QUINCY, Ill. – The University of Southern Indiana baseball team blasted a school-record tying four home runs in defeating top-seeded and 18th-ranked Quincy University, 9-5, on the second day of the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Friday evening in Quincy, Illinois. USI sees its record go to 35-19 overall, while Quincy watches its mark go to 38-17.
 
The Screaming Eagles, which broke their four-game losing streak to the Hawks, advances to Saturday at 7 p.m. in the winner's bracket against sixth-seeded Ashland University, which defeated second-seeded and 14th-ranked Grand Valley State University, 4-3, Friday night.  A victory on Saturday automatically propels the Eagles directly into the NCAA II Midwest Regional championship game on Monday, while a loss on Saturday would force USI to play at Sunday at 3:30 p.m. for the right to advance to championship day.
 
USI had to fight from behind once again in Friday's victory as the Eagles spotted the Hawks leads of 2-0 and 5-2 after five-and-a-half innings of action.
 
After Quincy took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, senior catcher Ryan Bertram (Zionsville, Indiana) sparked the USI attack for the second game in a row by hitting his fourth home run of season and his second in as many contests to cut the deficit to 2-1. Sophomore leftfielder Drake McNamara (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) knotted the game up, 2-2, with his team-high eighth round tripper of the season in the fourth before the Hawks rallied with two-outs in the sixth to take a 5-2 lead.
 
The Eagles blew the game open in the bottom of half of the sixth with a seven-run outburst, highlighted by back-to-back home runs by senior shortstop Kyle Niemeier (Evansville, Indiana) and senior rightfielder Kyle Kempf (Evansville, Indiana) to lead off the frame. The sixth-inning home runs tied the USI single-game record for home runs that was originally set versus the University of Illinois Springfield in 2015.
 
Three batters later, USI tied the game, 5-5, on a RBI-single by senior third baseman Trent Gunn (Tell City, Indiana), scoring sophomore second baseman Sam Griggs (Evansville, Indiana). Senior first baseman Andrew Cope (Evansville, Indiana) followed to give the Eagles their first lead of game, 6-5, on an RBI-single to score McNamara with the eventual game-winning tally.
 
USI would add insurance runs when Gunn crossed the plate on a wild pitch, while Kempf drove in the final tallies of the game with a two-run single up the middle for a 9-5 lead. Kempf finished the game with a team-high three RBIs, two hits, and a home runs. 
 
Junior right-hander Colin Nowak (Carol Stream, Illinois) would end a yeoman's effort on the mound for USI with scoreless seventh and eighth innings before giving way in the ninth inning after throwing 144 pitches.  The victory placed Nowak (7-3) in a tie with junior right-hander Lucas Barnett (Sellersburg, Indiana) for the team lead with seven victories.
 
Nowak allowed five runs on 10 hit and six walks, while striking four in eight innings of work. Senior right-handed closer T.J. Decker (Brazil, Indiana) earned his team-best eighth save of the year by closing out the ninth, striking out two and stranding a pair of Hawks on base.