#13 Eagles begin 2018 at #1 Delta State
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The preseason 13th-ranked (
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper) University of Southern Indiana baseball team begins 2018 with a formidable road trip to play preseason number-one ranked Delta State University Friday in Cleveland, Mississippi. First pitch for the doubleheader is slated for noon.
USI, which also is ranked 25
th in the preseason by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, finishes the season opening road trip Saturday with a neutral-site, noon match-up with ninth-ranked (NCBWA) Quincy. The Hawks also are ranked 16
th by
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
The Screaming Eagles, who were 32-21 overall, NCAA Division II Tournament qualifier, and GLVC East Division champions in 2017, follows their trip to Cleveland with the home opening Dunn Hospitality Invitational February 23-25 at the USI Baseball Field.
Coverage of the Screaming Eagles baseball games this season can be found on
GoUSIEagles.com.
SCREAMING EAGLES BASEBALL NOTES:
USI versus number one to start season. The doubleheader with Delta State marks the first time in program history that USI has started the season by playing the preseason NCAA II number one team. The Eagles played second-ranked University of Tampa in 2015 (when USI was preseason number one after winning the 2014 national championship) and 2017.
Eagles all-time versus Delta State and Quincy. USI is playing Delta State for the first time in the history of the program in baseball and trails the all-time series with Quincy, 40-36. The Eagles, who will play Quincy a total of four times in 2018, were 2-1 in three games versus the Hawks last year in Quincy, Illinois.
National Championship always the goal for Eagles. The Eagles made their seventh appearance in the Midwest Regional in the last 11 seasons and their 13th appearance overall in the NCAA II Tournament last spring. USI has won the Midwest Regional four times (2007, 2010, 2014, 2016) and the NCAA II National Championship twice (2010, 2014).
USI in national polls. The Screaming Eagles are 13
th in the
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Preseason Top 40 poll and 25
th in in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Preseason Top 25.
Returning hitting leaders. Senior designated hitter/outfielder
Drake McNamara is the leading returning hitter for the Eagles, batting .368 during 2017 (.338 during the first three years of his career) and driving in a team-high 43 RBIs. Senior infielder
Sam Griggs was second among the returning players with 40 RBIs last year.
Season pitching leaders. Senior right-hander
Kyle Griffin and junior right-hander
Austin Krizan are USI's top returning pitchers in 2018. Griffin was one of three USI hurlers to post six victories in 2017, while Krizan has the best ERA among the returning starters with a 2.85. Junior left-hander
Chase Partian, who made two starts and six appearances out of the bullpen returns with a team-best 1.99 ERA, while sophomore right-hander
Tyler Hagedorn was 2-3 with a 2.70 ERA in 21 appearances out of the pen.
Griffin posted season record. Senior right-hander
Kyle Griffin struck out a USI single-season record 86 batters last year. Griffin broke the record of 84 set by Jonathon Wandling during USI's run to the national championship in 2014.
Archuleta at USI. USI Head Coach
Tracy Archuleta is USI's all-time winningest coach with a record of 410-213 (.658) in 10 seasons and is 558-337 (.623) in 15 seasons all-time 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 and the ABCA Division II Midwest Region Coach of the Year after leading USI to the regional crown in 2016. Archuleta also has earned a pair of GLVC Coach of the Year awards (2011 and 2014) at USI.
