Wes Carroll inks contract extension with Evansville
Carroll heads into year 17 leading the Purple Aces
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Following a historic postseason run in 2024 University of Evansville Director of Athletics Ziggy Siegfried has announced a five-year extension for baseball head coach Wes Carroll.
Coach Carroll has brought unprecedented national exposure and acclaim to our University, Community, and all Purple Aces,” says Siegfried. “He is an outstanding leader, an individual who can recruit at the highest level, and he understands how to create the best possible environment for our student-athletes to thrive. He is and will always be a Purple Ace, and I am so proud to have him as the leader of our baseball program for years to come.”
Under the direction of Coach Carroll, the Purple Aces made their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 18 years and won the program’s first-ever NCAA Regional in the 2024 season. In 2024 Carroll guided UE to a 39-26 overall record. The Purple Aces swept all four games in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament to claim the MVC’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. UE then won the program’s first-ever NCAA Regional Tournament title by winning the Greenville (N.C.) Regional to advance to the program’s first-ever NCAA Super Regional.
In the Knoxville Super Regional, Evansville pushed the No. 1 national seed, Tennessee, to the brink of elimination, as the Purple Aces forced the ‘if necessary’ game three with a 10-8 victory over the Volunteers. It was one of only two losses that Tennessee suffered in the NCAA Tournament on its way to the 2024 national championship.
Over the course of 16 seasons with Evansville, Caroll has a 428-434 record, was named the 2024 ABCA/ATEC Midwest Regional Coach of the Year, a two-time MVC Dan Callahan Coach of the Year, coached two All-Americans, one MVC Player of the Year, two MVC Pitchers of the Year, two MVC Freshman of the Year, and one MVC Defensive Player of the Year, six All-Region players, two CSC All-District players, and 19 All-MVC First Team selections.
Carroll coached the Aces for 16 years and was a standout shortstop for UE from 1998 to 2001. Carroll grew up minutes from the UE campus in nearby Newburgh, Indiana. He watched his older brother and Major League alum, Jamey Carroll, excel at shortstop for UE. He later got to experience the success the program is capable of first-hand as a four-year starter for the Purple Aces and a member of UE’s 2000 NCAA Tournament team.
Wes Carroll became UE’s first Freshman All-America selection in 1998, thanks to a rookie campaign in which he hit .355 with 18 doubles, two home runs, and 39 runs batted in. Carroll went on to hit .299 or better in each of his four years at UE, and finished his career by setting the school’s all-time career record for doubles (74), while also ranking in the school’s career top 10 in six different categories. He still holds the record for career doubles, has the second-most base hits in school history with 308, and ranks 10th all-time in UE history with a .339 career batting average. Carroll earned all-conference and all-region honors on the UE infield during his four-year career, before being named to the Missouri Valley Conference’s All-Centennial Team in 2007 as one of the top players in league history.
Carroll graduated from UE in 2001 with a degree in Human Kinetics and Sport Studies. Wes and his wife, Ashley, a former soccer standout at the University of Evansville, reside in Evansville with their two children.
