EVANSVILLE, Ind. — University of Southern Indiana Baseball will host Youngstown State for the Holiday Inn Showcase three-game series this weekend at the USI Baseball Field. The three-game set begins Friday at 4 p.m., continues Saturday at 4 p.m., and concludes Sunday at 1 p.m.
Fans are encouraged to watch social media and
USIScreamingEagles.com for any schedule changes due to the forecast of rain this weekend. Links to follow the Screaming Eagles during 2026 can be found on
USIScreamingEagles.com and the
USI Baseball Schedule.
Following this weekend's series, which is sponsored by Holiday Inn Express West, the Screaming Eagles are scheduled to be on the road for five-straight games. The road swing starts at Missouri Tuesday for a 6 p.m.; continues with a three-game series at Southern Illinois March 13-15; and concludes at Bellarmine March 17 at 1 p.m. (CT).
USI Baseball Notes:
Slack leads USI, the OVC, NCAA. Senior shortstop
Clayton Slack leads USI and the OVC with a .510 batting average. He also ranks
first in total hits (26) and 10
th in batting average in the NCAA.
USI opens week, homestand with win. The USI Screaming Eagles opened the four-game homestand this week with a 12-5 win over Illinois State at the USI Baseball Field. Junior third baseman
Parker Martin and junior outfielder
Noah Foster had three RBIs each, while senior first baseman
Patrick McLellan had a pair.
Multi-hit games. Senior shortstop
Clayton Slack posted his eighth multi-hit game of the year and his fourth three-hit contest with two singles and a double in the win over ISU. Junior outfielder
Noah Foster also posted his sixth multi-hit contest and had a season-high three hits on Tuesday.
USI splits road swing last week. The Screaming Eagles split their four-game road swing last week, falling to Saint Louis (3-1) and taking two of three from North Alabama (20-1, 8-0, 3-7).
Slack, McLellan led USI at the plate last week. Senior shortstop
Clayton Slack led USI in four games last week, hitting .571 (8-14) with a team-high six RBIs and two doubles. Senior first baseman
Patrick McLellan batted .500 (8-16) with three RBIs.
Holiday is the run maker. USI graduate centerfielder
Khi Holiday has been generating the offense for the Screaming Eagles this season. Holiday leads USI, the OVC, and ranks second in the NCAA with 22 runs scored this season.
Doing it at the plate. USI is putting runs on the scoreboard at an incredible rate. USI leads the OVC and ranks 10
th in the NCAA with 10.1 runs per game this season (131). The Screaming Eagles also rank first in the OVC and 17
th in the NCAA with a .332 team batting average.
Improved pitching last week. USI showed some improvement on the mound last week, posting a 2.81 ERA in 32 innings over four games, compared to a 5.31 overall this season through 12 games. Junior right-hander
Ryan Weller had the best start of the week, going five innings and blanking North Alabama on two hits while striking out six. Junior right-hander
Abdriel Figueroa also had a strong start, allowing one run through five innings at UNA.
This season on the mound. Junior right-handers
Trey O'Neil and
Abdriel Figueroa lead USI in the win column with two each. O'Neil has a 1.17 ERA in six appearances and 7.2 innings of work out of the pen.
YSU in 2026. YSU is off to a tough start in 2026, winning once in the 11 tries this spring. The Penguins (1-10) picked up their first win of the season over the weekend, taking game one of the series at Longwood.
USI vs. YSU. The series will be the first meetings between USI and Youngstown State in baseball.
