EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville baseball exploded for 20 total runs in two games on Saturday, and combined it with strong pitching to sweep a doubleheader from the visiting Bowling Green State Falcons at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.  UE won the opener 9-3 before cruising to an 11-0 run-rule victory in game two.
“What a great day for us at the yard today against a good team,†said UE head coach Wes Carroll.  “Our offense had a great approach and was able to put up some runs against two really good starters, and both Nick Smith and Tyler Denu set the tone on the mound for us with quality starts.
“We were able to stack a lot of quality at-bats together today and put up some crooked numbers, which was great to see.  We have a quick turnaround though, as we play an early doubleheader tomorrow, so we need to be ready to go.â€
After erupting for 14 runs on Wednesday in a mid-week victory at Southeast Missouri State, the Purple Aces continued the offensive momentum early on Saturday.  UE plated the first run of the game just three pitches into Saturday’s opener, as junior Kip Fougerousse led off with a double off the wall in right-center field and scored on an RBI single by fifth-year first baseman Chase Hug.  Four batters later, senior third baseman Brent Widder would come through with a two-out, two-run triple off of the glove of a lunging left-fielder to give UE an early 3-0 lead.
UE would add two more runs in the third inning and would take a 5-2 lead to the bottom of the fifth inning, before fifth-year outfielder Danny Borgstrom tripled off the literal top of the outfield fence in right field to score a run to push the lead to 6-2.  He would then score on a sacrifice fly by sophomore DH Ben Stuart to move the cushion to 7-2.
Evansville would tack on two more runs in the sixth inning, and that would be more than enough for UE’s game-one starter Nick Smith (1-2), who tossed a seven-inning complete-game victory while striking out a career-best 12.  Offensively, Hug, junior shortstop Simon Scherry and junior catcher Brendan Hord all had two-hit games, with Hug, Widder, Borgstrom and Stuart all driving in two runs each.
In the nightcap, UE starter Tyler Denu (1-0) struck out the side in the first inning to set the tone on the mound, and Fougerousse crushed the second pitch he saw as UE’s lead-off batter over 414 feet to right-center field to give Evansville a lead it would never lose.  Fougerousse finished the second game going 3-for-5 with three runs scored and an RBI.
After Fougerousse’s fourth home run of the year gave UE a 1-0 lead in the first inning, the Purple Aces would push the lead to 2-0 in the fourth inning on an RBI double by sophomore DH Evan Waggoner.  Evansville would then break things open in the fifth inning with four runs on back-to-back RBI singles by fifth-year outfielder Eric Roberts and Widder, who would both then come into score on a Bowling Green error.  UE then added five runs in the sixth inning to enact the mercy rule, and reliever Shane Harris worked a perfect seventh inning to close out the contest.
Denu earned the victory in game two for UE by tossing 5.0 scoreless innings of three-hit baseball, while striking out four.  Harris allowed just one base runner in two scoreless innings of relief work to close things out.
With the two victories on Saturday, Evansville (5-5) extended its winning streak to five-straight games.  Bowling Green, meanwhile, saw its overall record to 2-6.  The two teams will conclude the four-game series on Sunday, beginning at 11 a.m. at GAB Field.  Junior LHP Donovan Schultz (0-1, 8.00 ERA) and graduate RHP Jarrett Blunt (0-0, 2.45 ERA) are expected to start the two games for UE.
