EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The red-hot University of Evansville baseball team will get a big test this weekend, as Big Ten member Purdue will come to town for a three-game series. The series will begin on Friday at 3 p.m. at UE’s German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium, and all three games can be heard live on the Old National Bank Radio Network and 107.1 F.M.-WJPS.
Evansville will bring a 10-7 overall record into Friday’s series opener after exploding for a 14-2 victory at Bellarmine on Wednesday afternoon. The Purple Aces launched four home runs and exploded for six runs in the fifth inning and seven more in the sixth inning to win their third-straight. Overall, UE has won 10 of the last 12 games.
Fifth-year first baseman Chase Hug continues to lead the UE offense with a .433 batting average. He launched his fourth home run of the year in the ninth inning on Wednesday to cap UE’s scoring, and is tied with teammates Eric Roberts and Kip Fougerousse for the team-lead with four home runs. Hug also sports a .595 on-base percentage this year, which ranks ninth-best in NCAA Division I baseball. He has reached base in all 17 games this year, and in 23 consecutive games dating back to last year.
On the mound, UE will turn to junior RHP Nick Smith (1-3, 5.70 ERA) to start Friday’s series opener. Smith struck out a career-high 12 men in his last home start against Bowling Green on March 4. He is coming off a tough-luck loss in his last start last Friday, as he suffered the loss in UE’s 2-0 loss at Middle Tennessee State. Pitching has helped power UE’s recent surge, as the UE pitching staff has posted a 2.29 ERA over the last nine contests, while not allowing more than four runs since UE’s 14-8 win at Southeast Missouri State to open the month of March.
The UE pitching staff will be challenged by a Purdue offense which ranks among the nation’s best this year. The Boilermakers currently rank 31st in the nation in scoring at 8.9 runs per game. Purdue stands at 9-7 overall after a 14-5 victory over Northern Illinois on Wednesday. The Boilermakers hit .304 as a team, and they are led in hitting by fifth-year infielder Evan Albrecht, who will bring a .407 batting average into this weekend’s series. Redshirt junior infielder Paul Toetz is not far behind with a .390 average, and he ranks 12th nationally in home runs this year with eight home runs in 16 games.
UE and Purdue have not met on the diamond since 2013, when the Boilermakers took two out of three games at Charles H. Braun Stadium. The two teams were supposed to meet originally in March, 2020, but the series was cancelled right at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The two teams were scheduled to play last year, but the game was rained out in West Lafayette.
The series is scheduled to continue on Saturday at 2 p.m. and conclude on Sunday at 1 p.m.
