EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Scoring three runs in the seventh inning for the second-straight game, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies defeated the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles, 7-5, on Saturday, March 11 at the USI Baseball Field.
Paired with their 4-2 Friday night win, the Golden Grizzlies have taken the first two of this three-game weekend set and extend their win streak to three games, while Southern Indiana falls to 5-9 and is on a six-game skid.
Entering the game with two outs in the second and working 4.1 innings, redshirt senior right-hander
Brett Hagen allowed three runs on four hits with two walks and a season-high-tying five strikeouts, earning his first win in his first relief appearance of the year.
Freshman righty and native Hoosier
Dylan Haslett turned in an 11-pitch seventh inning, junior southpaw
Jake Matthaidess handled the eighth and fellow junior
Ben Paugh nailed it down in the ninth for Oakland's first save of 2023.
Now tied with graduate student first baseman
Gabe Lux for the team lead with 13 hits, redshirt senior shortstop
Thomas Green tallied three of the Golden Grizzlies' nine knocks Saturday, including his third double of the season, with seniors
Ian Cleary and
Luke Malmanger and junior catcher
Brandon Heidal also recording a two-base hit.
Cleary and sophomore second baseman
Peter Jelenic both drove in their sixth run of the campaign Saturday, tying them for the third-most on the team, and redshirt sophomore center fielder
Drew Collins stole his team-leading third base.
Giving up three runs on four hits over two-thirds of an inning to finish the sixth and begin the seventh, Louisville, Kentucky sophomore right-hander Adam Weihe took the loss for the Screaming Eagles, dropping him to 0-3.
Southern Indiana finished with eight hits, with senior center fielder and Evansville native Evan Kahre and freshman second baseman Caleb Niehaus collecting two apiece.
UP NEXT
These two will round out their three-game set on Sunday, March 12 at 1 p.m. on ESPN+ (subscription required).
Senior left-hander
Travis Densmore (0-2, 13.97 ERA, 9.2 IP) will start for Oakland, while junior righty Caleb Meeks (1-1, 7.84 ERA, 10.1 IP), who was originally scheduled to start Saturday, will go for the Screaming Eagles.