EVANSVILLE, Ind. –  The University of Evansville baseball team launched three home runs and knocked six doubles on Friday night, as the Purple Aces out-slugged the visiting Bradley Braves, 9-7, at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.
“It feels great to get a win on a Friday behind our offense, which responded every inning that Bradley scored tonight,†said UE head coach Wes Carroll.  “Tonight was a great back-and-forth Valley game that, thankfully, we were able to close out.â€
The game actually started as a pitcher’s dual between UE RHP Nick Smith and Bradley RHP Jacob Kisting, as both teams were retired in order in the first inning, and the game was scoreless going into the third inning.  Bradley outfielder Ryan Vogel would change that though in the top of the third inning, with a two-out solo home run to left field to start the scoring.
In a storyline that would run throughout the night, Evansville would answer back immediately in the bottom of the third inning, as senior designated hitter Brent Widder and junior second baseman Kip Fougerousse both launched solo home runs to give UE a 2-1 lead.
Both teams would go scoreless in the fourth inning, before the real fireworks would begin in the fifth inning, as the two teams began trading run-scoring innings.
A solo home run by Bradley designated hitter Mason Breidenbach would tie the game at 2-2 in the top of the fifth inning.  Fougerousse would quickly untie the game with a two-run home run to dead center field in the home-half of the frame to give UE a 4-2 lead.
Bradley would answer right back with three runs in the sixth inning to retake a 5-4 lead, before Widder would give Evansville a 6-5 lead with a two-run double off the wall in center field in the bottom of the sixth.
Bradley would once again retake the lead in the top of the seventh inning with a pair of runs, before fifth-year outfielder Danny Borgstrom knocked a two-run double with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning to give UE an 8-7 lead.  From there, junior reliever Shane Harris came on to toss a scoreless eighth inning for UE, and then fifth-year first baseman Chase Hug delivered an RBI single to left field in the bottom of the eighth to give UE a 9-7 lead.  Junior closer Nate Hardman worked around an infield single and a two-out walk to strike out Bradley’s Jackson Chatterton looking to end the threat and earn his eighth save of the year.
Fougerousse went 3-for-5 with his 10th and 11th home runs of the year to go along with a double, three runs scored and three RBI.  Widder also had three hits and finished a triple shy of the cycle in his first game back from injury since late April.  Borgstrom also had two hits and two RBI for UE.
With the victory, Evansville improves to 30-19 overall and 12-10 in the MVC and remains in fourth place in the Valley standings.  Thanks to tonight’s win and a Belmont loss earlier today, Evansville has now clinched a spot in the upcoming MVC Tournament at the end of May.  Bradley, meanwhile, falls to 14-29 overall and 5-17 in the MVC.  The two teams will continue the series on Saturday afternoon with a 2 p.m. contest that can be seen live on ESPN3 and heard live in the Tri-State area on 107.1 FM-WJPS and the Old National Bank/Purple Aces Sports Network from Learfield.
