An errant throw in the 11th inning created the opening that the University of Evansville baseball team was looking for as the Aces salvaged a split with visiting Illinois State at Charles H. Braun Stadium on Friday night.
The Aces, who dropped the first game 4-0 before rebounding with the 4-3 victory in the nightcap, improved to 24-16 on the season with a 7-4 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference. Meanwhile, the Redbirds will head into Saturday’s rubber game at 13-28 on the year with a 3-7 record in league play.
After dropping the first contest of the day, UE jumped on the visiting Redbirds in the opening stanza. Singles from Eric McKibban and Boomer Synek as well as a Korbin Williams walk loaded the bases for Josh Jyawook with two outs, and the senior out of Hoffman Estates, Ill., delivered, singling to center to score a pair. Jonathan Ramon followed up with a single of his own to cash in the third.
Both Synek and Jyawook would be the only Aces with multiple hits in the contest as each finished 2-for-6 at the plate.
Brandon Gomer, who got the nod on the mound for UE, was able to hold the visitors from Normal, Ill., scoreless in each of the first two innings, but the Redbirds mounted a two-out rally of their own in the third. Sean Beesley cut the deficit to one with a double to right center, but Gomer was able to ultimately negate the threat, getting Ryan Hutchinson to swing at strike three to end the inning.
Brent Jurceka, who proved effective for most of the night, was ultimately on the hook for allowing the tying score in the eighth as Jean Ramirez followed up a failed pickoff attempt from Synek with a single up the middle to level the game, and it would stay that way until the bottom of the 11th.
In that final inning, Trey Hair led off with a single to center, and he moved into scoring position after Korbin Williams was hit by a pitch. In the ensuing at-bat, Jyawook flied out to left, and in an attempt to catch Williams off the bag at first base, ISU shortstop Owen Miller overthrew his intended target, allowing Hair to touch home and bring the game to an end.
UE, which has yet to lose an MVC series this season, will play in a fourth consecutive series-deciding game three on Saturday, and first pitch is slated for 2 p.m.
NOTES: Friday marked the fourth walk-off victory of the season for the Aces … The team is now 2-1 this season in extra-innings games … UE will be aiming to win a fourth consecutive league series for the first time since the 2014 campaign … Since 1978, the Aces are 52-58 all-time against Illinois State … The first meeting between the two schools was a 1-1 tie in 1948 … Last season, the Aces took home two out of three in a series that was staged in Normal … UE won all three meetings by a combined 27-6 score in 2014, which was the previous trip to Evansville for the Redbirds.
