GREENVILLE, N.C. – The University of Evansville baseball team exploded for 17 runs on Saturday, powered by four home runs, as the Purple Aces advanced to the Regional Final of the 2024 Greenville (N.C.) Regional with a 17-11 victory over third-seeded VCU at Clark-LeClair Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina.
“Another great performance tonight by our ballclub,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll. “I thought that up and down our lineup, our guys were locked in tonight from the start, and Donovan Schultz did a great job of shutting VCU down early and giving everything that he had tonight on the mound for us.
“We have now put ourselves into a very special position, but the job is not done yet. We need to come to the park tomorrow with the same kind of mentality offensively, and we need to be ready for a battle, no matter who we face.”
Evansville jumped out early with three runs in the second inning on back-to-back RBI singles by senior shortstop Simon Scherry and graduate outfielder Mark Shallenberger, and a sacrifice fly by senior designated hitter Kip Fougerousse. The Purple Aces then tacked on three more runs two innings later on a run-scoring wild pitch and a laser two-run home run by graduate first baseman Chase Hug to take a 6-0 lead.
Evansville then exploded for seven runs in the fifth inning to grab a 13-0 lead, highlighted by a grand slam by graduate third baseman Brent Widder and a towering two-run home run by junior second baseman Cal McGinnis. After VCU used a pair of home runs to trim the deficit to 13-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning, UE immediately responded with two more runs in the sixth inning on an RBI single by Shallenberger and a run-scoring double-play ground ball to take a 15-3 lead.
VCU would not go away, scoring two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and five more in the seventh to cut UE’s lead to 15-10. Fougerousse would stop the bleeding for UE with a long two-run home run to center field in the top of the eighth inning to give UE a 17-10 cushion. VCU would score a run in the ninth inning, but would get no closer, as UE advanced to the Regional Final for the second time in school history (2006).
Shallenberger went 4-for-5 with a double and two runs scored to help lead a 16-hit UE attack. Scherry and Fougerousse both had three-hit performances for UE as well, while McGinnis went 2-for-5.
Graduate left-hander Donovan Schultz (6-2) earned the victory by scattering five runs on seven hits in 6.0 innings of work, striking out five in a career-best 114 pitches.
Evansville will now await the winner of tomorrow’s elimination game between top-seeded and host East Carolina and VCU, which is set for 11 a.m. central time on Sunday. The Purple Aces will face the winner of that game on Sunday night at 5 p.m. central time in the Regional Final round. Sunday’s UE game can be heard live in the Tri-State area on 107.1 FM-WJPS and seen live on ESPN+.
GREENVILLE, N.C. – The University of Evansville baseball team exploded for 17 runs on Saturday, powered by four home runs, as the Purple Aces advanced to the Regional Final of the 2024 Greenville (N.C.) Regional with a 17-11 victory over third-seeded VCU at Clark-LeClair Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina.
“Another great performance tonight by our ballclub,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll. “I thought that up and down our lineup, our guys were locked in tonight from the start, and Donovan Schultz did a great job of shutting VCU down early and giving everything that he had tonight on the mound for us.
“We have now put ourselves into a very special position, but the job is not done yet. We need to come to the park tomorrow with the same kind of mentality offensively, and we need to be ready for a battle, no matter who we face.”
Evansville jumped out early with three runs in the second inning on back-to-back RBI singles by senior shortstop Simon Scherry and graduate outfielder Mark Shallenberger, and a sacrifice fly by senior designated hitter Kip Fougerousse. The Purple Aces then tacked on three more runs two innings later on a run-scoring wild pitch and a laser two-run home run by graduate first baseman Chase Hug to take a 6-0 lead.
Evansville then exploded for seven runs in the fifth inning to grab a 13-0 lead, highlighted by a grand slam by graduate third baseman Brent Widder and a towering two-run home run by junior second baseman Cal McGinnis. After VCU used a pair of home runs to trim the deficit to 13-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning, UE immediately responded with two more runs in the sixth inning on an RBI single by Shallenberger and a run-scoring double-play ground ball to take a 15-3 lead.
VCU would not go away, scoring two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and five more in the seventh to cut UE’s lead to 15-10. Fougerousse would stop the bleeding for UE with a long two-run home run to center field in the top of the eighth inning to give UE a 17-10 cushion. VCU would score a run in the ninth inning, but would get no closer, as UE advanced to the Regional Final for the second time in school history (2006).
Shallenberger went 4-for-5 with a double and two runs scored to help lead a 16-hit UE attack. Scherry and Fougerousse both had three-hit performances for UE as well, while McGinnis went 2-for-5.
Graduate left-hander Donovan Schultz (6-2) earned the victory by scattering five runs on seven hits in 6.0 innings of work, striking out five in a career-best 114 pitches.
Evansville will now await the winner of tomorrow’s elimination game between top-seeded and host East Carolina and VCU, which is set for 11 a.m. central time on Sunday. The Purple Aces will face the winner of that game on Sunday night at 5 p.m. central time in the Regional Final round. Sunday’s UE game can be heard live in the Tri-State area on 107.1 FM-WJPS and seen live on ESPN+.
