EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Softball will head south this weekend to Birmingham, Alabama to play in five games at the Samford University Bulldog Classic.
Looking to expand on a 2-1 start to the 2023 season, the Screaming Eagles will face host Samford University (2-6) Friday at 4 p.m. and again Sunday at 10 a.m. USI will also play twice against the University of North Alabama (6-1) with a 1:30 p.m. first pitch Saturday and a 10 a.m. start Sunday. Southern Indiana will play Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (1-7) one time on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
USI has a previous history against North Alabama and IUPUI. Southern Indiana leads the all-time series against UNA, 8-7, and against IUPUI, 15-9. USI last faced North Alabama at a neutral site in 2018 with the Lions winning 6-3. The last all-time meeting against IUPUI was in 1998, as USI captured a 2-1 win. USI has won 11 straight against IUPUI. This weekend will feature the first all-time between USI and Samford.
Southern Indiana is coming a 2-1 weekend at the University of Evansville Softball Classic, claiming a 1-0 and 3-2 win against the University of Wisconsin Green Bay before a 7-6 loss to the University of Evansville in extra innings.
The 1-0 win against Green Bay was historic for USI, as it marked the first NCAA Division I win in program history. Senior shortstop
Jordan Rager (Fishers, Indiana) had the key two-out RBI single in the top of the fifth inning. In Sunday's 3-2 win, senior outfielder
Emma Tucher (New Palestine, Indiana) delivered with a two-out RBI single that scored the go-ahead run.
The evening game against Evansville went back-and-forth in the middle innings, eventually forcing a tied game that went nine innings. USI jumped in front first, 2-0, before Evansville hit a two-run home run to tie the game. Then after Evansville went ahead by two, USI responded with three in the top of the fifth to go up, 5-4. In the bottom of the fifth, another two-run home run for Evansville gave the Purple Aces a 6-5 lead. Southern Indiana evened the game, 6-6, in the sixth. In the bottom of the ninth with an international tiebreaker runner at second base, Evansville placed down a sacrifice bunt to advance the second base runner to third. The next batter flew out to center but an errant throw allowed the game-winning run at third to score and end the game.
Through the first three games, Rager is joined by junior outfielder
Mackenzie Bedrick (Brownsburg, Indiana) and senior infielder
Rachel Martinez (Chicago, Illinois) hitting above .300. Martinez went 4-for-9 with a run and an RBI during the weekend. Bedrick collected four hits, including a three-hit game against Evansville. The Elite 90 award winner from last season also scored two runs. Rager also tallied four total hits last weekend, scoring once, and driving in two.
In the circle, sophomore pitcher
Josie Newman (Indianapolis, Indiana) was strong in two long relief appearances. The 2022 NFCA Division II Freshman of the Year finalist totaled 10.2 innings with 14 strikeouts, going 1-1 with a 1.69 ERA over the weekend. Newman was named to the OVC's Preseason Players to Watch List.
USI is in its first season as an NCAA Division I program and Ohio Valley Conference member. The Screaming Eagles were selected to finish 5
th in the Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll, as the University of Tennessee at Martin was projected for a first-place finish.
USI is coming off a 49-13 record last season, including a 26-2 mark in conference play, and winning the Great Lakes Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles. During the 2022 season, the Screaming Eagles had a stretch of 18 straight wins between March 7 and April 10 last year, tying a program record for consecutive wins.
In the last season before USI made the transition to NCAA Division I, the Screaming Eagles capped off their Division II status with a run to the 2022 NCAA II Softball Championships after winning the Midwest Super Regional. USI was in search of its second D-II National Title after winning the 2018 National Championship.
The two games against Samford can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+. Weekend coverage links can be found on the USI Softball schedule page on usiscreamingeagles.com.
