 After grabbing a pair of series victories at Charles H. Braun Stadium the last two weekends, the University of Evansville baseball team will look to see if it can duplicate its Missouri Valley Conference success on the road when the Purple Aces set out to Springfield to square off against Missouri State for a three-game series.
The Aces (21-14, 4-2 MVC) sit just one-half game out of first place in the conference, and this weekend could prove one of the biggest tests of the season as the Bears (27-8, 2-3 MVC) boast of the league’s top offense and have been ranked as high as 15th in the national baseball polls.
A big reason for their success is the power slugging duo of Jake Burger and Spencer Johnson, who have combined for 27 home runs this season. The Bears hold conference-best totals in batting average (.305), runs (277), doubles (79), triples (15) , home runs (44), slugging (.502), on-base percentage (.401) and stolen bases (33)
However, the Bears have yet to win a conference series this year. MSU opened up with a series split against Bradley before dropping two out of three to Wichita State last season.
Faced with the task of halting the MSU offense, the Aces will be looking to continue their prowess on the mound. Patrick Schnieders and the freshman duo of Brandon Gomer and Alex Weigand will get the starting nods for the Aces, and it’s been the bullpen that has really impressed the most. Prior to reliever Brian Jestice giving up two runs in Wednesday’s 6-2 win over Western Kentucky, the Aces relief staff had gone 26.2 consecutive frames without allowing an earned run.
Overall, the Aces own a 3.90 earned run average.
UE also boasts of a number of impressive offensive statistics, highlighted by a line-up that has produced 38 home runs on the season, which is already the most in a single season for a UE squad since 2010. Eleven different players have left the park this season, led by the duo of Jonathan Ramon and Korbin Williams, who have racked up nine and eight round-trippers, respectively.
The Aces are hitting .283 this season, and five different players this season currently own a better than .300 batting average.
First pitch on Friday is slated for 6:05 p.m., and the series will continue Saturday at 2:05 p.m. before wrapping up on Sunday at 1:05 p.m.
