EVANSVILLE, Ind .— The University of Southern Indiana baseball team visit the Flyers of Lewis University
Friday and Saturday to complete its six-game road trip. The first pitch for the four-game GLVC series in Romeoville, Illinois, is set for
1 p.m. Friday and noon Sunday with live coverage available on GoUSIEagles.com.
The series was move up from Saturday-Sunday to Friday-Saturday due to the forecast of heavy rains on Sunday.
SCREAMING EAGLES BASEBALL NOTES VS. LEWIS: USI Baseball is on fire in the GLVC. USI has won eight of its last 10 GLVC games the last two weeks, moving from last place in the GLVC East Division on April 3 and into a tie for second in the East. The Eagles have swept four games from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside; took three of four from first-place University of Indianapolis; and split a doubleheader with Bellarmine University in the last 10 league contests.
Strong pitching propels Eagles. USI has a 2.51 ERA in its last 10 GLVC contests, compared to a conference ERA of 3.91 in the 2015 conference season.
Holder has the hot hand on the mound. Former GLVC Pitcher of the Week and junior right-hander
Alex Holder (Princeton, Indiana) has had the hot hand for the Eagles in his last two starts. Holder, who threw a one-hitter against UIndy on April 4, allowed only two hits through six innings in his next start against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. He has allowed no runs on three hits and two walks, while striking out 13 batters in 13 innings of work.
Wright back on the right track. After starting the year 0-4, senior right-hander
Ben Wright (Newburgh, Indiana) has posted a pair of wins in his last two starts. Wright recorded a shutout complete-game victory over UIndy on April 5 before getting the win against UW-Parkside last weekend.
Chavarria moving toward all-time record for ERA. Senior right-hander/shortstop
Matt Chavarria (Carlsbad, New Mexico) is on target to set the USI career-record for ERA. Chavarria, currently, has a 1.34 career ERA at USI, 1.31 better than the John Warner's (1972-75) mark of 2.65.
Eagles get first series sweep versus UW-Parkside. USI got the brooms out for the first time this season when it swept the four-game series against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. The Eagles banged out 27 hits and scored 26 runs on the first day of the series to sweep the opening doubleheader before posting identical 6-1 scores on day two to complete the four-game sweep.
Hitting the baseball. Freshman infielder/outfielder
Sam Griggs (Evansville, Indiana) has been hot the last 10 games, batting .526 (10-19) with eight runs scored and four RBIs in the number two spot of the line-up.
Overall in 2015. Overall in 2015, freshman designated hitter
Drake McNamara (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) leads the Eagles with a .364 batting average and is followed by freshman infielder/outfielder
Sam Griggs with a .351 mark. Senior third baseman
Trent Gunn (Tell City, Indiana) has the team lead with 30 RBIs, while junior rightfielder
Kyle Kempf (Evansville, Indiana) and senior leftfielder
Tyler Mikrut (Edwardsville, Indiana) are tied with three home runs each.
Archuleta at the helm. USI Head Coach
Tracy Archuleta has a USI record of 327-166 (.663) in eight-plus seasons and is 475-290 (.621) 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).
USI vs. Lewis. The Eagles lead the all-time series with the Flyers of Lewis, 56-51, after sweeping the four-game series last spring at the USI Baseball Field. USI has won six-straight against Lewis and has taken 13 of the last 18 match-ups.
Final homestand coming up next week. The Eagles return to the friendly surroundings of the USI Baseball Field next week for their final homestand of the year. USI is slated to host Oakland City University (April 22); McKendree University (April 24-26); and Kentucky Wesleyan College (April 28).
