Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Nearly a month after their scheduled season opener, the Falcon baseball team finally began their season on the road against No. 2 Southern Indiana, falling 6-5 in 11 innings, and 6-0 in the finale.
For the Falcons (0-2) the contests were their first of the year, after seeing their first 14 games of the season wiped away because of the weather, while for the Screaming Eagles (3-3) the victories were their first since Feb. 15, when they knocked off Tampa.
The Falcons went toe-to-toe with the second ranked team in the country, before falling in 11 innings in game one, which was suspended overnight due to fog in the bottom of the eighth inning on Tuesday night, then resumed on Wednesday. Notre Dame then fell, 6-0, in game two.
Offensively, the Falcons were paced by
Danny Beaver and
Austin Barnhart. Beaver had three hits in the series, going 3-for-10 with a pair of runs scored, while Barnhart went 3-for-7 with a pair of walks.
Game One
After the two teams exchanged a pair of scoreless innings, the Falcons fired the first shot with a little two-out thunder in the top of the third. The inning began with back-to-back singles form
Danny Beaver and
TJ Lett, before USI recorded a pair of quick outs. However,
Bryan Blondeaux came through in the clutch, delivering a two-run single two center with two down to give the Falcons a 2-0 lead.
USI answered quickly, scoring on a balk in the bottom of the third, before plating a pair in the fourth, on back-to-back RBI singles to take a 3-2 lead.
NDC used their two-out magic again in the top of the sixth inning to tie things up.
Shane DeFranco smacked a one-out single through the right side of the infield, and he scored two batters later, on
Tanner Dovsek's two-out double.
As they had done once before, the Screaming Eagles answered quickly. Matt Chavarria stroked a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning to give USI a 5-3 lead, but Notre Dame answered again.
The Falcons capitalized on a pair of defensive blunders to tie the game. In the top of the seventh, Beaver reached on an error by the pitcher to start the inning before stealing second. Lett then reached on an error by the shortstop, which allowed Beaver to score.
In the eighth, DeFranco reached on an infield single, and
Jalen Fields stepped in to pinch run for him. Fields stole second, then reached third on a wild pitch, and scored on an errant throw from the catcher to knot the game up at 5-5.
Both teams had chances to score over the next few innings, but the Screaming Eagles won it in the bottom of the 11th, after Chavarria drove in Andrew Cope with the game winning single through the left side.
Matt Seekins (0-1) was one of five Falcon hurlers to see action in the game, and took the loss, while Chavarria (1-1) came away with the win after tossing three innings of two-hit scoreless relief.
Game Two
The Falcons had just four hits in the second contest of the day, and spoiled a chance to take an early lead.
Austin Barnhart reach in the top of the first inning on a one out single, and
Keifer Quick followed with a triple to right field. However, Barnhart was thrown out on the play, trying to score all the way from first base, and as it turned out, that would be NDC's best chance to score.
Chavarria drove in USI's first run of the game on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first inning, before the Screaming Eagles added two more in the fourth, another in the fifth, and then put the game away with a pair of runs in the home half of the eighth.
Jeff Stover (0-1) took the loss for NDC, after allowing three runs on four hits with a pair of strikeouts over four innings of action. Alex Holder (1-0) scored the victory for USI, tossing seven scoreless innings of four hit ball with two strikeouts.
The Falcons will be in action again over the weekend, as they host their home and MEC opener against Glenville State. The Falcons and Pioneers will play a twin bill at All Pro Freight Stadium on Saturday afternoon in Avon, Ohio, and the first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
