On a day that saw the University of Evansville baseball team play their most complete game of the season, a ninth inning Creighton rally proved to be their undoing, as the Purple Aces fell 5-4 in Omaha, Saturday afternoon.
Head Coach Wes Carroll sent out junior left hand pitcher Alex Weigand to face the  Blue Jays, and with the exception of a home run off the bat of Will Robertson to lead off the second, Weigand delivered a solid performance on a blustery day at TD Ameritrade Park.
Down 1-0 in the fifth inning, the Aces played small ball to push the equalizer across, as junior Matthew Jones led off the inning getting hit by a pitch from Blue Jays starter Dunson Hall. Sophomore second baseman Craig Shepherd followed that up with a bunt single. Then, junior left fielder Nate Reeder delivered a picture perfect sacrifice bunt, moving both runners into scoring position. Junior shortstop Sam Troyer then came up clutch with a bunt single to third, scoring Jones, knotting the game at one.
After giving up a single to lead off the fifth inning, Weigand gave way to junior righty Austin Allinger. Weigand’s line for the day was a solid four innings pitched, giving up one run on two hits and two walks, while racking up a pair of strikeouts. Allinger would keep the Blue Jays off the scoreboard through four-plus innings of work.
Meanwhile, the Aces erupted to take the lead in the sixth inning, as sophomore left fielder Troy Beilsmith ripped a double to left, driving in Dalton Horstmeier, making it 2-1 UE. That would eventually chase Dunson Hall from the game. Later in the frame, Matt Jones sent a hot shot to third and the resulting single, brought in Beilsmith for the insurance tally, as Evansville led 3-1.
In the eighth inning, the Aces added more frosting as freshman pinch hitter Pete Vaccaro sent an RBI single to center, scoring Troy Beilsmith to give Evansville a 4-1 advantage.
That’s the way the game would stay until the final frame. A pair of walks, which sandwiched a strikeout sent Allinger to the showers, as he was relieved by Ryan Brady. The senior set-up man walked the bases full, then struck out Clark Brinkman, to put the Aces one out away from the victory.
However, a sharp comebacker, that hit Brady in the foot, allowed one Creighton run to come across, cutting the UE lead to 4-2. Brady would be forced from the game with an injury. Jimmy Ward would be pressed into service. The first better he faced, Michael Emodi tagged him for a bases clearing double to center, bringing in the tying and winning runs, as Evansville fell 5-4.
“Tough loss today”, University of Evansville head coach Wes Carroll said after the game. “We put ourselves in a position to win and couldn’t finish the deal. We need to attack tomorrow with the expectation to win.”
The loss drops the Purple Aces to 6-14 on the season. The Blue Jays improve to 15-6.
The third and final game of the series is set for tomorrow at 12 p.m. Central Time back at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha with freshman Jase Burke set to face off against Creighton junior hurler Mitch Ragan.
Joe Downs will have play-by-play coverage on 91.5 FM WUEV, beginning at 11:45 a.m.
