EVANSVILLE, Ind. — University of Southern Indiana Baseball hits the road for the next five games this week, beginning with a
1 p.m. battle in Columbia, Missouri, against the University of Missouri. The USI-Missouri contest has been moved up from the original 6 p.m. start due to the forecast of rain Tuesday evening.
Following Tuesday's game at Missouri, USI continues the road swing with a visit to Southern Illinois March 13-15 for a three-game series against the Salukis. The first pitch Friday is slated for 6 p.m. before continuing Saturday at 2 p.m. and concluding Sunday at 1 p.m.
The final visit of the road swing is March 17 at Bellarmine in Louisville, Kentucky. The USI-Bellarmine matchup is scheduled for 1 p.m. (CDT).
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.
USI Baseball Notes:
USI off to best start since 1996. The USI Screaming Eagles are 12-4 and off to their best start since 1996. USI, which also is off to its best start in the Division I era, started 1996 with a 13-4 mark.
USI sweeps homestand. The Screaming Eagles swept their four-game homestand last week, taking the opener from Illinois State and all three versus Youngstown State. The Screaming Eagles averaged 7.75 runs per game and batted .268 (34-127), while posting a team ERA of 2.25 and holding the opposing hitters to a .194 average (24-124).
USI's homestand leaders. Junior second baseman
Zion Stephens led the Screaming Eagles by hitting .400 (4-10), while senior first baseman
Patrick McLellan had a team-best five RBIs in the homestand. Junior right-hander
Abdriel Figueroa had USI's best appearance on the mound last week with a scoreless six innings and struck out five in the game one win over Youngstown State.
The three-game set with Youngstown State. USI battled through three games with Youngstown State, winning 5-2 Friday and sweeping a doubleheader 10-1 and 4-1 Sunday. The Screaming Eagles batted only .231 (21-91), but the hurlers had a 1.33 ERA in 27 innings of work to get the sweep.
USI opened the week, homestand with win. The 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 has eight multi-hit games this year and four three-hit contests in 12 games. Junior outfielder
Noah Foster and senior first baseman
Patrick McLellan follow with six multi-hit contests this year.
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 23 runs scored this season.
Doing it at the plate. USI is putting runs on the scoreboard at an incredible rate. USI leads the OVC with 9.4 runs per game this season (150). The Screaming Eagles also rank second in the OVC with a .315 team batting average.
Improved pitching last week. USI showed improvement on the mound the last two weeks, posting a 2.51 ERA in 68.0 innings over eight games, compared to a 6.49 ERA in the first eight games.
Missouri in 2026. Missouri is 14-2 after posting a 10-0 win over Illinois-Chicago this afternoon in Columbia, Missouri. The Tigers have won 12-straight and are 9-0 at home this season.
USI vs. Missouri. The series will be the first meetings between USI and Missouri in baseball.
SIU in 2026. Southern Illinois is 6-8 after winning two of three in the Cambria Classic in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Salukis, who visit SIU Edwardsville Tuesday before hosting USI, defeated Omaha, 9-1, and South Dakota State, 5-4, in addition to losing to UNLVC, 16-8.
USI vs. SIU. SIU leads the all-time series with USI, 6-1, after winning both meetings last season. The Salukis defeated USI in Carbondale last year, 16-12 and 7-0, and have won the last five meetings since the Screaming Eagles made the jump to Division I. USI's lone victory over SIU came in 1989, 6-2, in Carbondale.
