Late rally sends Evansville past Bradley on special day for the program

EVANSVILLE – On the day that the Aces retired the #23 worn by Jamey Carroll, the University of Evansville baseball team earned its 23rd win of the season, an 8-7 come-from-behind victory over Bradley on Saturday afternoon at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.

“Great to get the series win on Saturday. It was a back-and-forth game, but we were able to have a big offensive inning,” said Aces head baseball coach Wes Carroll. “The bottom of our order gave us quality at bats and delivered. Drew Dominik followed up Nick (Smith) well on the mound. but Shane Harris made the big pitches to close it out. It was just an overall great day for Aces Baseball as we celebrated Jamey Carroll’s number retirement and we got a series win.”

A pregame ceremony honored UE Hall of Famer and Aces baseball alum Jamey Carroll (1994-96), who was presented with a commemorative sign and had his number displayed on the right center field wall before delivering a speech to the 657 fans in attendance Saturday afternoon.

On the field, Nick Smith started, spending 5.2 innings on the mound, allowing five earned runs and firing five strikeouts. Redshirt senior Drew Dominik earned the win, coming on in relief for 2.2 innings of scoreless work and striking-out a pair. To close out the game and hold off the Braves, Redshirt sophomore Shane Harris recorded two outs with just six pitches, inducing a double play to end the game and earn his first career save.

At the plate, a balanced effort up and down the lineup saw eight Aces record a hit with Simon Scherry continuing his run of strong form, going two-for-four with an RBI. The eight and nine batters in the lineup, Brendan Hord and Chase Hug were the key to the win, recording a pair of RBI each.

Evansville got off to a quick start in the bottom of the first with solo home runs off the bats of Tanner Craig and Scherry for a 2-0 lead. In the second, Bradley answered with a run on an RBI groundout, but the Aces responded as Danny Borgstrom doubled down the right field line to retake a 3-1 lead.

Both teams’ bats went silent in the third and fourth innings, but Connor O’Brien tied the game for the Braves in the fifth with a two-run base hit to left that knotted the game at three. An inning later, Bradley took its first lead of the game with two home runs, a solo shot by Connor Manthey and a two-run homer from Cal McGinnis that lifted the Braves to a 6-3 advantage.

The Aces would immediately respond in the bottom half of the sixth with doubles from Eric Roberts and Hord and a two-run single from Hug that catapulted Evansville back in front, 8-6.

Bradley threatened in the ninth, pushing a run across with one out on a single by O’Brien. With the bases loaded, Evansville brought in Harris, who faced Peter Hansen and on a 2-2 count got Hansen to ground into a 5-3 double play to end the game.

Evansville and Bradley wrap-up their three-game series on Sunday with a 1 PM first pitch at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.