EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Southern Indiana broke a 5-5 tie with a six-run eighth inning Saturday, going on to beat SIUE 11-6 in the second game of a three-game Ohio Valley Conference baseball series.
Both teams are now 10-10 in OVC play. The Cougars are 18-27-1 overall. USI is 21-26 overall.
The Screaming Eagles scored five times on six hits and were helped out by a Cougar error in the eighth.
Liam McKillop (1-2) started the inning and allowed a run to suffer the loss. Jacob Kampf allowed fie runs, just two earned in one-third of an inning. Zues Ponder and Matthew Gist each pitched one-third of an inning.
“At the end of the day, we just didn’t play great baseball,” SIUE Head Coach Sean Lyons said. “We shot ourselves in the foot multiple times, either leaving guys on base or some base-running mistakes. Those things cost you.”
The Cougars left 10 runners on base for the game.
It was 1-0 Southern Indiana in the third inning when Drew Mize and Lucas Spence singled to start the inning. Both advanced on a groundout and scored on an RBI-hit by Ethan Willougby to put the Cougars up 2-1.
Southern Indiana tied the game in the bottom of the inning, before the Cougars went back on top in the fourth. Mack Mitchell scored as Spence reached on a fielder’s choice.
Chase Bloomer’s fourth home run of the year made it 4-2 with one out in the fifth.
The Screaming Eagles regained the lead with a three-run sixth inning. Lane Crowden’s two-run triple off Garrett Helsel tied the game. He scored with two outs in the inning to give USI the 5-4 lead.
Spence drove home Mitchell in the eighth inning with an infield hit to even the score again at 5-5.
Spencer and Bloomer had three hits apiece to lead the Cougars at the plate.
The final game of the series is Sunday. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
“We need to play better tomorrow to salvage a game in the series,” Lyons added.
