Aces shutout Bradley to clinch series

 

 Another strong outing from starting pitcher Alex Weigand and opportunistic base-running from Boomer Synek proved the difference for the University of Evansville baseball team on Sunday afternoon as the Aces sealed a second consecutive Missouri Valley Conference series victory with a 2-0 decision over Bradley at Charles H. Braun Stadium.

Weigand, a freshman left-hander, looked every bit an experienced arm on the mound for the second straight week as the Bourbonnais, Ill., native struck out five over six scoreless innings to help the Aces (20-14, 4-2 MVC) to their fourth shutout victory of the season.

“Weigand isn’t throwing like a freshman anymore,” explained Synek, who is UE’s every day starter behind the plate. “He’s a great competitor, and he’s not scared of any of the teams that he’s going up against. He did a really good job of letting the game come to him today, and he was commanding his off-speed pitches today better than he has all year.”

“That’s back-to-back weekends that Alex has answered the call for us in a series-deciding game,” UE head coach Wes Carroll said. “He put the team on his back again, and gave us a chance to win the series. That’s just a fantastic outing and a gutsy performance from him.”

Weigand was hardly the lone standout for the Aces on the mound as both Brent Jurceka and Ryan Brady proved effective as well, holding the Braves (16-13, 2-3 MVC) to just one hit over the final three innings.

“I think our bullpen was really locked in this entire weekend,” Carroll said. “They did a tremendous job for us, and I think they’re the reason we won this series. Our relievers have been putting up a lot of goose eggs on the scoreboard recently, and it’s a great thing to see.”

For the weekend, the UE bullpen allowed just three hits over 11 innings of work.

While Weigand and BU starter Brent Stong battled for much of the contest, the Aces were unable to cash in on a number of scoring opportunities over the game’s first seven innings. That would all change in the bottom of the eighth. Ben Olson took to the mound for the Braves and gave up a one-out single to Synek to put a runner on, and the Braves hurler would throw a wild pitch moments later to move him into scoring position. From there, another BU reliever, Eric Scheuermann tossed two more errant pitches to allow the run to score.

“I was definitely keeping an eye on the pitchers with the situation that we were in,” Synek said. “I was just trying to make good reads on the ball. Coach Carroll told me to be prepared for them if they bounced a couple or got a little bit wild, and it just ended up happening that way.”

Later in the frame, the Aces tacked on another as Nathan Stong issued a bases-loaded walk to Shain Showers to make it 2-0.

From there, Jurceka, who struck out three during the seventh and eighth innings, gave up a single and a walk in the ninth, paving the way for Brady to take the mound. The sophomore out of St. Louis allowed a walk to load the bases, but he bounced back emphatically by striking out both Andy Shadid and Carson Weber to end the game.

“Brady is just a different animal when he gets into the game,” Synek explained. “You see him in the dugout, and he seems like a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, but when he steps in between the lines and gets that ball, he means business and operates like he’s the best guy on the field in that moment. It’s really cool to see him dig deep and make that kind of progress.”

Jurceka picked up the win to move to 4-2 on the season, and Brady earned his second save.

The Aces will return to action on Wednesday with another home contest at Braun Stadium. UE will welcome in Western Kentucky before setting out for another MVC series at Missouri State. Tuesday’s previously scheduled game against UT Martin has been canceled.