EVANSVILLE, Ind. –  The visiting #14 Indiana State baseball team took advantage of some uncharacteristic wildness from University of Evansville junior starter Donovan Schultz to score four runs in the first inning Saturday en route to a 7-4 win at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.
“We just couldn’t overcome the first inning today,†said UE head coach Wes Carroll.  “We didn’t play clean baseball, and because of it, we weren’t able to get the series win today.
“I thought that Jarrett Blunt and Jakob Meyer gave us a chance by keeping us close, but we could not put together another big offensive inning that we needed to get the win.  Tomorrow is a very important rubber match for us.  Hopefully, we can get another great crowd to come out and cheer us on!â€
Schultz (5-3), who had hit only one batter in his last six starts on the mound spanning 32.0 innings of work, opened the first inning giving up a hit, a walk and hit two batters to give Indiana State a 1-0 lead.  After a strikeout, ISU catcher Grant McGill was able to flare a double down the right field line to score two runs to extend the lead to 3-0.  An infield ground out then capped the first-inning scoring for ISU, but Indiana State took a 4-0 lead before Evansville headed to home plate.
ISU would tack on a run in the third inning on another hit-by-pitch by Schultz, a balk, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 5-0.  Evansville would finally answer back in the bottom of the third inning, as junior outfielder Adam Euler, making his first start of the year, singled to open the inning.  After a single from sophomore third baseman Ben Stuart, graduate outfielder Eric Roberts launched a three-run home run to center field for his MVC-leading 16th home run of the year to cut the ISU lead to 5-3.
The Sycamores would add a run in the fifth inning on a solo home run from shortstop Randal Diaz that went in and out of the glove of UE outfielder Ty Rumsey as he crashed into the wall in center field to take a 6-3 lead.  Diaz would later double off of the glove of Rumsey again in the seventh inning and score on an RBI single by third baseman Mike Sears to push the lead to 7-3, before UE fifth-year first baseman Chase Hug would belt a solo home run to center field in the bottom of the eighth inning to cap the scoring on the day.
Hug went 3-for-4 with a home run, while Roberts went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI.  Stuart also had two hits for UE.  Diaz went 2-for-4 with three runs scored to lead ISU.
Fenlong got the victory on the mound by holding Evansville to four runs on eight hits in 8.0 innings of work, while striking out six.  Reliever Brennyn Cutts worked a perfect ninth inning to earn his second save of the year.  Schultz took the loss for UE, yielding five runs on just two hits with a walk.  He did hit three batters.  UE graduate reliever Jarrett Blunt struck out a career-high eight men in a season-best 4.0 innings of work to try and keep Evansville in the game, and senior reliver Jakob Meyer struck out three over 2.0 scoreless innings of work for UE.
With the victory, Indiana State improves to 27-13 overall and 15-2 in the MVC.  Evansville, meanwhile, falls to 25-17 overall and 9-8 in the MVC with the loss.  The series will be decided on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m., with UE expected to start graduate LHP Michael Parks (2-1, 2.34 ERA) against Indiana State RHP Lane Miller (4-0, 2.12 ERA).  Sunday’s rubber match can be heard live in the Tri-State area on 107.1 FM-WJPS and the Old National Bank/Purple Aces Sports Network from Learfield.
