QUINCY, Ill. – Missouri S&T's run at an NCAA Division II Midwest Regional title ran out of steam Monday afternoon, as Southern Indiana ended the Miners' season with a 10-5 win in the championship game of the tournament.

S&T, which had won four consecutive elimination games to reach Monday's championship round, got on the board in the first inning on the first of two home runs by Nick Ulrich (St. Louis, Mo./Vianney).  However, with a pitching staff that had been worn down by playing five games over the four previous days, the Miners were unable to slow the Eagles down in the middle innings as USI earned its first regional title since capturing the 2014 national championship.

The loss ends the Miners' best season in school history with a 39-19 record as S&T – the champion of the Great Lakes Valley Conference's West Division – reached the regional title game for the first time ever.

Following a two-out walk to Eli Miller (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) in the first, Ulrich homered down the line in left to give S&T a 2-0 lead in the top half of the first.  However, after S&T starter Dan Borek (Greenville, Wis./Hortonville) retired the first two USI hitters, a pair of singles followed that preceded a three-run homer by Ryan Bertram to put the Eagles in the lead.

The Miners tied the score back up in the second when Justus Nelson (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) was hit by a pitch with one out, stole second and scored when Adam Richter (Breese, Ill./Mater Dei) singled over the head of second baseman Sam Griggs.  Richter would then go to third on a hit by Tyler Bodenstab (Independence, Mo./Truman), but USI first baseman Andrew Cope dove to his right to spear a line drive by Tyler Johnson (Union, Mo./Union) and turned it into an inning-ending double play.

The Eagles regained the lead in the fourth on a two-out RBI single by Logan Brown – one of his four hits in the game – then added another one when Hamilton Carr followed with a double down the line in left.

USI followed up its fourth inning with a three-run fifth against a trio of S&T relievers to extend its lead to 8-3.

The Miners knocked two runs off that lead in the sixth when Miller singled and Ulrich belted his second homer of the game – breaking the Miners' single season record for home runs with his 10^th of the year.  USI tacked on a run in the bottom of the sixth, then held off an S&T rally effort in the eighth against its bullpen.

With one out, Ulrich got his fourth hit of the game and Collin Zurweller (St. Peters, Mo./Fort Zumwalt East) singled with two outs.  Following a walk to Lance Portwood (Edmond, Okla./Edmond Santa Fe), the Eagles went to closer T.J. Decker and he retired pinch-hitter Lucas Swindle (Weldon Spring, Mo./Lutheran-St. Charles) on a fly out to the warning track in right to end the inning.

Decker, who got his fourth save of the regional, was named as the most outstanding player on the all-tournament team that included three Miners.  Ulrich, who had hits in 10 of his final 12 at-bats which included three home runs, was named along with Bodenstab – who finished the season with a school record 82 hits on the year – and Trevor Karbowski (Standish, Mich./Sterling Central).

Ulrich became the first Miner to not only reach double figures in home runs for a season on Monday, but also became the first from S&T with a four-hit game during the NCAA Tournament.  The Eagles outhit the Miners 15-12 in the contest, as Karbowski and Richter also had two apiece.