The University of Evansville got out to a fast start, however Indiana State’s bats proved to be faster in a marathon game, as the Sycamores downed the Purple Aces 14-9 Sunday afternoon at Bob Warn Field, taking the series’ rubber match.
“Our offense gave us a chance today on Sunday Funday in the Valley with the series on the line”, said Aces Head Coach Wes Carroll. “But from a pitching standpoint, we couldn’t get a guy to get hot and get us outs. So we had to keep going to the pen.”
The Aces came out swinging, putting up four runs in the opening frame, highlighted by junior second baseman Sam Troyer’s three run home run, his second round tripper of the season. Evansville would tack on another tally in the top of the second inning on sophomore left fielder Troy Beilsmith’s RBI single left, driving in senior shortstop Stewart Nelson, putting UE out in front 5-0.
After tossing a perfect first inning, sophomore hurler David Ellis ran into trouble in the second, as Indiana State tallied three runs, spearheaded by an RBI single by Roberto Enriquez. Ellis would stay into finish the frame, however his day was over two innings. From there, the Aces went through their entire bullpen, sending 8 relievers to the hill. The Sycamores would put up eleven more tallies on the board.
“We had a tough time with command all day”, said Carroll. “And that’s unfortunate.”
Evansville’s bats would battle back, with the second of two RBI singles from freshman third baseman Tanner Craig, a solo home run off the bat of senior first baseman Dalton Horstmeier, then a two-run single from Horstmeier. However, it wasn’t enough, as the Aces dropped the five-run decision.
“Our guys were still fighting and competing, and I’m proud of their overall effort”, said Carroll. “We just didn’t do enough to get a series win on the road in the Valley.”
The loss drops the Aces to 10-35 on the season and 2-16 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while Indiana State improves to 26-21 and 8-10 in the MVC.
Evansville is back on the road Tuesday night as they play the back end of their home-and-home series with Belmont.
