Craig Shepherd sent the fourth pitch of the game over the wall in left field, and it proved a harbinger of good things for the Aces offense as the University of Evansville baseball team touched home 20 times over the course of a doubleheader sweep of Illinois State at Duffy Bass Field.
The two victories gave the Aces their second series win of the season, and their first in Missouri Valley Conference. UE moved to 12-22 on the year, which includes a 3-5 mark in league play. Meanwhile, ISU dropped to 10-23 and 0-5, respectively.
Despite the run support, Saturday’s opener was decided in extra innings after the Aces leveled the game with a ninth inning score. Perhaps that was to be expected in this series as three of the four meetings between UE and ISU a year ago were resolved in extras.
After each team scored five runs in the opening stanza, the Aces took the lead for the second time in the fourth. A failed pickoff from ISU starter Jeffrey Barton allowed Nate Reeder to move from first to third base, and he’d score moments later on a Craig Shepherd sacrifice fly. The lead would prove short-lived, however, as a Bryce Grimm double leveled things once again an inning later.
Shepherd finished the game 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of runs batted in, and the Redbirds were led by the duo of Zach Barnhart and Derek Parola, which combined to go 6-for-10 at the plate with four scores and three RBI. Grimm was 2-for-5.
