 EVANSVILLE – After picking up consecutive weekend series victories, the University of Evansville baseball team will be hoping to make it three in a row as the Purple Aces will welcome Wichita State to Charles H. Braun Stadium on Friday to start off Missouri Valley Conference play.
The Aces (15-12) have won four of their last five games, and one of the major components of their success has been a balanced line-up that currently ranks among the most powerful in recent UE history. With 27 home runs on the season, the Aces have already left the park more than any other team since 2010, and perhaps even more impressively, 11 different players have done so, which the highest total since 2001.
Overall, UE trails just Missouri State in homers this season, but they’ve been able to hit for average as well as six players currently boast of a .300-or-better mark, led by Trey Hair’s MVC-best .408 batting average.
On the mound, the Aces will have to turn to Patrick Schnieders once again on Friday night. The junior right-hander has been the regular Saturday arm for the Aces this season, but he’s excelled in a couple of Friday opportunities as well, including a 10-strikeout performance against Central Connecticut State last month. For the season, the Westphailia, Mo., native is 3-1 with a 2.27 earned run average over 39.2 innings, and he’s coming off a complete game last Saturday against Florida Gulf Coast.
On Saturday and Sunday, the Aces will turn to the freshman duo of Brandon Gomer and Alex Weigand. Gomer, a right-hander out of Lenexa, Kan., tossed a scoreless frame at Western Kentucky earlier this week, and in his last start, which was washed out at Indiana, he surrendered just one hit over four innings. Weigand, who will be making his sixth start of the season, is 2-1 with a 6.00 ERA over 30 innings of work.
Meanwhile, Wichita State will be looking for its first series victory since taking two out of three at Northern Colorado to open the season. The Shockers (10-19) have played one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the MVC, featuring seven games against ranked opponents. Earlier this week, the team picked up a 15-8 victory over Oral Roberts.
This weekend will also be notable in that the Aces baseball team will play host to over 100 former players and family members for alumni weekend at Braun Stadium. The highlight of the event will take place on Saturday as members of the 1976 team will celebrate the 40th anniversary of their Indiana Collegiate Conference title and the 2006 squad will celebrate the 10th anniversary of their Missouri Valley crown. Both teams ultimately went on to play in the NCAA tournament.
First pitch on Friday is slated for 6 p.m., and Saturday’s game will begin at 2 p.m., with the pregame alumni festivities beginning with a noon lunch. Sunday’s finale is scheduled for 1 p.m. Also, the contests on Friday and Sunday will mark the first-ever ESPN3 broadcasts for Aces Baseball.
NOTES: Since 1978, UE is 27-56 against Wichita State … Last season, the Aces were swept in Wichita, but UE picked up two out of three in the Shockers’ last trip to Evansville in 2014 … The first meeting between the two squads was in 1995, the first year that UE was in the MVC … UE dropped three of four games that season before eliminating the Shockers from the Valley tournament … The first series win for UE was in 2005 … Since 1978, the first season that UE participated in NCAA Division I baseball, WSU is the only team from Kansas that the Aces have played … All-time, the Aces are 8-13 in MVC openers and 32-36 in MVC opening series … This weekend marks the third time that UE will start conference play with WSU … Previously, the Shockers took three out of four in both 1995 and 2002.
