 After picking up three consecutive Missouri Valley Conference series victories to begin league play, the University of Evansville baseball team will be back in action this weekend as the Purple Aces will take on visiting Illinois State at Charles H. Braun Stadium, beginning with a doubleheader on Friday at 3:30 p.m.
The Aces, who were picked seventh in the preseason coaches’ poll, enter the weekend with a 23-15 overall record, including a 6-3 mark in league play, which puts them 1.5 games off the pace of conference-leading Dallas Baptist. ISU, on the other hand, will be looking to get back on track after dropping six of their first eight MVC games, and the Redbirds enter the weekend with a 12-27 mark overall.
Thanks in large part to yet another impressive offensive weekend, the Aces are entering the series with a lot of momentum after taking two out of three from then-No. 16 Missouri State in Springfield. Through the nine conference games this year, no offense has put up better league numbers than the Aces as UE enters the weekend with a .285 batting average and 31 extra-base hits, including 10 home runs.
The hefty numbers are just a continuation of what the Aces have put together all season, highlighted by 39 homers, which is the most for any UE squad since 2010. Eleven different players have left the park this season, led by the duo of Jonathan Ramon and Korbin Williams, who have each logged nine round-trippers on the year. The duo ranks among five Aces players with .300-or-better averages.
Meanwhile on the mound, UE will once again turn to a pair of freshman arms in Brandon Gomer and Alex Weigand as well as the steadying presence of junior Patrick Schnieders. Both Schnieders and Gomer will get the nod on Friday, and Weigand, who has helped UE pick up wins in three consecutive rubber games, is slated to start on Saturday.
First pitch from Braun Stadium on Friday is slated for 3:30 p.m., and the day’s second game will begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first. Saturday’s series finale will begin at 2 p.m.
NOTES: UE will be aiming to win a fourth consecutive league series for the first time since the 2014 campaign … Since 1978, the Aces are 51-57 all-time against Illinois State … The first meeting between the two schools was a 1-1 tie in 1948 … Last season, the Aces took home two out of three in a series that was staged in Normal … UE won all three meetings by a combined 27-6 score in 2014, which was the previous trip to Evansville for the Redbirds.
