EVANSVILLE, Ind. –  The University of Evansville baseball team exploded for 13 runs on Friday night, and junior starter Nick Smith posted another quality start on the mound, as the Purple Aces cruised to a 13-3 victory over the homestanding Illinois State Redbirds at Duffy Bass Field in Normal, Illinois.
“Another great win on a Friday night to start a Valley weekend tonight,†said UE head coach Wes Carroll.  “I thought that we played well in all three areas.  So, the challenge is to put together three games in a row like this, unlike last weekend.
“It is important to show that we can perform like this multiple days in a row as we get closer to the conference tournament.â€
Graduate third baseman Eric Roberts set the tone for the evening with a lead-off inside-the-park home run to right field to give UE an early 1-0 lead.  The Purple Aces then exploded for five runs in the second inning, highlighted by a grand slam by fifth-year first baseman Chase Hug to push the lead to 6-0.
Illinois State would plate two runs against Smith in the third inning, but the Purple Aces would respond immediately with two runs in the top of the fourth inning on a two-run single by Hug to retake a six-run lead, 8-2.  Smith (4-3) then locked in and retired the next 11 batters in order on the mound, before finishing his night allowing three runs on five hits in seven innings of work to pick up the victory.
Evansville added to its lead in the fifth inning with an RBI double by sophomore outfielder Ty Rumsey and an RBI single by Roberts.  Junior second baseman Kip Fougerousse then added an RBI single to left field in the eighth inning to move the lead to 11-3, before fifth-year outfielder Danny Borgstrom capped the scoring with a two-run double down the right-field line in the ninth inning to provide the final margin of victory.
Roberts finished a triple shy of the cycle by going 3-for-6 with the inside-the-park home run and two RBI.  Fougerousse also added three hits and an RBI, while Hug, Rumsey and junior designated hitter Brendan Hord all had two-hit efforts.  Hug added a career-high six RBI.
With the victory, Evansville improves to 27-18 overall and 10-9 in the Missouri Valley Conference.  Illinois State, meanwhile, falls to 17-25 and 6-13 in the Valley with the loss.  The two teams will continue the series on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. with a contest that 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.  Junior LHP Donovan Schultz (5-3, 4.02 ERA) is expected to get the start for UE.
