EVANSVILLE – An outstanding outing from Southern Illinois starting pitcher Chad Whitmer was the difference on Friday night as the University of Evansville baseball team dropped a 4-1 decision to the visiting Salukis at Charles H. Braun Stadium.
Whitmer, who improved to 6-3 on the season, stifled a number of early Aces scoring opportunities on the way to tossing eight innings while allowing just one unearned run.
“You have to give a lot of credit to their starter tonight,†UE head coach Wes Carroll said. “He was making his pitches and keeping it down in the zone. He did a fantastic job of putting us away when we had runners in scoring position.â€
After UE (25-22, 7-9 MVC) grabbed an early lead on a throwing error from SIU shortstop Will Farmer, the Salukis (29-19-1, 10-6 MVC) responded with a Logan Blackfan sacrifice fly in the ensuing inning to level the affair. The visitors from Carbondale ultimately pushed ahead in the fifth, as a Connor Kopach home-run punctuated a three-run frame to put SIU ahead for good.
The Aces were held to seven hits on the day, with Travis Tokarek leading the team with a 3-for-4 showing at the plate.
Patrick Schnieders (4-5) was dealt the loss in the contest after allowing five hits and four runs over seven innings, and the duo of Brian Jestice and Alex Gould combined to toss a scoreless final two frames.
UE will return to action on Saturday as the team will look to even the series with the Salukis. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m.
NOTES: This weekend marks the 123rd, 124th and 125th meetings between SIU and UE since the Aces started playing at the Division I level in 1978 … In those games, UE is 58-65 … The Aces have taken home 2-1 series victories over the Salukis in each of the past three seasons … The first meeting between the two sides came with a 7-4 SIU win back in 1947, and UE wouldn’t log its first win in the series until a 9-3 decision in 1956 … Since 1978, UE is 246-218 against Illinois schools, which includes a 7-5 mark this season.
