Behind strong pitching, the University of Evansville baseball team kept things tight with tenth ranked Vanderbilt, however, the Purple Aces couldn’t catch the Commodores on the scoreboard, falling in Nashville, Tennessee, 6-1, Tuesday night.
Junior starting pitcher Austin Allinger looked sharp in pitching the opening of the frames, allowing just one hit while tossing a pair of scoreless innings.
Allinger would give way to freshman reliever Austin Ruesch, who got a pair of quick outs to open the third inning. However, the third out of the frame proved to be tougher to get. After giving up a two out double to Connor Kaiser, Ruesch got tagged on a two-strike pitch by Vandy’s leading home run hitter, Ethan Paul, giving the Commodores an early 2-0 lead. That would be Ruesch’s lone mistake, as he kept Vanderbilt off the scoreboard for the next two innings.
Sophomore reliever Nathan Croner would take over for Ruesch in the sixth, and would get into hot water immediately, hitting the leadoff batter, then walking another, putting a pair aboard with nobody out. Croner would bounce back to get the next two outs, and appeared to be on his way to getting out of the jam. Then, Jayson Gonzalez snuck a single through the left side of the infield, tallying a pair of insurance runs, putting UE in a 4-0 hole.
Meanwhile, the Aces bats struggled to break through in the runs column. That is until the seventh inning. It began with sophomore outfielder Troy Beilsmith drawing a leadoff walk. Next, senior first baseman Dalton Horstmeier singled to right-center, sending Beilsmith to third. Then, senior designated hitter Travis Tokarek, playing in his first game in a month due to injury, drove in Beilsmith with a ground out to first base, putting the Aces on the scoreboard.
However, Evansville would draw no closer and the Commodores would add to their pad in eighth with Ethan Paul’s second round tripper of the game. Vanderbilt would tack on another in the frame, going onto take a 6-1 decision.
The loss drops the Aces to 6-24, while Vandy improves to 23-14. The University of Evansville baseball team is back in action Friday night at home against the newest member of the Missouri Valley Conference, Valparaiso. First pitch for game one of the series is set for 6 p.m. at Charles H. Braun Stadium.
