May 15, 2007
USI baseball receives bid to NCAA II Tournament
Eagles going to the regional for the first time since 1994
This Week in Eagles Baseball Notes
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana baseball team is going to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time since 1994 as the fifth seed in the North Central Regional. The regional will be hosted by second-seeded Ashland University at Canal Park (information on the stadium http://www.akronaeros.com/#) in Akron, Ohio, May 17-20.
In addition to USI (37-21) and 25th-ranked Ashland (38-17), the regional includes top-seeded and 13th-ranked Grand Valley State University (42-7) third-seeded and 30th-ranked Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (37-15) fourth-seeded Saginaw Valley State University (33-12) and sixth-seeded Drury University (31-22). GVSU won the GLIAC Tournament, while Drury won the GLVC Tournament.
USI will play Ashland in the first round of the regional on Thursday. Game time is 5 p.m.(CDT).
The Screaming Eagles are coming off a fourth-place showing in the GLVC Tournament last week after finishing second in the league's regular season. USI is having its best season since 1999 after more than doubling its win total from last season.
Leading the Eagles is GLVC Player of the Year Darin Mastroianni (Huntersville, North Carolina), a junior second baseman who is batting .393 with 56 runs scored, 41 RBIs, 52 stolen bases, and a .519 slugging percentage. Mastroianni's 52 stolen bases and 81 hits are new USI single-season records.
Following Mastroianni in the line-up and batting average is senior rightfielder Hunter Slade (Newburgh, Indiana). Slade, a first team All-GLVC performer, is hitting .340 with a team-best 58 RBIs. The 58 RBIs leads the GLVC and is six shy of the USI single-season mark.
On the mound, the Eagles have five hurlers with at least five victories that are led by senior right-hander Adam Summers (Dyer, Indiana). Summers is 7-4 with a 3.13 ERA and a team-high 54 strike outs.
Summers is followed in the win column by junior left-hander Cory Julian (Lynnville, Indiana), who is 6-3 with a 2.57 ERA and 52 strikeouts, and senior right-hander Adam Vetter (Crown Point, Indiana), who is 6-4 with a 4.10 ERA and 37 strikeouts. USI also has senior left-hander Brent Wendholt (St. Anthony, Indiana), who is 5-3 with a 4.29 ERA, and junior right-hander Jeremy Kehrt (Plainfield, Indiana), who is 5-0 with a 3.32 ERA.
Out of the bullpen, the Eagles can rely on senior right-hander Aaron Clark (Madisonville, Kentucky), who is 3-2 with a pair of saves and a 4.38 ERA, and freshman right-hander Casey Geiger (Albion, Indiana), who is 3-1 with a 2.15 ERA and a save.
NCAA II North Central Regional
1. Grand Valley State 42-7
2. *Ashland 38-17
3. SIU Edwardsville 37-15
4. Saginaw Valley State 33-12
5. Southern Indiana 37-21
6. Drury 31-22
Ray Simmons, USI Sports Information
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