 It was another one of those nights for the Purple Aces offense on Friday night, as the high-scoring University of Evansville baseball team took its potent line-up on the road to pick up a 14-5 victory over 16th-ranked Missouri State at Hammons Field.
The Aces scored early and often on the night, pushing three runs across in the second inning, five in the third and six more over the game’s final six frames. The win moved UE to 22-14 overall, including a 5-2 mark in Missouri Valley Conference play.
One of the early storylines for the Bears (27-9, 2-4 MVC) in the contest involved fielding miscues, highlighted by a Jeremy Eierman throwing error in the second inning. The play put two runners on base with one out, and Jonathan Ramon, who was making his return to the line-up after not playing in the last three contests, followed up with a single through the right side to plate the opening score.
Jeff Christen followed up with a walk to load the bases, and Shain Showers lined the second pitch he saw into right center to make it 3-0.
“Shain had a wonderful game for us tonight, and a performance like this is big for him,†UE head coach Wes Carroll said. “He had a great approach at the plate with great balance, and for him to deliver like he did to get us rolling was really nice to see. Hopefully, it’s a sign of things to come because we’re going to need him as we hit this final stretch of the season.â€
Another error haunted the Bears in the third, with a wild pitch on a swinging strike three allowing a run to score, and Josh Jyawook followed up with a single to left to make it 5-0. Ramon hit into a would-be double play before an off-target throw limited the play to one out. The Aces would once again exploit the mistake as Showers and Nelson earned back-to-back walks to bring in another, and Eric McKibban followed up with a two-run single to run the total to 8-0.
MSU ended the day with four errors.
The UE quintet of seniors proved invaluable on the night as Ramon, Jyawook, Showers, McKibban and Boomer Synek combined for eight of UE’s 14 hits while scoring eight runs and knocking in another nine.
“This could be our last season playing baseball, and we have the mentality to come out and play like it,†Jyawook explained. “We try to come out like that every weekend. We try to provide the energy and the leadership, and the team really feeds off of it. That’s what works for us. I think all of us were dialed in tonight.â€
From there, a pair of home runs in the third and fourth innings from Jake Burger and Eierman, respectively, cut the deficit back to five.
UE responded with three more runs over the course of the fifth and sixth frames to re-establish the lead, and it would not be seriously challenged down the stretch.
Starting pitcher Patrick Schnieders was credited with the win for UE, moving his season record to 4-2 overall. He allowed three runs on three hits over 5.2 innings, and Ryan Brady and Forrest Herrmann combined to pick up the final 10 outs.
Meanwhile, Jordan Knutson picked up the loss, allowing 10 runs (four earned) over four innings. He struck out eight.
Both UE and MSU will return to action on Saturday afternoon as the two teams are set to square off once again at Hammons Field. First pitch is slated for 2:05 p.m.
NOTES: Friday marked the highest scoring game in an MVC game for the Aces since a 14-2 win over Southern Illinois in Carbondale on May 14, 2010 … Since 1978, the first season that UE competed at the NCAA Division I level, UE is 37-48 vs. MSU … The Aces are 85-66 all-time against Missouri schools … Last season, the Aces were swept by Missouri State at Charles H. Braun Stadium.
