Despite a furious finish, that saw the Aces strike for six runs in the final frame, the University of Evansville baseball team fell to Iowa 18-7, in a game played at Marion, Illinois’ Rent One Park, due to weather conditions.
“Tough way to start the series,” said University of Evansville baseball head coach Wes Carroll. “We showed some fight late, but had too big a hole to climb out of. We need to show some competitive fight to us tomorrow.”
The Hawkeyes got to Evansville starting pitcher Adam Lukas (1-2) beginning in the second inning, putting three runs on the board in the frame, which began with a two-run home run off the bat of Izaya Fullard.
Down 3-0 in the third, Lukas’ night would get rougher, as Iowa would touch him up for six more runs, highlighted by Ben Norman’s two-run blast. The Aces righty would get out of the inning, trailing 9-0 and his night would end there.
Evansville would get on the board in the bottom of the third, as junior shortstop Craig Shepherd would knock in senior third baseman Sam Troyer on an infield single.
However, the Hawkeyes kept swinging against the Aces’ bullpen, reeling off nine straight runs, taking an 18-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning.
That’s when the UE bats ignited. It began with an RBI single by Sam Troyer, driving in sophomore pinch hitter EvanAders. Senior outfielder Nate Reeder would follow that up with a run-scoring single to right, plating Troyer. A hot shot at shortstop by Craig Shepherd would lead to an error, allowing junior catcher Brendan Krob to tally. Freshman second baseman Danny Borgstrom kept the rally rolling with an RBI single to right, scoring Reeder. Then, freshman first baseman Eric Roberts plates a pair with a two-run double to center. However, the rally would end there.
The loss drops the Aces to 5-6 on the season, while Iowa improves to 7-4.
