NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Evansville raced out to a quick lead behind strong starting pitching and timely hitting, then showed some fight, battling back before falling late to #2 Vanderbilt, 5-4, on a rainy Wednesday night in Nashville.

“Unfortunate that we didn’t win, but I feel like our guys competed for the top to bottom in our lineup”, said University of Evansville head coach Wes Carroll. “All of our pitchers made big pitches tonight. We’re a young team, that’s growing right in front of our eyes. I’m really proud of our effort tonight.”

Despite the lofty atmosphere, the Aces (1-3) came out swinging. In the top of the second inning, junior outfielder Troy Beilsmith led off the inning with a double down the left field line. Senior outfielder Nate Reeder followed that up with a double down the right-field line, scoring Beilsmith for the opening run of the game. Later in the frame, Sam Troyer delivered a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Reeder from third, giving Evansville a 2-0 lead.

Freshman starting pitcher Shane Gray delivered a pair of solid innings before being lifted on a staff day for fellow newcomer SamSteimel, who would get tagged for a home run by the Commodores Jayson Gonzalez in the third frame.  Vanderbilt would strike for two more in the off Steimel, taking a 3-2 lead. The freshman was then lifted and replaced by senior RHP Austin Allinger, who came in an put out a one-out, bases loaded fire without any more damage.

Vanderbilt would add to their pad in the fifth, but in the top of the next inning, UE rallied back. Freshman second baseman Danny Bergstrom came up clutch with an RBI single to left, scoring Troy Beilsmith. Then, junior shortstop Craig Shepherd bounced one to third, bringing in Nate Reeder, knotting the game at four.

However, the Commodores would tag UE reliever David Ellis for a one-out triple, then a wild pitch would allow the go-ahead to run totally. The Aces would threaten to knot it up several times lately, but couldn’t put the tying run across.

Up next for the UE baseball team is a rescheduled weekend series with Little Rock in Arkansas, beginning Sunday with a doubleheader. First pitch is at 1 pm Central Time.

FOOTNOTE:  INFO: For all of the latest information on University of Evansville baseball, log on to the sports page on GoPurpleAces.com or follow the program on Twitter via @UEAthleticsBASE.

UE falls by a 70-58 final in Chicago

 Marty Hill and John Hall recorded double figure outings, but Loyola shot over 69% in the first half and used the big start to finish with a 70-58 victory over the University of Evansville men’s basketball team on Wednesday night inside Gentile Arena.

Hill led the Aces (10-18, 4-11 MVC) with 18 points in an efficient 7-of-10 effort while knocking down four triples.  Hall posted 13 points while connecting on three triples.  Loyola (17-11, 10-5 MVC) saw three players reach double figures, led by Marques Townes, who scored 21.

“We came out in the second half and really fought, I’m very proud of our guys,” UE head coach Walter McCarty said.  “We are building this the right way.  If we continue to play defense the way we did in the second half, we could really turn this around.”

Loyola scorched the nets in the first half, shooting 69.6% overall while going 7-for-9 from outside to take 43-29 lead at halftime.  Evansville had a pair of early leads, but with the Aces up 4-3, Loyola took control, going up 8-4.  UE got back within a pair, but the Ramblers added seven in a row to go up 15-8 at the 12:26 mark.

The largest lead of the period for the Ramblers came with just over five minutes remaining when they found themselves up 32-18.  A Dainius Chatkevicius layup and a Marty Hill triple cut the deficit to nine before LUC pushed its lead back to 14 at the break.  Hill paced the Aces with 11 points in the opening stanza.

Evansville’s defense improved in the second half, but Loyola was able to add to its lead, opening up a 53-36 advantage with 12 minutes remaining.  Marty Hill continued his lights out shooting, drilling his fourth 3-pointer to cut the deficit back to 14.

After the Ramblers pushed their lead to 18 points, the Aces had one more run in them as the second John Hall triple of the night cut the LUC lead back to 12 (61-49) with five minutes remaining.  Hall’s third long ball got Evansville within 11 tallies with three minutes remaining before Hill banked one in from the free throw line a minute later to make it a 65-56 game.

That would be as close as UE would get as their tenacious comeback came up short with Loyola finishing with 70-58 win.  The Ramblers finished the night shooting 55.1% while UE was at 45.5%.

Another road game is on tap this weekend when the Aces travel to Bradley for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday.