EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Lindenwood baseball team (29-25, 13-13) bounced back with a dominant 10-2 win over Southern Indiana (26-27, 9-17 OVC) on Friday evening to even the weekend series against the Screaming Eagles. The Lions registered 13 hits – all singles – and 10 RBIs in the contest.
Five Lindenwood batters posted multiple hits, led by nine-hole hitter
Owen Ralph with three hits, an RBI, and one run scored. Meanwhile,
Jake Radosevich,
Sam Driscoll, and
Filip Sarota all drove in two runs apiece.
Ethan Smith (3-2) picked up the win after giving up zero runs on one hit with two strikeouts through 2.1 innings of relief work.
Seth Benes started the game, giving up a pair of runs on six hits with two punch outs through the first four innings.
How it Happened
Following a pair of scoreless innings to begin the game, Lindenwood loaded the bases with one out in the top of the third following back-to-back base hits by
Kam Edwards and
Charlie Isom-McCall and a
Will Geary hit by pitch.
Jake Radosevich then drove in the game's first run with a sacrifice fly that brought in Edwards and left runners on the corners with two away.
After Geary stole second to move into scoring position,
Sam Driscoll delivered a two-RBI base hit to right field and moved to second base on the throw home, allowing
Filip Sarota to drive in the fourth run of the inning with a single down the right field line.
Southern Indiana got one back in the bottom of the third with a Hunter Miller solo home run to right field that made the score 4-1.
However, the Lindenwood bats stayed hot in the top of the fourth, as the Lions were able to hang another crooked number to extend their lead to 7-1. After
Owen Ralph reached base on a one-out infield single, a fielding error on a hard-hit ball up the middle by
Kam Edwards out two on for
Charlie Isom-McCall, who came through with a base hit to bat in a run.
With runners on second and third following an Isom-McCall stolen base,
Will Geary kept the line moving with another RBI single that scored Edwards, and with Isom-McCall now only 90 feet from home,
Jake Radosevich put the ball in play to drive in his second run of the game.
The Screaming Eagles cut one run off the deficit in the home half of the fourth, with a Noah Foster double driving Micajah Wall, who had been hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. However, USI stranded a pair of runners in scoring position in the frame.
The Lions had another answer in the fifth, though, with
Filip Sarota leading off the inning with a base hit before tagging and advancing to second on a deep
William Zareh fly out to set up
Owen Ralph, who singled through the left side to bring in Sarota and push the lead back to six.
Southern Indiana loaded the bases with just one out in the bottom of the sixth, but a 6-4-3 double play allowed Lindenwood to escape the jam without allowing an runs to come across.
With two outs in the top of the seventh,
William Zareh drew a walk before an
Owen Ralph base hit moved him into scoring position with
Kam Edwards coming to the plate. Edwards promptly delivered a base knock through the right side to bring in Zareh and make the score 9-2.
The Lions added another run in the top of the eighth with
Sam Driscoll singling with two outs before stealing second, advancing to third on an error, and subsequently scoring on a
Filip Sarota RBI single to left field.
Tanner Paschke tossed the final 2.2 innings for Lindenwood, giving up no runs and no hits with a pair of strikeouts to secure the win for the Lions.
Next Up
The series rubber match and regular season finale is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.
