EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville baseball team rallied for a run in the bottom of the ninth inning, and then rallied again for three more in the tenth to rally past the visiting Southern Illinois Salukis, 11-10, at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.
“What a gritty win by our ballclub today,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll. “We found a way to win today, and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.
“I was really proud of the fight that we showed today, especially in the ninth and the tenth innings. Evan Waggoner did a great job of getting a job done in the ninth with the sacrifice fly, and then after they scored two in the tenth inning, Mark Shallenberger and Kevin McCormick stepped up big time to help get us this win. We had a lot of different guys step up today, and hopefully, a win like this will be a spark to get us going again!”
Evansville jumped out early to a 7-1 lead, as the Purple Aces got a run in the second inning on an RBI single by junior outfielder Harrison Taubert before exploding for six runs in the second inning. After senior designated hitter Kip Fougerousse brought home the first run with a run-scoring fielder’s choice, graduate first baseman Chase Hug followed two batters later with a two-run double to left-center field to give UE a 4-1 lead.
Freshman second baseman Brodie Peart then scored Hug from second base two batters later with an RBI single up the middle to move the score to 5-1. Graduate catcher Brendan Hord then knocked a two-run double into the left-field corner to give UE a 7-1 cushion.
UE graduate starter Donovan Schultz would keep things at 7-1 until the fifth inning, when SIU started to chip away at the UE lead. The Salukis scored single runs in both the fifth and sixth innings, before getting three more in the seventh inning to crawl back within a run at 7-6 and chase Schultz from the game.
SIU pinch-hitter Justin Keuss tied the game at 7-7 in the eighth inning with a bad-hop double to left field. Then, the Salukis got a two-out RBI single by outfielder Mathieu Vallee in the ninth inning to take an 8-7 lead. SIU would load the bases in the ninth inning, but UE reliever Jakob Meyer got out of the jam with a strikeout.
Evansville was able to put the lead-off batter on base in the ninth inning, as graduate third baseman Brent Widder was hit by a pitch. After a one-out Simon Scherry single through the right side put men on the corners for UE, junior Evan Waggoner delivered a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to left field to score Widder and tie the game at 8-8. Evansville threatened to win the game in the ninth inning, but junior pinch-hitter Cal McGinnis lined out to right field with two men on base to end the threat.
In the tenth, SIU catcher Cole Christman launched a solo home run with two-outs to give the Salukis a 9-8 lead. A walk, a single and a run-scoring wild pitch would plate SIU’s second run, but UE was not done yet.
After a lead-off walk by junior outfielder Ty Rumsey, Shallenberger crushed a two-run home run to right-center field to tie the game at 10-10. Back-to-back hit-by-pitches then put two men on base with no one out. Redshirt sophomore Kevin McCormick then came to the plate as a pinch-hitter, and originally showed bunt, but pulled the bat back and slashed a ground ball through the left side of the infield and into left field for a base hit. Fougerousse was able to easily come around to score on the play, as Evansville earned the series victory.
Taubert led UE offensively by going 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI. Shallenberger, Scherry, Peart, and Hord all had two-hit days as well for UE.
With the victory, Evansville improves to 11-16 overall and 2-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference. SIU, meanwhile, falls to 18-10 overall and 4-2 in the Valley with the loss. Evansville is now off until Tuesday night when the Purple Aces host Austin Peay at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium at 6:05 p.m. Tuesday’s game can be heard live in the Tri-State area on 107.1 FM-WJPS.
