DALLAS, Tex. – The University of Evansville baseball team couldn’t dodge Dallas Baptist’s brooms, as the Purple Aces fell in their series finale with the Patriots, 7-1, Sunday afternoon at Horner Ballpark.
Freshman right hand pitcher Jace Burke (0-6) got the start for the Aces, and looked sharp early, keeping the potent Dallas Baptist lineup off the scoreboard through the first two innings.
In the third frame, Hill Alexander changed that, leading off the inning with a solo home run to left. giving the Patriots the lead. Burke would proceed to hit a batter, then walk another, putting two aboard. However, the freshman got out of the jam, as senior third baseman Stewart Nelson snagged a hard liner, which was bound for left field, ending the threat. Burke would come back to pitch a scoreless fifth frame, keeping the game tight at 1-0.
In the fifth, the Patriots would finally get to Burke, a they sandwiched a pop-up with a pair of singles, ending the freshman right hander’s day. Senior reliever Ryan Brady would take over from there, however Dallas Baptist continued to swing, as Jimmy Glowenke singled to left driving in one insurance run. Matt Duce would lift a sacrifice fly to left, driving in the second run of the inning, putting Evansville in a 3-0 hole.
Brady would pitch a clean sixth, but ran into trouble in the seventh, issuing back-to-back one out walks. That would lead to another pitching change, as sophomore reliever Nathan Croner entered the game. After striking out the first batter he faced, Croner issued a free pass to load up the bases with two outs. Croner would then walk in one run, then get tagged for a two run single to center by Garrett Wolforth. That would chase Croner from the game, with Dallas Baptist leading 6-0. Senior right hander Jimmy Ward would come out of the bullpen to put out the fire and end the inning.
The UE bats sprung to life in the eighth inning, as junior right fielder Nate Reeder opened the from with a lead off single. Senior catcher Andrew Tanous would follow that up with a single to the gap in left center, then advanced on the throw, putting runner on second and third with no one out. Two batters later Sam Troyer would come up clutch with an RBI single to left, bringing in Reeder. However, that’s where the rally stalled, as senior first baseman lined out to second and Tanous was doubled off at third. The Patriots would get the run back in the bottom of the frame, as the Aces fell 7-1.
“We got a great pitching effort out of Jace Burke”, said University of Evansville Head Coach Wes Carroll. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have the offense all weekend to get the win.”
The loss drops Evansville to 8-33 on the season and 1-14 in Missouri Valley Conference play, while Dallas Baptist improves to 31-15, and 12-3 in the MVC.
The Purple Aces are back in action Tuesday night, when they play host to UT-Martin. First pitch from Charles H. Braun Stadium is at 6 p.m. CT.
