The Purple Aces out-hit the Bears on Friday night
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The University of Evansville baseball team played a close game with the Missouri State Bears but ultimately fell in its first game of the weekend 6-4.
An explosive fifth inning and a career-high from two Purple Aces players weren’t enough to give UE a Friday night win at Hammons Field. Evansville’s offense had 12 hits to lead the game, bouncing back from a tough midweek matchup at Western Kentucky on Tuesday. Junior infielder Drew Howard (Ferdinand, Ind. / Forest Park HS) tied his career-high with three hits to lead the Aces at the plate on Friday night. While starting pitcher Kenton Deverman (Dardenne Prairie, Mo. / Fort Zumwalt West HS) set a new career-high in strikeouts, taking down 10 batters for the UE defense.
“That’s a tough one to lose to open up the weekend,” said Head Coach Wes Carroll following the game. “There were a couple of close plays that didn’t go our way, as we had great efforts on the mound from Deverman and [reliever Max] Hansmann. The effort and energy were there, but it was not enough to get the win.”
Evansville’s bats got going early at Hammons Field as infielder Cal McGinnis (Kimberly, Wis. / Bradley) had the first hit of the game. But the Aces weren’t able to bring runners home early on Friday night as they stranded five in the first three innings. Meanwhile, Missouri State took an early 3-0 lead with two hits and a run in the first inning and a two-run homer in the second.
Deverman locked in on the mound for UE, striking out at least two batters in three of the next four innings. Deverman’s performance on the mound helped Evansville blank the Bears for back-to-back innings in the third and fourth. The Aces offense then exploded in the top of the fifth, batting through the entire order to take their only lead of the night.
Howard began the inning with his second single of the game to be the first of four straight UE hits. Evansville broke the shutout on a two-RBI single through the right side from outfielder Charlie Longmeier in the third at-bat of the fifth. McGinnis also got aboard with the Aces’ fourth hit in a row for his second hit of the game.
UE’s next two batters struck out, but Evansville was able to score with two outs on the board. Designated hitter Brodie Peart (Markham, Ontario) put a single into left, scoring Longmeier for the tying run. Peart’s single was followed by a double from first baseman Jake McGhee (Fenton, Mo. / Christian Brothers Academy) to give the Aces a 5-4 lead going into the bottom of the inning.
The lead didn’t last long for UE, as back-to-back singles to begin the fifth for Missouri State became a tying sacrifice fly. Evansville’s defense turned its 26th double play of the season to get out of the inning with the game knotted up at four runs apiece. Howard picked up his third single to open the sixth inning but was picked off at first in the next at-bat. The Aces weren’t able to get another runner aboard in either the sixth or the seventh innings.
Deverman had his best inning on the mound in the bottom of the sixth. He struck out the side, taking all three Bears batters down in order with only 14 pitches. The final out of the sixth inning for Deverman was his 10th of the game, a new career-high for the sophomore lefty. Deverman is the first UE pitcher to record 10 strikeouts in a game since Tyler Denu in 2023, also at Missouri State.
The bottom of the seventh inning began with two straight outs to right fielder Harrison Taubert (Casper, Wyo. / Northeast CC), looking to be similar to the sixth. But a double to the right corner followed by a long single to right put the Bears back in front on a close play. Evansville almost got the out at home on the fifth run, but a video review determined the tag was just behind the runner’s hand touching home plate.
Missouri State was able to add one more run in the seventh with its third hit of the inning and an error at first base. The Aces were able to get out of the inning with an infield ground out, facing a two-run deficit with only two innings left. McGhee hit his second hit of the night in the top of the eighth to take first base. But he would be the last base runner for UE as Evansville didn’t have another hit in the 6-4 loss.
Four Aces had multiple hits on the night to give UE 12 total hits in the game. Howard had three hits for the first time since February, while Longmeier, McGinnis, and McGhee had two each. Longmeier was the only batter with two RBIs while catcher Matt Flaherty (Lake Zurich, Ill. / Bellarmine) led Evansville in the field with 12 putouts.
The Aces will look to even the series on Saturday afternoon in Hammons Field. First pitch for the second game of the weekend against Missouri State is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 26.
