“Great offensive day when we needed it. To hit 5 home runs and everyone in the lineup contributing lead to our win,” said Aces head baseball coach Wes Carroll. “Really proud of our pitchers coming in and getting outs too. “Overall great weekend for Aces Baseball.”On the mound, Nate Hardman picked up his second win of the season, coming on in relief and throwing three innings, allowing just one run on three hits. Michael Parks and Shane Harris also recorded relief innings, combining for nine outs and allowing just four base runners and no outs.
Six Aces tallied multi-hit outings on the afternoon with Mark Shallenberger, Brendan Hord, and Chase Hug all notching three hits in the seven-inning win. Of Evansville’s 15 runs, 10 were scored with the long ball as the Aces launched five home runs on the day.
What was a resounding Aces win did not begin that way as Bradley tallied three runs in the opening stanza and threatened for more, but Caleb Reinhardt and the Evansville defense limited the Braves to a 3-0 advantage. Evansville wasted little time in answering, hanging four runs on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first on an RBI groundout by Widder and a three-run homer down the right-field line by Eric Roberts.
Bradley responded with a solo home run from Connor O’Brien that tied the game at four again in the top of the second, but that would be the Brave’s last offense of the day.
The Aces launched two more home runs in the second as Hug and Widder each jolted solo shots to hand UE a 6-4 lead. Two innings later, Shallenberger smashed a three-run homer to right-center field that gave the Aces some breathing room.
Despite Evansville’s offense getting much of the acclaim on the day, the defense was remarkable. Evansville recorded four double plays in Sunday’s series finale, adding on to its Valley-leading total to give UE 43 on the season.
UE added three more runs in the fifth and tallied two in the bottom of the sixth, including a solo home run by Danny Borgstrom that helped lift Evansville to a 15-4 run-rule victory.
Evansville returns to the field on Friday night at 6 PM as the Aces open a three-game set against Illinois State at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium.
