EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville baseball team used a little two-out magic on Saturday afternoon to erupt for nine runs, and the Purple Aces held off a furious ninth-inning rally by the visiting Valparaiso Beacons to even their Missouri Valley Conference series with a 9-8 win at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.
“Our offense came through with some big at-bats today, which was great to see,†said UE head coach Wes Carroll.  “It is also great to see Brent Widder getting hot, as he delivered multiple times for us today.
“Tomorrow is an important day, with the series on the line.â€
Evansville went 6-for-14 with two outs and produced six two-out RBI in the contest to fuel the offense.
The Purple Aces struck first in the second inning, as junior second baseman Kip Fougerousse knocked a one-out double and fifth-year outfielder Danny Borgstrom produced a sacrifice fly to give UE a 2-0 advantage.
The Beacons would answer right back with a two-out run of its own in the third inning, before Fougerousse would deliver a two-out, two-run single in the home-half of the frame to push UE’s lead to 4-1.
Two more two-out runs would score in the sixth inning to move the lead to 6-1.  Graduate outfielder Eric Roberts knocked a two-out RBI double, and junior shortstop Simon Scherry followed two batters later with an RBI single for UE.
The Beacons would scratch across two runs in the seventh inning to make it a 6-3 contest.  UE’s two-out magic was not done though, as Widder came through with a two-out, two-run single in the eighth inning as part of a three-run frame to push the lead to 9-3.  The three insurance runs were needed for UE, as Valparaiso scored five two-out runs in the top of the ninth inning, before freshman Max Hansmann got the final out to nail down his first collegiate save.
Widder went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and two RBI to help lead the UE attack.  Fougerousse also had two hits and drove in three runs, and Scherry and Roberts added two hits apiece as well.  Graduate reliever Michael Parks (2-0) picked up the victory on the mound, scattering two runs on six hits in 3.2 innings of relief work.
With the victory, Evansville improves to 18-12 overall and evens its MVC record at 4-4.  Valparaiso, meanwhile, falls to 10-13 overall and 2-6 in the MVC with the loss.  The series will conclude on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m., as UE junior LHP Donovan Schultz (4-2, 3.82 ERA) is expected to face off against Valparaiso RHP Bobby Nowak (3-0, 2.12 ERA).  Sunday’s game can be heard live in the Tri-State area on 107.1 FM-WJPS and the Old National Bank/Purple Aces Sports Network from Learfield.
