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In the NCAA Tournament rubber match between teams that have faced off for three consecutive seasons in postseason play, #9 Southern Indiana used a pair of clutch two-out home runs to advance past Grand Valley State on Thursday (May 11) in Evansville, Ind. The host Screaming Eagles notched a two-run homer in the third inning and a decisive three-run blast in the fifth inning to earn the 5-1 victory.
 
Southern Indiana, ranked in the top-10 nationally and the #2 seed in the Midwest Region, and seventh-seeded Grand Valley State (32-17) have met in the opening game of the NCAA Tournament each of the past three years. Thursday's win was the second in those three matchups for the Screaming Eagles (42-12), having also won in the 2015 postseason.
 
With the loss, GVSU drops into the elimination bracket and will take on Indianapolis on Friday afternoon (May 12) at 3:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. CST). Southern Indiana will play in Friday's opening round against Saginaw Valley State at 1:00 p.m. ET (12:00 p.m. CST).
 
Third-seeded SVSU picked up a stunning 3-2 extra-inning victory over sixth-seed Indianapolis in the day's opening contest. The game was scoreless heading into the eighth inning, when Indianapolis hit a two-run home run in the top of the frame. Saginaw Valley State responded in the bottom of the eighth with a three-run, walk-off homer to capture the win.
 
The third NCAA Tournament opener in as many years between GVSU and Southern Indiana featured a terrific pitching matchup. Allison Lipovsky, the 2017 GLIAC Pitcher of the Year and the 2016 Freshman of the Year in the conference, was in the circle for GVSU. Her counterpart was Southern Indiana's Jennifer Leonhardt, named the 2017 GLVC Freshman of the Year. Both right-handers were First Team selections in their respective leagues this season and received NFCA All-Midwest Region Team honors, as well.
 
Lipovsky struck out shortstop Lexi Reese swinging in the bottom of the first inning, notching her 200th strikeout of the year. She becomes just the second Laker to reach that mark in a season, joining assistant coach Jen Rivera, who achieved the feat three times during her playing career (2001-2004). Rivera - then Mackson - tallied a school-record 317 strikeouts in 2002.
 
GVSU tallied just one hit in the opening three frames - a sharp one-out single from junior Teagan Shomin in the top of the first. The Lakers would put a runner on base in both the second and third frames with a walk in each inning, but could not get the runners into scoring position.
 
In the bottom of the third, Lipovsky allowed her first hit on a two-out, line-drive single to left field from leadoff hitter Olivia Clark-Kittleson. The following batter was Reese, who struck out in her first at-bat. This time around, she sent a 1-1 pitch over the wall in left center field for her sixth homer of the season. It was only the eighth roundtripper allowed by Lipovsky in 146-plus innings this year, giving USI the 2-0 advantage.
 
Freshman Kelcie LaTour led off the top of the fourth with a double to left center field and was lifted for freshman pinch runner Jenna Czart. Two batters later, sophomore Shannon Flaherty hit a hard liner to left field that bounced out of the USI left fielder's glove and nearly rolled to the wall. Czart waited on the misplay, then took off for third base and headed for home, scoring on the Screaming Eagle error to cut the deficit in half, 2-1.
 
Flaherty would move up to third base and senior Kelsey Dominguez would reach second base after a four-pitch walk and a groundout to put two Lakers in scoring position. Southern Indiana second baseman Taylor Rickets made a nice jumping catch off a Tanner Kiessel line drive to end the inning and keep it as a one-run game.
 
After Lipovsky struck out a pair of Eagles in the bottom of the fourth, senior Janae Langs led off the fifth inning with a sharp single up the middle. Leonhardt, however, retired the Lakers' 2-3-4 hitters in order on just four pitches to escape any further trouble.
 
Southern Indiana struck again in the bottom of the fifth inning. After Lipovsky retired the first two batters, Reese blooped a single to right center field and first baseman Marleah Fossett leaned into her second hit by pitch of the game. On the very next pitch, 2016 GLVC Player of the Year Haley Hodges hit a towering three-run homer to left field to put USI in front 5-1. It was Hodges' 10th roundtripper of the season.
 
After the Hodges' roundtripper, Leonhardt retired all six Lakers in the sixth and seventh innings to seal the win.
 
Lipovsky (15-4) allowed five runs on four hits in five innings in the circle. The righty allowed three walks and tallied six strikeouts, ending her streak of nine consecutive double-digit strikeout efforts. Junior Courtney Reinhold tossed one hitless inning of relief, totaling a walk and a strikeout.
 
Leonhardt (25-2) ties the USI single season record for victories in a season. The rookie gave up one run on three hits with three walks and four strikeouts. She threw 110 pitches in the complete game victory.
 
Langs, Shomin, and LaTour collected the three Laker hits, with LaTour's double being the only extra base hit of the game aside from USI's two home runs.
 
Laker Notes:
- Grand Valley State defeated USI 4-3 in the 2016 Midwest Region Tournament opener in Indianapolis after the Screaming Eagles topped GVSU 4-2 in the first game of the 2015 NCAA Tournament in St. Louis
- The all-time series between the two schools is 6-4 in the Lakers' favor
- GVSU is making its seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 15th overall postseason berth, all since 1999
- The Lakers are now 42-31 all-time in NCAA postseason play and have won at least one postseason game in 13 of the previous 14 trips to the Midwest Region Tournament
- Grand Valley State won the 2017 GLIAC regular season championship, while Southern Indiana shared the GLVC regular season title with Rockhurst
- Senior Jenna Lenza went hitless for the first time in quite a while, snapping her career-high 18-game hitting streak. Former Laker Nellie Kosola put together a 21-game hitting streak in 2012, the longest such streak by a GVSU player since at least the 2002 season