Sixth inning rally sinks Aces baseball against Valparaiso

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville baseball team grabbed an early lead but couldn’t hold off a comeback from the Valparaiso Beacons in the 11-6 loss.

The Purple Aces had all the offense in the first five innings on Saturday, but without scoring between the fourth and ninth innings, it was Valparaiso who was victorious in the second game of the weekend. UE left fielder Charlie Longmeier (Seymour, Ind. / Seymour HS) had the hottest bat for Evansville against the Beacons’ starter, RHP Harry Deliyannis. The sophomore batter went 3-of-4 from the plate with a double and a home run for a third of the Aces hits on Saturday.

“Coming off of our great performance last night, we didn’t capitalize and win a series today,” said Head Coach Wes Carroll following the loss. “We didn’t do enough in all three aspects of the game, and you have to give credit to Valpo’s starter. It’ll be a big game tomorrow in the rubber match.”

It was a quick start to the second game of the series as UE starter Kevin Reed (Martinsville, Ind. / Martinsville HS) struck out three batters in two innings of work. Evansville began the scoring on Saturday in the bottom of the second as Longmeier hit his second home run of the season to lead off the inning. The Aces’ next three batters all reached first base with right fielder Harrison Taubert (Casper, Wyo. / Northeast CC) scoring on a double from third baseman Drew Howard (Ferdinand, Ind. / Forest Park HS) to double UE’s lead.

Evansville added one more run in the bottom of the second as center fielder Ty Rumsey (Evansville, Ind. / North HS) had an RBI single up the middle to score Howard. The Aces held onto their three-run lead through the third and the top of the fourth as the Beacons threatened in the top of the third with the bases loaded.

UE tacked on another run in the bottom of the fourth with two singles to start the inning from Howard and second baseman Drew McConnell (Blue Springs, Mo. / Blue Springs HS). Howard then scored his second run of the afternoon on a sacrifice fly from Rumsey to center field. Valparaiso’s bats began to get going in the fifth with their first hit of the game.

But it was the sixth inning where the Beacons took over the game, scoring six runs on four hits, two errors, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch. Valpo tied up the game after loading up the bases with a double, an error, and a wild pitch. The Beacons then took over the lead from Evansville with a two-run homer before the Aces’ defense got out of the sixth.

UE’s offense went cold over the next three innings as Longmeier was the only batter to record a hit until the bottom of the ninth. In the final third of the gam,e Valparaiso added five more runs to make it 11 to 4 going into the last frame. Evansville began the bottom of the ninth with a batter at first as pinch hitter Evan Waggoner (Bedford, Ind. / North Bedford Lawrence HS) was hit by a pitch. Pinch runner Mason McCue (Bourbonnais, Ill. / Bishop McNamara HS) went to second right after as McConnell grounded out to second.

A walk to Rumsey put two on base for the Aces, and both runners quickly advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch. UE added a run when shortstop Brodie Peart (Markham, Ontario) had an infield ground out to score McCue. Rumsey also scored a run for Evansville on a wild pitch with two outs on the board. The Aces had another walk to get a runner back on base, but a fly out in the next at-bat ended the game in the Beacons’ favor.

UE will look to take the series on Sunday afternoon. It will be another noon first pitch for Evansville, with inclement weather expected in the late afternoon and early evening.

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