EVANSVILLE (Interstat) — Seth Benes pitched four shutout innings without allowing a hit, and the Lindenwood Lions erupted for eight runs in the third and fourth innings Friday night to rout the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles 10-2 in an Ohio Valley Conference game at Physical Activities Center.

Benes struck out two and allowed two earned runs despite the hitless outing, as the Lions improved to 28-25 overall and 18-11 in conference play. Southern Indiana fell to 26-27 and 15-13.

Lindenwood, which dropped the series opener 8-4 on Thursday, came out determined to even the three-game set. After a quiet first inning, the Lions scratched across a run in the top of the third. Kam Edwards singled and moved to second on a single by Charlie Isom-McCall. After Will Geary was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Jake Radosevich lifted a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Edwards for a 1-0 lead.

The floodgates opened moments later. Geary stole second, and Sam Driscoll ripped a two-run single to right, scoring Geary and Isom-McCall. Filip Sarota followed with an RBI single to bring home Driscoll, and Sarota later stole second and advanced to third on an error by Southern Indiana shortstop Collin Senior. The Lions led 4-0 after the top of the third.

Southern Indiana answered in the bottom half when Hunter Miller launched a solo home run to right field, cutting the deficit to 4-1. It was Miller’s only hit of the night; he finished 2-for-5 with the homer and an RBI.

Lindenwood struck again in the fourth. Owen Ralph singled off Screaming Eagles reliever Abdriel Figueroa and moved to second when Edwards reached on an error by the shortstop. Isom-McCall singled through the left side to drive in Ralph. After stealing second, Isom-McCall scored on a Geary single. Geary advanced to second on the throw, and Radosevich grounded out to second to drive in Geary, making it 7-1. A passed ball moved Radosevich to third, but Driscoll grounded out to end the frame. The Lions had it 8-1.

Southern Indiana got one back in the bottom of the fourth. Benes hit Micajah Wall with a pitch, and Clayton Slack singled. After a pair of flyouts, Noah Foster doubled to left-center, scoring Wall. Slack advanced to third, but a groundout ended the inning with the score 8-2.

Lindenwood padded its lead in the fifth. Sarota reached on an error, advanced to second on a flyout and scored on a Ralph single. The Lions made it 9-2. In the seventh, Will Zareh walked, Ralph singled and Edwards singled through the right side to drive in Zareh for a 10-2 advantage.

The Lions bullpen took over from there. Ethan Smith pitched 2 1/3 hitless innings with two strikeouts, and Tanner Paschke followed with 2 2/3 hitless innings with two strikeouts to preserve the win.

For Southern Indiana, starter Ean DiPasquale was lifted after two innings. Relievers Eben Hansen, Ryan Skwarek, Jay Kennedy and Ian Anderson combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings of relief but the damage had already been done.

Driscoll went 2-for-5 with two RBI for Lindenwood. Sarota was 2-for-5 with two RBI. Edwards reached base three times, scoring twice. Miller led the Screaming Eagles with two hits and a home run.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Lindenwood 4, Southern Indiana 2. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Southern Indiana with a 53.90 percent probability to win.

The two teams meet again Saturday in the series finale.