Despite leading for much of the game, the University of Evansville baseball team was upended by a late inning rally, falling to Indiana State in the second contest of their three game set at Bob Warn Field Saturday afternoon, 3-2.
“Great effort from our club”, said Head Coach Wes Carroll. “They fought the very last pitch. You’ve got to give credit to that Indiana State offense.”
Scoreless in the second, the Purple Aces would break through against Sycamores’ starting pitcher Triston Perry, as a leadoff walk to senior first baseman Dalton Horstmeier, a bunt single from junior second baseman Sam Troyer and a sacrifice bunt from senior catcher Andrew Tanous put runners in scoring position with one out. Then, freshman designated hitter Evan Aders continued his clutch play with a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Horstmeier for the icebreaker.
Junior starting pitcher Andrew Weigand would make that run stand through the next three frames, keeping the potent Indiana State off-balance at the plate, keeping them off the scoreboard for the first four innings. However, in the fifth, the Sycamores would knot the game up on a sacrifice fly from Dane Tofteland, making it a 1-1 game. However, that would be the only blemish on Weigand’s day, going six and 2/3 innings, allowing just one hit.
“Alex Weigand did an outstanding job keeping them (Indiana State’s lineup) at bay the entire day”, said Carroll. “Just the effort that we got from the junior to give us a chance was special. That’s exciting, because we know he’s going to give us a great effort in the conference tournament. So for him to give us a chance in winning time was special. I’m proud of his overall effort.”
In the top of the seventh, Evansville would snap the deadlock with a home run off the bat of Dalton Horstmeier against Polley, who sent his second round tripper over the center field wall, giving the Aces a 2-1 lead.
UE would take that lead into the eighth frame, when senior reliever Ryan Brady ran into trouble, putting a pair in scoring position. Then, Romero Harris lifted a lace to left. The resulting single tallied C.J. Huntley from third. Dane Giesler would attempt to score the go-ahead run from second, but Aces sophomore left fielder Troy Beilsmith through a strike home, and Andrew Tanous would apply the tag, keeping the game knotted at 2.
That’s the way it would stay until the bottom of the ninth, when Indiana State put runners on the corners against Evansville freshman hurler Jace Burke. Then, Hayden Jaco sent a single through the left side of the infield, bringing in the game-winner.
“Offensively, we went up against some pretty good arms in Indiana State”, said Carroll. “We knew we were going to have our hands full, and we were able to scrap a run here or there, just not enough to close out the game.”
The loss drops the Aces to 10-34 on the season and 2-15 in the Missouri Valley Conference. The victory ups Indiana State’s record to 25-21 overall and 7-10 in the MVC.
The third and final game of the series is tomorrow back at Bob Warn Field. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. eastern time, noon central time.
