SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The University of Southern Indiana baseball team blasted four home runs in a doubleheader sweep of the University of Illinois Springfield and clinched a spot in the GLVC Tournament Saturday afternoon in Springfield, Illinois. USI took the opening game, 7-1, and the nightcap, 4-1.
The Screaming Eagles saw their record rise to 25-19 overall and 20-15 in the GLVC, while the Prairie Stars finished the day 22-27, 16-19 GLVC.
USI blasted three home runs in the first three innings and junior right-handed pitcher
Alex Holder (Princeton, Indiana) cruised to his fifth win of the year as the Eagles took game one, 7-1.
The Eagles scored all of the runs they would need in the first inning when senior leftfielder
Tyler Mikrut (Edwardsville, Illinois) and junior rightfielder
Kyle Kempf (Evansville, Indiana) went deep in back-to-back at-bats to give USI a 2-0 lead. Kempf's home run was his fifth of the year, while Mikrut's blast was his fourth of the season.
USI would extend the lead to 5-0 with a three-run third inning that was capped off by a two-shot by junior third baseman
Trent Gunn (Tell City, Indiana). The home run was Gunn's team-best sixth of the year.
The Eagles sealed the victory in the fourth with a pair of unearned runs on a RBI-fielder's choice by Kempf and a RBI-single by Gunn. Kempf finished the opener with a pair of RBIs, while Gunn had a team-high three runs driven in.
With the offense doing the job, Holder (5-0) cruised to the complete game win. Holder allowed one run on seven hits and two walks, while striking out a season-high 10 batters in seven innings.
In the nightcap, USI scored a pair of first inning runs before completing the sweep of the doubleheader, 4-1.
The Eagles opened the scoring with a pair of unearned runs in the opening frame and held a 2-1 lead for five innings before junior first baseman
Andrew Cope (Evansville, Indiana) led off the ninth inning with a blast to make the score, 3-1. USI added one more run in the ninth before closing out the victory. Cope's home run was his fourth of the season.
On the mound in the nightcap, junior right-hander
Tyler Nichols (Newburgh, Indiana) reached the .500 mark with his fourth win of the year. Nichols (4-4) went eight of the nine innings, allowing one run on five hits and one walk. He also struck out six batters before giving way to senior shortstop/pitcher
Matt Chavarria (Carlsbad, New Mexico), who closed the door on the Prairie Stars for his fourth save of the year.
With the win, the Eagles claim a spot in the GLVC Tournament for the second-straight year. A victory in Sunday's season finale against Illinois Springfield also would clinch outright second place in the GLVC East Division.
The four-game series and the regular season finale are slated to have a noon first pitch Sunday. Live stats will be available at GoUSIEagles.com.
