Despite falling behind early, the University of Evansville baseball team rode another strong performance from junior starting pitcher Adam Lukas and clutch hitting late, to rally past Dallas Baptist in the series opener at Charles H. Braun Stadium Friday night.
After falling behind 3-0 early, the Aces bats ignited in the bottom of the third inning, with junior right fielder Troy Beilsmith launching a two-run home run to left. Beilsmith’s third roundtripper of the season cut the Patriots’ lead down to one.
Lukas recovered from a rocky start to strike out seven, while allowing three runs on six hits, exiting after seven innings of work.
In the bottom of the seventh, the UE offense would erupt against, when senior center fielder Nate Reeder, with two runners aboard, lifted a two-run double down the left field line, scoring both junior shortstop Craig Shepherd and senior third baseman Sam Troyer, giving Evansville the lead, 4-3.
Freshman left-hand reliever Michael Parks would take over from Lucas in the eighth, tossing a scoreless inning, keeping the Aces out in front.
Still clinging to a one-run lead in the bottom of the frame, Evansville would get some much-needed insurance, loading up the bases, then Craig Shepherd drew a walk, bringing in senior left fielder Matthew Jones, making it 5-3 UE. Next, a wild pitch would push across junior Ben Komonosky to extend the Evansville lead 6-3. Junior first baseman Tanner Craig would follow that up with an RBI single to left, tallying SamTroyer, pushing the Aces lead to 7-3. Finally, Nate Reeder’s hot shot to first managed to bring home Craig Shepherd, capping the five-run frame.
Parks would come out to shutout Dallas Baptist in the ninth, securing the win and the save, his fourth of the season. Lukas got the win, improving his record on the season to 4-2.
The win moves Evansville to 16-9 on the season and 4-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play, while Dallas Baptist falls to 21-8 and 3-1 in conference play.
