Aces set for three games against top 10 opponents

 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Off to its first 5-0 start in at least 20 years, the University of Evansville softball team will play some of the top competition in the nation this weekend as the Purple Aces head to the Easton Bama Bash.  UE will face #2 Alabama in a single game while taking on #8 Virginia Tech and Middle Tennessee State in two games apiece.  Friday’s contest against the Crimson Tide will be televised on the SEC Network+.

 Last Time Out

– Opening the 2022 campaign at the Best on the Bayou Classic on Monroe, Louisiana, the Aces reeled off five victories to open the year with some momentum

– After taking down defending Southland Conference regular season champion Stephen F. Austin by a 5-0 final in the opener last Friday, UE completed the day with a 4-0 win over Morehead State in nine innings

– Saturday’s action featured a come-from-behind 9-8 win over Southern before a no-hitter from Izzy Vetter highlighted a 14-0 triumph over Mississippi Valley State

– In the finale against SIU Edwardsville, the Aces capped off the weekend with an 11-3 win

1. CARMEL, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazers led most of their game Wednesday night at Wabash Valley, looking to pick up a big road win to help boost the Blazers position in the Region 24 standings.

The Warriors were aided by a 16-3 scoring run to help push Wabash Valley ahead with five minutes to play as WVC came away with the 66-59 win over Vincennes.

Vincennes again got off to a slow start and quickly fell behind with a couple of early Wabash Valley baskets before the Trailblazers rallied back with a 13-0 run to jump out to a 10 point lead midway through the first half.

Wabash Valley would rally back with a 13-3 run of their own to even the score at 22-all before Vincennes closed out the first half with a 10-2 scoring run to take an eight point lead into the break.

The Trailblazers put a stamp on a hard fought first half when freshman Thow James Biel (Calgary, Alberta) raced down the floor to send home a dunk at the buzzer to give the Blazers a 32-24 at the half.

Freshman Darrius Davis (Pittsburgh, Pa.) helped kick start the Trailblazer offense in the first period, scoring 16 points in the opening period.

Vincennes looked to keep Wabash Valley at arm’s length throughout most of the second half, with the Blazers responding with a scoring run every time the Warriors started to get close.

The Wabash Valley crowd started to pick up and cheer on their home team late as the Warriors battled all the way back from down 10 in the second half to take a 54-53 lead with just over five minutes to play.

Vincennes would look to respond but could never regain the lead as the Warriors closed out the game with a 12-6 run to win 66-59 over the Blazers.

UE returns home Saturday to face Valparaiso

 

DES MOINES, Iowa – Blake Sisley and Blaise Beauchamp reached double figures for the University of Evansville men’s basketball team on Wednesday evening in a 73-51 road loss to Drake inside the Knapp Center.

Sisdley led the Purple Aces (6-19, 2-12 MVC) with 14 points.  He hit six field goals, including two triples.  Beauchamp reached double figures for the third game in a row, scoring 12 points with four of his six triples finding the bottom of the net.  Preston Phillips and Shamar Givance paced UE with seven boards while Evan Kuhlman registered a team-high three assists.  The Bulldogs (18-9, 9-5 MVC) had four players score in double digits, led by Tucker DeVries’ 16-point game.  Shanquan Hemphill completed the game with 14.

Drake hit its first six attempts of the game on the way to a 13-3 lead.  Blaise Beauchamp got UE on the board with a triple to cut an early 6-0 deficit in half, but the Bulldogs continued to shoot lights out.  A 9-of-10 start to the game saw the Bulldogs add to the lead even more, going up 19-3.

Following a 1-of-7 start by the Aces, Gage Bobe drove to the basket and connected on UE’s second field goal of the game.  The momentum did not last as Drake continued to shoot at an unbelievable rate, taking a 28-7 with 8:51 remaining in the half.  Preston Phillips knocked down his first three attempts of the game and helped UE cut the gap to 28-11 with 7:34 left in the half, forcing a Bulldogs time out.

Over the final stretch, Drake rebounded to outscore the Aces by a 19-4 margin to go into halftime with a 47-15 lead.  The Bulldogs shot 73.3% (22/30) in the opening stanza.  The lead continued to grow in the second half with a 7-2 stretch for DU making it a 54-17 game in the opening moments.  At the 11:52 mark, Drake took its largest lead at 63-25.

Evansville countered with a 13-2 stretch that included triples by Evan Kuhlman and Blake Sisley that cut into the DU advantage.  Evansville never gave up and cut even further into the gap, finishing with the 73-51 defeat.  After trailing by its largest deficit, UE completed the game outscoring Drake by a 26-10 margin.

This weekend, UE returns to the Ford Center for a 1 p.m. game against Valparaiso on Saturday.