UE has a big conference series on tap this weekend. After taking a game from Missouri State in Springfield, Evansville needs two more conference wins to climb the conference standings and move out of the eighth seed for the MVC Tournament. The Aces will have a good chance with the Belmont Bruins coming to town, as Belmont is only a game ahead of UE in the standings. But the Bruins are currently riding a four-game win streak coming into Friday night’s game after they swept the Valparaiso Beacons at home and got a road non-conference win at UT Martin. Belmont has the current MVC Pitcher of the Week in right-hander Zane Brown, who threw the Bruins’ first no-hitter since 2014 against the Beacons, where he set a new career high in strikeouts with nine and earned his second win.
With only three teams left to play in Missouri Valley Conference play, Evansville’s younger players have been stepping up in the batter’s box. Through 18 games, freshman Jake McGhee (Fenton, Mo. / Christian Brothers Academy) leads the Aces with a .357 batting average in 12 games played. McGhee is closely followed by sophomore Charlie Longmeier (Seymour, Ind. / Seymour HS), who has had a breakout season for UE with a .353 batting average in 18. Rumsey is also batting above .350 in conference action for Evansville with a .351 average in 18 appearances.
Sophomore left-hander Kenton Deverman had a career performance last week against the Bears. Through 6.2 innings of work, Deverman threw out a career-high 10 batters in the Aces’ 4-2 loss to Missouri State. Deverman became the first UE pitcher to have a 10+ strikeout performance in two seasons since Tyler Denu had 10 also in Springfield. He also had his second straight game not allowing a walk on the mound, to continue leading the Valley in strikeout-to-walk ratio and walks allowed per nine innings. Deverman has also jumped up in the national rankings in both categories, at 13th and 5th.
Another Evansville pitcher that has shone during conference play is senior right-hander Drew Fieger (Fort Mitchell, Ky. / Lincoln Trail CC). Through MVC action, Fieger has made eight appearances with four wins and has a team-low ERA of 3.50 through 18 innings of Valley work. The senior is currently one of the Top 10 pitchers during MVC play, ranking sixth with his 3.50 ERA, 17 hits, nine runs, seven earned runs, seven walks, and nine strikeouts. Since beginning conference games in mid-March, Fieger has lowered his season ERA from 12.34 to 7.07 in only 11 games.
