EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Lindenwood baseball team (29-26, 13-14 OVC) fell by a score of 14-9 in their regular season finale at Southern Indiana (27-27, 10-17 OVC) on Saturday afternoon. The Lions allowed 17 hits in the contest, which is their second most in a single game this season.
Owen Ralph had a big day at the plate, going 4-4 with two RBIs. It was the freshman's most hits in a single game this season as he finished the weekend with eight hits in ten at-bats.
Kam Edwards,
Matt Graf, and
William Zareh also registered multiple hits with two knocks apiece, while Edwards also recorded two RBIs.
How it Happened
After a Hunter Miller leadoff double and Khi Holiday bunt single put runners on the corners for USI in the bottom of the first, a Patrick McClellan groundout to third base allowed Miller to come home for the game's first run. With Holiday now at third, Micajah Wall delivered a base through the left side to make the score 2-0.
The Screaming Eagles added two more runs in the second, loading the bases with two outs following a single and a pair of hit batters before Patrick McClellan made the score 4-0 with a two-RBI base hits through the left side.
With one on and two out in the top of the fourth, back-to-back walks loaded the bases for
Owen Ralph, who punched one into left field for a two-RBI single that cut the deficit in half. However, Southern Indiana responded with a Patrick McLellan three-run homer in the home half of the frame to make the score 7-2.
After consecutive two-out walks in the top of the fifth, a
Filip Sarota base hit allowed
Jake Radosevich to score from second base to trim a run off the deficit, but despite loading the bases after a
Matt Graf walk, the Lions were unable to add any more runs in the inning.
The missed opportunity loomed large an inning later, with the Screaming Eagles hanging a four-spot in the bottom of the sixth to break the game wide open as Southern Indiana registered five hits in the frame to make the score 11-3.
The Lions refused to go away quietly, though, and responded with their own four-run frame in the top of the seventh.
Sam Driscoll got things rolling with a one-out base hit before
Filip Sarota drew a walk to put two on. After Driscoll moved to third on a wild pitch,
Matt Graf came through with a single through the right side to plate the inning's first run.
With runners on the corners, a
William Zareh base hit drove in Sarota before
Owen Ralph recorded his fourth hit of the game to load the bases for
Kam Edwards, who delivered yet another single to plate two more runs, bringing the tally to 11-7.
However, Southern Indiana answered yet again and despite recording just one hit in the frame, plated three runs in the bottom of the seventh to extend their lead back out to 14-7.
The Lions were able to bring across a couple more runs in the ninth with a
Preston Wright sacrifice fly and
Jake Radosevich RBI single, but were unable to string together a sustained rally.
Next Up
Lindenwood will play as the No. 6 seed in next week's OVC Tournament, which will be hosted at Mtn Dew Park in Marion, Illinois. The Lions will open postseason play against No. 7 seed UT Martin at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 19
th.
