Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score

Evansville, Ind.- The UW-Parkside Baseball earned a hard-fought split against league-leading and 15th-ranked, Southern Indiana on Friday afternoon. The Rangers dropped the opener, 4-2, before coming back to take the finale, 4-3. In each game, the team with more hits lost. Parkside is now 9-11 in the GLVC while USI goes to 18-6.

“Those were two really fun ballgames to be a part of,” said Head Coach Joel Weaver. “Just two intense games … lots of tense moments and big pitches.”

Game One
The Rangers got off to a quick start to take an early lead. Corey Stonelake reached on an infield hit with two outs for the game's first base-runner. Dave Lojeski followed with a double to the gap to score Stonelake and make it 1-0.

Southern Indiana put together their big inning in the second, thanks in part to a Ranger error, and grabbed a lead they would not relinquish. A two-out throwing error allowed the tying run to score and knot the game at one. The Screaming Eagles followed that up with three straight hits, plating two, and giving USI a 3-1 lead.

It would stay that way until the seventh when another throwing error brought home the fourth unearned run of the game.

Stonelake got Parkside within two in the eighth on an RBI-ground out but it was all the Rangers could muster. They were 1-for-10 in the game with runners on base and 0-for-5 with people in scoring position.

“They came up with a lot of big pitches and big plays,” said Weaver. “We had a few chances to take the lead but they'd turn a double play or make a big pitch.”

Ryan Windt swallowed a tough defeat going the distance without allowing an earned run. He gave up six hits and one walk over eight innings of work.

Mike Anderson and Rob Bellish each had two hits to lead the bats. Anderson added a stolen base and run scored.

Game Two
The second game saw both teams threaten throughout and combine for 22 runners left on-base. There was one clean half inning the entire game.

Parkside struck first with a two spot in the third. John Brennan walked and Corey Stonelake reached on an error to start the inning. After a passed ball moved Stonelake to scoring position, Lojeski dropped a base-hit down the left field line to score both runners.
The two teams then put up single runs over their next four at-bats. Parkside got their two on RBI-hits by Brennan and Ben Korman to take a 4-2 lead.

USI cut the lead to one with another single run in the sixth but Nick Mishevich got a big pickoff to erase the tying run. Taylor Schwarz came on for the save in the seventh and walked the second batter before coming back to slam the door with two straight strikeouts.

“We made some big pitches and our defense really came up with some nice plays,” said Weaver. “John Brennan and Rob Bellish each made a play going into the outfield that helped us out.”

Lojeski and John Perszyk each had two hits in the second game.

The Rangers and Screaming Eagles are set for two more on Saturday in Evansville. With just 10 conference games left on the schedule, every game has increased importance.

“We can take some confidence out of how we played today,” said Weaver. “We proved with days like today we can play with anyone. Now we've just got to put a couple of these days together and we can get in a position to make a push.”