EVANSVILLE, Ind.--- University of Southern Indiana senior/first baseman
Brooke Harmening (Whiteland, Indiana) tallied her 20
th win in the circle, tying Katie Roberts (1998-01) for most career wins at 71, as the Screaming Eagles defeated Maryville University 12-3 before falling 6-5 Sunday afternoon in St. Louis, Missouri.
The Eagles end the day at 36-6 overall, 21-5 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, as they close out regular season play Monday against the third-ranked University of Missouri- St. Louis in doubleheader action beginning at Noon.
USI jumped out to an early 3-0 lead off sophomore
Haley Hodges' (Portage, Indiana) three-run homer to right center field in the top of the first.
Senior
MacKenzi Dorsam (Dubois, Indiana) tallied another homerun for the Eagles, her 15
th of the season, driving in redshirt-freshman
Shelby Tate (Matoon, Illinois) to extend USI's lead to 5-0.
Maryville prevented a shutout by the Eagles with an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth, but USI tacked on another two runs in the following half inning, followed by RBI-single by sophomore
Lexi Reese (Lebanon, Indiana) off a sacrifice fly to left field in the bottom of the sixth, for an 8-1 advantage.
The Saints tallied a homerun of their own for an 8-2 score, but Harmening would create double-digit separation between the Eagles and Maryville off a grand slam to centerfield for a 12-2 lead in the top of the seventh.
Mayville added another run to the board in the closing half-inning, eventually falling to USI, 12-3.
USI fell behind, 3-1, in the first two innings of play in the nightcap, but knotted the score off a two-run homer by Harmening in the top of the third.
The Saints would go on to register two solo homers for a 5-3 edge, causing Harmening to enter the circle for junior
Sarah Owens (Indianapolis, Indiana) in the bottom of the fifth.
Following USI's pitching change, Maryville added another run to its score, for a 6-3 lead, but Reese would tally her first homerun of the season to close in on the Saints, 6-4, in the top of the sixth.
The Eagles added another run in the top of the seventh but it wouldn't be enough as the Saints snapped USI's 13-game streak with a 6-5 nightcap win.
Owens was tabbed with the loss for USI, falling to 11-4 on the season.
