PEORIA, Ill. – University of Southern Indiana Softball began its Ohio Valley Conference Championship Tournament journey Wednesday evening with a 5-2 victory over Lindenwood University.
 
After No. 5 Lindenwood (24-24, 14-12 OVC) defeated No. 8 University of Tennessee at Martin in the single-elimination round of the tournament early Wednesday, the Lions and Southern Indiana (17-23, 13-11 OVC) clashed in a rematch of last weekend's series to close out the regular season.
 
The Screaming Eagles got going quickly with a run in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI hit up the middle by sophomore infielder Sydney Long that scored senior outfielder Kennedy Nalley from second base.
 
USI added on to its early lead in the bottom of the second. After the first two Eagles reached base, sophomore outfielder Kate Satkoski singled to center to double USI's advantage to 2-0. Later in the frame, Long stepped up again by delivering a two-RBI knock up the middle to make it 4-0 USI. Two batters later, senior infielder Whitley Hunter tacked on another run with an RBI hit to left to score Long and give USI a 5-0 cushion.
 
From there, senior pitcher Josie Newman and the Southern Indiana defense took over to keep the five-run lead intact through five innings. Lindenwood tallied two runs on a home run in the top of the sixth inning, but USI limited the damage and closed out the rest of the game.
 
Southern Indiana totaled eight hits in the contest. Long and junior outfielder Caroline Stapleton each had two hits, with Long leading the team with three RBIs in the game.
 
Newman (11-15) tossed a complete game, allowing two runs off four hits while striking out four.
 
Lindenwood's junior pitcher Ryleigh Owens (11-9) took the loss after lasting an inning with four runs – three earned – given up.
 
With the win, Southern Indiana advanced in the winner's bracket to face the OVC regular-season champion and the No. 1 seed Eastern Illinois University on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. in Peoria, Illinois. During the regular season, Eastern Illinois won all three games against USI in Charleston, Illinois. Southern Indiana looks to snap its recent record against the Panthers, seeking its first win against EIU since the 2023 regular season.
 
All OVC tournament games will be streamed with a subscription to ESPN+. All USI games can also be heard on The Spin 95.7 FM. Additional coverage links can be found on the USI Softball schedule page on usiscreamingeagles.com.