
 
The doubleheader sweep moves the Eagles into a third place tie in the GLVC East with the University of Illinois-Springfield and a half-game ahead of fifth-place Saint Joseph's College. The Eagles were in the cellar of the GLVC East just one week ago.
 
USI junior third baseman Trent Gunn (Tell City, Indiana) knocked in five RBIs on a pair of home runs, while junior rightfielder Kyle Kempf (Evansville, Indiana) drove in three runs and scored three times as the Eagles blew by the Rangers in the opener, 13-4. The Eagles scored three in the first, two in the second, and four in each of the fourth and sixth innings for their 13 tallies.
 
On the mound, senior right-hander Ben Wright (Newburgh, Indiana) posted his second-straight victory. Wright (2-4) allowed seven hits and four unearned runs in five-plus innings, while striking out one.
 
Junior right-hander T.J. Decker (Brazil, Indiana) followed to pitch three scoreless innings in relief\, while senior right-hander Jay Hachmeister (Tennysen, Indiana) pitched the ninth to close out the USI victory.
 
In the nightcap, junior right-hander Alex Holder (Princeton, Indiana) posted his second-straight shutout as the Eagles completed the doubleheader sweep with a 13-0. He allowed two hits and a walk through six shutout innings, striking out five.
 
Holder (3-0) has thrown 13 scoreless innings over his last two appearances, giving up a grand total of three hits.
 
At the plate in the second game shutout, freshman second/third baseman Sam Griggs (Evansville, Indiana) led the Eagles with four hits and four RBIs, while also scoring a pair of runs. Griggs was a five for six in the doubleheader with five runs scored and four RBIs. USI junior centerfielder Hamilton Carr (Evansville, Indiana) ignited the USI offense in the nightcap with a pair of hits and three runs scored.
 
The Eagles opened the scoring with a tally in the first inning and had a 2-0 lead after three with a run in the third. USI blew the game open in the fourth and fifth, scoring 11 times, including a seven-run fifth. Twenty USI batters went to the plate in the fourth and fifth frames.
 
The four-game series between the Eagles and the Rangers concludes Sunday with a noon doubleheader. Following Sunday's action, USI will be on the road for the next six contests, traveling to Bellarmine University Tuesday for a doubleheader and to Lewis University April 18-19 for a four-game series.