Falling  behind early, the University of Evansville baseball team demonstrated late inning grit, rallying from four runs down in the final frame, only to come up painfully short in their season opener, losing to Mercer University, 5-4, in Macon, Georgia Friday night.

Trailing 5-1 in the top of the ninth, freshman designated hitter A.J. Fritz got the ball rolling with a one out single. Sophomore pinch hitter Pete Vaccaro followed that up with a single to center, and would be replaced on the base paths by senior pinch runner Matt Jones. Then, freshman second baseman Danny Borgstrom drilled a double to the gap in left-center, driving in Fritz, cutting the deficit to three runs. After pinch hitter Ben Komonosky drew a walk, senior third baseman Sam Troyer drew a bases loaded free pass, scoring Jones, drawing the Aces within two runs. Next, junior outfielder Kenton Crews would get hit by a pitch, bringing in Matt Jones, putting Evansville with one, with bases still loaded. Mercer would change pitchers, and senior right-hander Kevin Coulter would come in and strike out junior outfielder Troy Beilsmith and sophomore first baseman Evan Aders, ending the game.

“Proud of the fight tonight”, said University of Evansville baseball head coach Wes Carroll. “We just couldn’t get the big hit. Look forward to getting to the yard tomorrow to compete against a great opponent.”

The Aces fell in a big hole early, as the Bears struck for four runs in the first two innings. However, junior starting pitcher Adam Lukas (0-1) recovered quickly, tossing a pair straight scoreless frames.

Meanwhile, junior shortstop Craig Shepherd got Evansville on the board in the fourth inning, on an RBI single to short, tallying senior outfielder Nate Reeder, cutting the Mercer lead to 4-1.

Lukas would open the fifth inning on the hill, but his night would end there, as  Kel Johnson greeted him with a lead-off home run, increasing the Bears lead to 5-1. Lukas, who finished with five strikeouts, would give way to junior Jake McMahill, who would come up clutch in relief, tossing three innings of one-hit shutout work, keeping the Aces within striking distance. McMahill would rack up four strikeouts in the process.

Freshman hurler Michael Parks would keep it a four run game, taking over for McMahill in the eighth frame, striking out a pair in a perfect inning of work.

The University of Evansville baseball team is back in action Saturday afternoon back at OrthoGeorgia Park for game two of the three game season opening series. Carroll will send out junior left-hander Nathan Croner to make his first start of the season. First pitch from Macon, Georgia is at 1 p.m. Central Time.

Evansville picks up two wins over Jaguars

 Stellar pitching and timely hitting helped the University of Evansville softball team pick up a pair of wins over Southern University on Friday.

The Purple Aces picked up a 3-1 victory in Friday’s opener before finishing the night with a 5-4 win.

“We got two tremendous pitching performances from our starting pitchers today,” UE head softball coach Mat Mundell said. “We were also able to get big hits when we needed them.  I love the way we played defense; our team is really starting to come together.”

Freshman Izzy Vetter was the star in the first game, tossing a complete game 5-hitter.  She struck out nine batters in the game.  UE had seven hits with Lindsay Renneisen and Katie McLean posting two apiece.

Southern opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the third before UE got on the board in the top of the fifth with some 2-out magic.  McLean reached on a single before Eryn Gould hit her second home run of the season to give the Aces a 2-1 lead.  In the next inning, Allison Daggett gave UE another insurance run when her single scored Renneisen, who singled to lead off the frame.

The Jaguars put their first two runners on in the bottom half of the sixth, but Vetter escaped without any damage and clinched the game with her ninth strikeout in the seventh.

Senior Emily Lockhart made the start in game two and had one of the best outings of her career.  Over six innings, she fanned 10 batters while allowing just one run on three hits.  Ashleigh Downing pitched the final frame.

UE’s offense got on the board with a single run in the third.  Alex Latoria reached on an error before Daggett notched a bunt single.  With two outs, Eryn Gould and Bailee Bostic drew consecutive walks with Bostic’s bringing home Olivia Cheatham, who pinch ran for Latoria.

Lindsay Renneisen helped the Aces extend their lead in the fifth.  Mackenzie McFeron and Gould each reached via Jaguar errors.  McFeron crossed the plate when Gould reached base.  After Bostic walked for the second time, Renneisen came to the plate and connected on a home run to center field to cap off a 4-run inning.

In the bottom of the sixth, Southern got on the board and made it interesting in the seventh, scoring three times, but Downing was able to close the game out and help UE sweep the doubleheader.

Tomorrow, the squads are back on the field for another doubleheader with game times set for 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.