USI starts regional action vs. Bellarmine
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana baseball team begins 2017 NCAA Division II Tournament action with the Midwest Regional May 17-21 at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois. The Screaming Eagles (32-21), who enter the tournament as the seventh seed, start tournament action against Bellarmine University (34-20), the second seed, at 5 p.m.Thursday.
Live coverage of the Screaming Eagles in the NCAA II Midwest Regional can be found on
GoUSIEagles.com.
Tickets are $10 per day for adults and $5 per day for children age 12-and-under and seniors age 65-and-over. All-session tickets will be available for $30. The box office and gates open one-and-a-half hours before the first game of the day.
In addition to the USI-Bellarmine match-up on Thursday, the first day of the Midwest Regional features fourth-seeded Ohio Dominican (32-15) versus fifth-seeded Quincy University (39-16) at 10 a.m.; top-seeded and second ranked Illinois Springfield (45-7) versus eighth-seeded Hillsdale College (26-28) at 2:30 p.m. and third-seeded Northwood University (38-14) versus sixth-seeded Ashland University (32-20) in the final game of day one at 8:30 p.m.
SCREAMING EAGLES BASEBALL NOTES:
USI history in the NCAA II Tournament. The Screaming Eagles are making their eighth appearance in the Midwest Regional in the last 12 seasons and their 14th appearance overall in the NCAA II Tournament. USI has won the Midwest Regional four times (2007, 2010, 2014, 2016) and the NCAA II National Championship twice (2010, 2014).
USI versus the Midwest Regional Field. USI is 5-11 against the 2018 NCAA II Midwest Regional Field (1-4 vs. Illinois Springfield; 1-4 vs. Bellarmine; 1-3 vs. Quincy; and 2-0 vs. Hillsdale). The Eagles are hitting .298 as a team versus the field, led by senior leftfielder
Drake McNamara (Mt. Vernon, Indiana), who is batting .400 and has 17 RBIs. Freshman centerfielder
Bryce Krizan (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) and freshman shortstop
Ethan Hunter (Terre Haute, Indiana) follow McNamara with .365 and .357 batting averages, respectively.
Eagles all-time versus the regional field and in NCAA II Tournament. USI is 163-135 all-time, 5-0 in NCAA II Tournament action, versus the NCAA II Midwest Regional field (vs. Illinois Springfield: 21-8 all-time, 0-0 NCAA II Tournament; vs. Quincy: 37-43 all-time, 2-0 NCAA II Tournament; vs. Bellarmine: 80-74 all-time, 0-0 NCAA II Tournament; vs. Hillsdale: 2-0 all-time, 0-0 NCAA II Tournament; vs.Ashland: 14-8 all-time, 3-0 NCAA II Tournament; vs. Ohio Dominican: 0-0 all-time; 0-0 NCAA II Tournament; and vs. Northwood: 9-2 all-time; 0-0 NCAA II Tournament).
McNamara and Krizan honored with top GLVC awards. USI senior leftfielder
Drake McNamara was named the GLVC Player of the Year, while freshman centerfielder
Bryce Krizan was named the GLVC Freshman of the Year. McNamara is the third USI baseball player to be named the conference's top player, and Krizan is the first USI freshman to earn the award.
McNamara named NCAA II Player of the Week. USI leftfielder
Drake McNamara was named the NCBWA NCAA II and Midwest Region Player of the Week after a record-breaking five games to end the 2018 regular season. McNamara batted .556 with eight home runs, 17 RBIs, 11 runs scored and one double, in addition to becoming the USI all-time career leader in home runs (32) and breaking the single-season record for home runs (16). The senior also tied a USI single-game record with three home runs in the 24-7 win over UIndy.
Late game heroics in 2018. USI has won in its final at-bat (eight times) or in walk-off fashion (four times) in 12 of the 32 victories this spring. The latest was a three-run rally in the 11
th to defeat UIndy on May 6.
USI hitters on a roll in the last 10 games. USI has won seven of its last 10 games, including three wins in the GLVC Tournament. The Eagles are hitting .327 as a team in the last 10 games, led by senior leftfielder/first baseman
Drake McNamara, who is hitting .415 (17-41) with eight home runs and 20 RBIs. Junior catcher
Logan Brown (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) and senior utility player
Nick Gobert (Jasper, Indiana) follow with .382 batting averages. Brown also follows McNamara in the last 10 games with 14 RBIs.
Fleming is first Eagle to complete cycle. USI junior second baseman
Jacob Fleming (Evansville, Indiana) became the first Eagle to complete the cycle (home run, triple, double, and single) in the 22-1 win over McKendree University.
USI at the plate this season. Senior first baseman/leftfielder
Drake McNamara leads USI hitters in 2018 with a .389 batting average (77-198) and a team-high 69 RBIs, 23 doubles, and 16 home runs. Senior utility player
Nick Gobert (Jasper, Indiana), who has seen action at first base, third base, and right field, is second with a .366 batting average and is second with 50 RBIs, while senior rightfielder
Buddy Johnson (Shelbyville, Kentucky) is third with a .349 average and is third with 44 RBIs.
Closing on another record. Senior first baseman/leftfielder
Drake McNamara's 69 RBIs are one short of the USI single season record of 70 set by Brad Vance in the 2010 national championship season.
Eagles pitch well during GLVC Tournament. The USI hurlers were 3-2 with a 3.35 ERA during the GLVC Tournament. The 3.35 ERA is 1.14 lower than the current season ERA of 4.49. Senior right-hander
Kyle Griffin (Morganfield, Kentucky) won his game after going eight shutout innings versus Missouri University of Science & Technology with a season-high 11 strikeouts, while senior right-hander
Devin Williams (Evansville, Indiana) allowed two runs and struck out 10 in posting his first nine-inning complete game win since 2016 in the victory over second-ranked Illinois Springfield.
USI on the mound this season. USI senior right-hander
Nick Coudret (Newburgh, Indiana) leads the team with six victories, while senior right-hander
Kyle Griffin (Morganfield, Kentucky) and senior right-hander
Devin Williams (Evansville, Indiana) are tied with five victories each. Griffin also has a team-high 78 strikeouts.
Moving up the charts. Senior first baseman/leftfielder
Drake McNamara and senior third baseman/shortstop
Sam Griggs (Evansville, Indiana) are moving up the USI all-time record book.
McNamara
- First in home runs (32)
- Fourth in total bases (381)
- Fourth in RBIs (169)
- Fifth in doubles (51)
- Tied Fourth in hits (238)
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Griggs
- Tied 10th in RBIs (135)
- 10th in games started (189)
- 9th in total bases (304)
- 7th in hits (224)
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is USI's all-time winningest coach with a record of 442-234 (.654) in 10-plus seasons and is 590-358 (.622) in 15-plus 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.
