EVANSVILLE, Ind. –  University of Evansville pitchers Jarrett Blunt, Nate Hardman and Eric Roberts combined on a five-hitter on Sunday, and the Purple Aces got home runs from sophomore outfielder Ty Rumsey and fifth-year first baseman Chase Hug to power past the visiting Bradley Braves, 7-2, at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.
“Today was a very special ‘Senior Day’ to win an all-important Valley series here at the Braun,†said UE head coach Wes Carroll.  “We got an outstanding effort today on the mound by all three pitchers – Jarrett Blunt, Nate Hardman and Eric Roberts.  Our offense was also able to deliver late to make sure we secured the win.
“I am so proud of all of our seniors and how they represent Aces’ Baseball.â€
Blunt, making his third start of the year, set the tone for the day for UE by striking out a pair in a perfect first inning.  The Braves would get to Blunt for a two-out run in the second inning, but the lead would be short-lived, as UE would answer back in the bottom-half of the frame to grab a lead it would never lose.
Junior shortstop Simon Scherry led off the second inning with a single, and quickly stole second.  After a wild pitch advanced him to third base, fifth-year outfielder Danny Borgstrom drove Scherry home with a single to right field to tie the game at 1-1.  Rumsey would then untie the game with a two-run home run to right field – his eighth home run of the year – to give UE a 3-1 lead.
Blunt would strike out four men over the third, fourth and fifth innings, allowing just a single run in the fifth inning, as Bradley creeped back within a run at 3-2.  Junior Nate Hardman relieved Blunt (5-0) in the sixth inning and allowed just a lone walk in a scoreless frame to keep the score 3-2.  UE would then add an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI triple by Roberts to push its lead to 4-2.
From there, Hardman retired the next six batters, finishing with five strikeouts in three no-hit innings on the mound to keep Bradley at bay.  Hug then made Bradley pay for intentionally walking Roberts in front of him with two outs in the eighth inning, as he crushed a towering three-run home run to right field to cap the scoring at 7-2.  Roberts then worked a scoreless ninth inning to seal the victory.
Blunt earned the victory on the mound in his final home appearance at UE, going a career-high 5.0 innings, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out six.  Roberts went 1-for-2 with a triple, a run scored, an RBI and a scoreless inning on the mound in his final home game at UE.  Borgstrom also went 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI in his final home appearance at UE.  Overall, Rumsey led Evansville’s offense by going 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored and two RBI.
Evansville honored Blunt, Roberts, Borgstrom, catcher Max Malley, and pitchers John MacCauley, Michael Parks and Tyler Denu in pre-game festivities prior to Sunday’s game on “Senior Day.â€
With the victory, Evansville improves to 31-20 overall and 13-11 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while Bradley falls to 15-30 and 6-18 in the MVC.  The Purple Aces remain in fourth place in the league standings, and will travel to Chicago, Illinois next weekend for a crucial Valley series with league-newcomer UIC, who is one game back of UE in the Valley standings.  But, prior to that, Evansville will travel to Bloomington, Indiana on Tuesday night to take on Indiana in a non-conference contest which can be seen live on the Big Ten Network.  Tuesday’s game will start at 5 p.m. central time and can be heard in the Tri-State area on 107.1 FM-WJPS and the Old National Bank/Purple Aces Sports Network from Learfield.
