WESTFIELD, Ind. – The fifth-seeded University of Southern Indiana baseball team rallied to within one run three times, but was eliminated from the GLVC Tournament by seventh-seeded Drury University, 11-7, Saturday at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana. The Screaming Eagles saw their record fall to 28-21 overall, while the Panthers rise to a 32-19 mark.  
 
With the loss, the Eagles' hope to continue post-season action rests with the chance of receiving an at-large berth to the NCAA Division Midwest Regional. The regional pairings will be announced Sunday night on NCAA.com.
 
USI spotted Drury a 4-0 lead in the first inning as junior right-hander Alex Holder (Princeton, Indiana) allowed four runs on four-straight hits to start the bottom half of the frame. Holder (5-1), who would receive the loss, gave way to senior right-hander Scott Haag (Ft. Wayne, Indiana), who allowed a hit, but got USI out of the first.
 
The Eagles got a pair of runners on base to start the second inning before weather struck, causing a five-plus hour delay. The USI offense returned after the rains as it fought its way back into the game.
 
USI put its first run across the plate in the fourth when junior leftfielder Jaylen Quarles (Indianapolis, Indiana) scored on a Drury error. The Eagles would close the gap to 4-3 in the fifth when junior rightfielder Kyle Kempf (Evansville, Indiana) and junior third baseman Trent Gunn (Tell City, Indiana) went deep to left field on back-to-back pitches.
 
After Drury responded with two runs in the sixth to re-extended the lead to 6-3, Gunn struck again with a two-run blast to make the score 6-5. Gunn's two home runs in the game brought his season total to a team-best 10. He also is the first Eagle to reach double-digit home runs since 2010 (Dylan Mooney, 14; Brad Vance, 10).
 
The team would trade runs in the seventh and the eighth with Drury going out to a 7-5 lead before USI took advantage of another Panther error to cut the lead to 7-6 in the top of the eighth. The Panthers would put the game out of reach in the bottom of eighth when Drury catcher Tyler Arthur hit a grand slam home run off of USI shortstop/pitcher Matt Chavarria (Carlsbad, New Mexico) for an 11-6 lead.
 
In the ninth, the Eagles would get a tally when Quarles scored on a RBI-single by junior pinch-hitter Ryan Bertram (Zionsville, Indiana), but would be as close as USI would come in the final inning. USI would get two more runners on before Drury closed the door on the Eagles in the conference tournament.