EVANSVILLE, Ind. –  A ninth-inning rally fell short on Tuesday night, as the University of Evansville baseball team dropped a 6-2 decision to the homestanding Indiana Hoosiers at Bart Kaufman Field in Bloomington, Indiana.
“A tough one tonight,†said UE head coach Wes Carroll.  “I thought that our pitching gave us a really good chance tonight against a very good Indiana lineup, but we just couldn’t get that key base hit that we needed to unlock a big inning.
“It was really special to see the game that Eric Roberts had though, as it was great to see him go up top twice and close to within one home run of the single-season record.
“We have to put this one behind us though, as we have a very important series this weekend at UIC.â€
Trailing 6-2 going into the top of the ninth inning, the Purple Aces got a hit-by-pitch and a walk from Roberts to put two men on with two out.  With former Indiana Hoosier Kip Fougerousse in the on-deck circle representing the game-tying run, Indiana right-hander Luke Hayden was able to strike out UE fifth-year first baseman Chase Hug to close out the contest and preserve the win for IU.
The Hoosiers’ victory overshadowed a monster game by Roberts, who went 3-for-4 with two home runs to drive in both of Evansville’s runs.  Roberts opened the game with a lead-off single, but was later picked off first base to end a scoreless first inning.  He then launched a solo home run over the old bullpen area in right field for his 18th home run of the year – a solo shot – in the top of the third inning to get UE back within a run at 2-1, after the Hoosiers rallied for two two-out runs in the bottom of the second inning.  Roberts then crushed a solo home run in the seventh inning over 430 feet to right field for home run No. 19 of the year to close to within one home run of the UE single-season record of 20.
Roberts went 3-for-4 to lead UE, while junior shortstop Simon Scherry had two hits as well.  Evansville had seven hits on the night, but went 0-for-14 with runners on base in the contest.
With the victory, Indiana extends its winning streak to eight games and improves to 39-14 overall, while Evansville slips to 31-21 overall.  The Purple Aces will continue north to Chicago now to open a crucial three-game Missouri Valley Conference series at UIC (26-21, 12-12 MVC) beginning on Thursday night at 6 p.m.  The winner of the three-game series is guaranteed to finish in the top four of the MVC, and will earn a first-day bye in next week’s MVC Tournament in Terre Haute, Indiana.  Thursday night’s game can be seen live on ESPN+ and heard live in the Tri-State area on 107.1 FM-WJPS and the Old National Bank/Purple Aces Sports Network from Learfield.
