The win extends Evansville’s winning streak to seven games, its longest such streak since capturing eight-straight wins from March 24 to April 6, 2019.
“Great weekend for our club. Our offense was led by (Kenton) Crews and (Troy) Beilsmith all weekend,” said Evansville head baseball coach Wes Carroll. “(Danny) Borgstrom had a great game and it was refreshing to see his approach at the plate. (Eric) Roberts finally connected for a long ball, as well. Big week of practice for us and we get ready to get back into Valley play.”
Evansville jumped-out to a massive lead early in the contest, doing significant damage in the second inning. With Craig Shepherd on first and one out, the Aces got started generating runs. Sophomore Danny Borgstrom moved Shepherd over with a base-hit to right center to begin what would be an impressive day at the plate. Freshman Brent Widder drove home the first run of the game with a ground-rule double to right center, scoring Shepherd. Fellow freshman Max Malley nearly cleared the bases in the next at-bat, just missing a home run as the ball bounced off the wall, scoring Brogstrom.
Off to an incredible start in his fifth season, redshirt junior Kenton Crews ripped a double to left field, bringing Widder home and pushing Evansville’s lead to 3-0, still with just one out. Redshirt senior Troy Beilsmith reached safely on a fielder’s choice as Malley scored on a throwing error by the Jacks third baseman.
After Beilsmith stole second, freshman Simon Scherry drew a walk to fill the bases. With the bases loaded, freshman Mark Shallenberger was hit by a pitch, scoring another run, as the bases remained full.  Junior Eric Roberts responded to the opportunity, smashing a grand slam over the right field wall and handing Evansville a 9-0 lead after the second inning.
South Dakota State showed resilience, scoring five runs in the top of the third to trim Evansville’s lead to four at 9-5. After the third, Aces starter Donovan Schultz’s day came to an end, being replaced by junior reliever Zac Cummins.
In the fourth, Borgstrom added an RBI to his game line, driving in Shallenberger to push the Aces lead back to five. Rotating to the top of the fifth, Cummins continued to pitch effectively for the Aces as the newcomer finished his outing, lasting two innings, while not allowing a hit and striking-out one.
The day continued to go well for Borgstrom in the sixth as the second baseman drove a two-run home run to right, scoring Roberts and elevating Evansville’s lead back to seven at 12-5.
A wild pitch from the Jacks in the seventh put Evansville in position to again earn a run-rule win as the bases were loaded with just one out and with the Aces owning a 13-5 lead. Following the run on the wild pitch, SDSU recorded back-to-back outs to end the inning and extend the game.
SDSU would not go away in the series finale as the Jacks responded with two runs in the eighth to cut Evansville’s lead to 13-7.
Borgstrom closed his account on the day in a fitting way, launching another home run, this time with a shot to center field. The Jacks scored a run in the top of the ninth, but closer Jakob Meyer locked-down the 14-8 win for Evansville.
The Aces return to Missouri Valley Conference competition next weekend with a four-game set at Bradley on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Dozer Park in Peoria, Ill.
