Walk-off winners again, Aces Sweep Illinois State To Maintain MVC Lead

EVANSVILLE – What has become the norm over the last two weekends, the University of Evansville baseball team scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to walk-off Illinois State, 4-3, and earn its third series sweep in MVC play on Sunday afternoon at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium.

“Great weekend with another walk-off win. Our offense finally broke through with Tanner delivering the big hit,” said Aces head baseball coach Wes Carroll. “Caleb Reinhardt and our defense played outstanding and gave us a chance to do something special. This Aces team is special to be around and we truly believe in one another. Emotional day for us all on Mother’s Day.”

Similar to his rotation mates earlier in the series, starter Caleb Reinhardt put in a stellar performance on the mound on Sunday. Reinhardt pitched eight innings of work, allowing three runs on six hits, firing a career-best seven strikeouts in the Aces win. As the game moved to the ninth, Evansville turned to Shane Harris, who sat the Redbirds down in order and would earn the win, his fourth of the season, after UE’s ninth-inning comeback.

More of the same from the weekend continued for the Aces at the plate as Evansville generated consistent hitting throughout the order. Simon Scherry, Evan Berkey, and Eric Roberts all finished with multi-hit contests for Evansville, each recording a pair of hits
en route to the 4-3 win.On a beautiful Mother’s Day afternoon, Evansville was again fueled by a dominant early performance on the mound and an economical approach at the plate. After Illinois State put two runners on in the first with one outs, Reinhardt played to UE’s strength, letting its defense record back-to-back outs to get out of the top of the first.

Doing what it needed to early, the Aces pushed a run across in the bottom of the second on double down the left field line from Brendan Hord that sent Berkey home. Hord would again provide UE’s offense in the fourth with a sacrifice fly to center that allowed Berkey to score his second run of the day and give the Aces a 2-0 lead.

Reinhardt was nails on the mound after an early scare in the first, sitting down 14 consecutive Redbirds from the end of the first through the fifth inning. Illinois State would find a breakthrough though in the sixth, getting a runner on for Ryan Cermak, who hit a two run shot to left to tie the game at two. Two innings later, the Redbirds laid down a sacrifice bunt to go in front, 3-2.

In the bottom of the ninth, Evansville got a leadoff single from Roberts, followed by a walk from Danny Borgstrom. Still without any outs, Mark Shallenberger drew a five-pitch walk to load the bases for Tanner Craig. On a 1-2 count pitch, Craig lifted a line drive to left center field and rolled it through the game to score Roberts and Borgstrom and walk away with a 4-3 come-from-behind victory.

Evansville closes its homestand on Wednesday with a 6 PM first pitch against SIUE at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium.