EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana baseball team rolled to its ninth-straight win with a 6-3 victory over Oakland City University Wednesday evening at the USI Baseball Field. USI, which finished its 13-game homestand with a 9-4 mark, watched its overall record go to 17-13, while OCU goes to 9-22.
After spotting the Mighty Oaks a 1-0 lead in the first, the Screaming Eagles scored three unanswered runs to take a 3-1 lead. USI scored once in the first on a RBI-single by senior third baseman
Nick Gobert (Jasper, Indiana) to knot the game, 1-1.
USI took a 3-1 lead with one in the fourth and one in the fifth. Junior designated hitter
Brodie Brown (Carmi, Illinois) gave the Eagles the lead, 2-1, with an RBI-single in the fourth, while Gobert struck again in the fifth with his second RBI-single of the contest.
OCU bounced back to tie the game, 3-3, with a pair of tallies in the sixth. The Eagles re-took the lead for good, 5-3, in the seventh when a pair of runs scored on a RBI-fielder's choice by Gobert and an OCU throwing error. Gobert finished the game with a team-high two hits and three RBIs.
USI sealed the game in the eighth when junior catcher
Logan Brown (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) knocked in sophomore pinch runner
Spenser Deom (Tell City, Indiana) with the sixth run to complete the 6-3 final.
On the mound, sophomore right-hander
Jacob Bowles (Mt. Washington, Kentucky) picked up his first win of his USI career in relief. Bowles (1-0) went 5.2 innings of junior right-handed starter
Ryan Gulledge (Evansville, Indiana), allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits and striking out two.
Junior right-hander
Dalton Lewis (Parker, Colorado) and sophomore right-hander
Tyler Hagedorn (Evansville, Indiana) finished the game for the Eagles, each throwing an inning. Hagedorn threw a scoreless ninth to pick up his first save of the year.
USI hits the road for the weekend for a four-game GLVC series at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, Saturday and Sunday. The doubleheaders are set for 11 a.m. (CDT) each day.
USI leads the all-time series with Bellarmine, 79-71, after Bellarmine took a non-conference game in Louisville, 6-1, on March 9. The Eagles and the Knights split the four-game GLVC-series last spring at Knights Field.