EVANSVILLE, Ind. — University of Southern Indiana Baseball starts 2026 Ohio Valley Conference action with a three-game series against Western Illinois this weekend at the USI Baseball Field. The USI-WIU series, which is Youth Baseball Weekend at the USI Baseball Field, starts Friday at 6 p.m.; continues Saturday at 3 p.m.; and concludes Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
A special USI student tailgate will be held Sunday at  Eichar Barn near the field from 10:45 a.m. to 1 p.m., prior to the first pitch.
 
USI, which is 13-8, finishes its four-game homestand Tuesday (March 24) when it hosts Ball State for a 5 p.m. matchup. Tuesday's USI-BSU contest is a special free admission for all fans.  
 
Fans are encouraged to watch social media and USIScreamingEagles.com for any schedule changes due to weather. Links to follow the Screaming Eagles during 2026 can be found on USIScreamingEagles.com and the USI Baseball Schedule.   
 
USI Baseball Notes:
USI glad to be at home this weekend. The USI Screaming Eagles are glad to be back at home where they are 8-0 (compared to 5-8 on the road) and are hitting .310 (compared to .295 on the road). Junior outfielder Dane DeWees leads USI at home with a .625 average (5-8), while graduate outfielder Noah Foster and senior first baseman Patrick McLellan have 10 RBIs each.
 
USI is 1-4 on road trip. USI was 1-4 on the road swing. Graduate outfielder Jesse Velders led USI on the road swing by hitting .538 (7-13) with three runs scored, three doubles, and three RBIs. Junior right-hander Ean DiPasquale posted USI's only road win with 7.2 strong innings at Southern Illinois.
 
Hitting cools on the road. The USI hitters cooled on the road last week on the road. The Screaming Eagles hit .252 (41-163) in the five games, while only scoring 25 runs (5.0 per game).
 
Pitching on the road. USI hurlers were 1-4 on the road trip and 5-8 on the road this season. The staff ERA on the road trip was 7.24 compared to 5.19 for the season. At the friendly surroundings of the USI Baseball Field, the Screaming Eagles' staff ERA is 3.99.
 
USI loses close one to end road swing. The Screaming Eagles lost a close one to end their five-game road swing, falling to Bellarmine, 3-2. USI led 2-1 after two frames before Bellarmine scored one in the third to tie and one in the fourth for the win.
 
Screaming Eagles go 1-2 against SIU. The Screaming Eagles went 1-2 against Southern Illinois over the weekend, salvaging the final game 6-3. Graduate outfielder Jesse Velders led USI by hitting .667 in the series with three doubles and three RBIs.
 
Multi-hit games. Senior shortstop Clayton Slack has eight multi-hit games this year and four three-hit contests in 21 games. Senior first baseman Patrick McLellan follows with seven multi-hit contests this year, including two three-hit games and one five-hit contest.
 
USI Leaders. Senior shortstop Clayton Slack leads USI and is sixth in the OVC with a .385 batting average (30-78). Senior first baseman Patrick McLellan follows with a .360 mark (31-86) and ranks 11th in the conference.
 
Holiday, McLellan are the run makers. USI graduate centerfielder Khi Holiday and senior first baseman Patrick McLellan have been generating the offense for the Screaming Eagles this season. The duo leads USI and the OVC with 27 runs scored each this season.  McLellan, who has had nine multi-RBI games this year, also leads USI and ranks second in the OVC with 27 RBIs this spring.
 
Doing it at the plate. USI is putting runs on the scoreboard at an incredible rate. USI leads the OVC with 175 runs scored this season (8.3 per game). The Screaming Eagles also rank third in the OVC with a .301 team batting average.
 
USI predicted 7^th in 2026 OVC. The Screaming Eagles are predicted to place seventh in the Ohio Valley Conference in 2026 by a vote of the league's coaches and communications directors and by D1Baseball.com.   
 
WIU in 2026. Western Illinois is 4-16 after being swept by Illinois State last weekend. The Leathernecks have lost their last nine games going into this weekend.   
 
USI vs. WIU. USI leads the all-time series with WIU, 8-4, after taking two of three in Macomb, Illinois, last spring.  
 
Ball State in 2026. Ball State is 10-9 overall in 2026 after falling to Butler, 14-10, Wednesday. The Cardinals will visit Western Michigan this weekend for a three-game series.
 
USI vs. Ball State. Ball State leads the all-time series with USI, 5-0, after taking the single game last season in Muncie, Indiana, 5-4.