USI takes weekend series over Golden Eagles
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – A tough defensive frame marred an otherwise close ball game at USI Baseball Field Sunday afternoon, as Southern Indiana topped the Tennessee Tech baseball team, 10-5, to claim the weekend’s Ohio Valley Conference series in Evansville.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 5 |
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0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 10 | 11 | 2 |
By Mike Lehman
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – A tough defensive frame marred an otherwise close ball game at USI Baseball Field Sunday afternoon, as Southern Indiana topped the Tennessee Tech baseball team, 10-5, to claim the weekend's Ohio Valley Conference series in Evansville.
The Golden Eagles applied the pressure early on, scoring in the first inning. After a lead-off walk to center fielder Landon Smelser, slugger Jorsixt Jimenez laced a single to right field to put runners on the corners.
First baseman Nash Crowell drove in the first marker of the affair for the purple and gold, shipping a sacrifice fly to left field to plate Smelser. USI answered in the bottom of the second, using a Tech error, sac bunt, and base knock to set up a safety squeeze to tie the game.
The score remained tied into the fourth, where Tech threatened with runners on the corners and nobody out. Southern Indiana made a pair of pitching changes in the frame to secure three strikeouts and keep the score locked at 1-1.
The Screaming Eagles rode the momentum into the fourth, scoring five runs on just three hits. The Golden Eagles made four errors in the frame, but it was, ironically, a defensive web gem that closed the inning for the purple and gold.
With one out and a runner on the hot corner, third baseman Cade Fuller speared a hot shot right at him. He then had the presence of mind to make a lunging tag at the runner at third, swiping his shoulder for an inning-ending double play.
In the fifth, USI collected three more runs on three hits and two walks, pushing out to a 9-1 advantage. Tech snagged one back in the sixth, thanks to an RBI double to left-center field off the bat of catcher AJ Marchetti.
The purple and gold continued their run at a comeback in the seventh, thanks to a monster mash from Jimenez. The right fielder uncorked his 19th round-tripper, a two-run blast that cleared the scoreboard in left field.
USI scored once more with an answer in the bottom half of the seventh. Crowell picked up another sac fly in the ninth, driving in Jimenez, who had doubled earlier in the frame.
Jimenez moved into a tie for eighth on Tech's single-season home run list and into a sole possession of 17th on the career charts with 25 in his Golden Eagle tenure. His 66 RBIs on the season rank 14th in Tech single-season history. Piling on another jimmy jack and double on the day, he is currently on pace to match the program's single-season slugging percentage record of .859 set by TTU Sports Hall of Famer A.J. Kirby-Jones in 2010.
Tech returns to the diamond with its final road trip of the season next weekend, a three-game OVC series at Lindenwood from May 8-10.
Photo by Kelstin Galovic, USI Athletic Communications
