The Purple Aces won their final game of the weekend in dramatic fashion
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – After leading for eight innings, the University of Evansville baseball team rallied back and won its final game against the Valparaiso Beacons 5-4 with a walk-off home run.
The Purple Aces led early but faced a similar situation as Saturday as Valparaiso battled back to tie the game in the top of the ninth. But UE learned from its second game of the series as the team won both the game and the series in the bottom of the ninth. Graduate catcher and pinch hitter Matt Flaherty (Lake Zurich, Ill. / Bellarmine) hit his first home run of the year to win the game for Evansville with two outs on the board in the 5-4 victory.
“It was a great series win at home,” said Head Coach Wes Carroll following the game. “Flaherty had a big swing of the bat to secure the series win for us. And [starting pitcher Owen] Byberg was outstanding giving us a chance in the rubber match. We need to take the momentum from this weekend and run with it.”
The Aces had a strong start to Sunday’s game as they took down the Beacons in order and scored a run in the first inning. Center fielder Ty Rumsey (Evansville, Ind. / North HS) scored on a wild pitch after getting on base with an error to give UE a 1-0 lead. Evansville had an almost identical second inning, starting with a three up and three down top and scoring one run in the bottom.
Rumsey recorded the Aces’ second hit of the game to score second baseman Drew McConnell (Blue Springs, Mo. / Blue Springs HS). McConnell moved around the bases in three at-bats as he got on base with a walk, moved to second on a balk, and was put on third by a flyout from right fielder Harrison Taubert (Casper, Wyo. / Northeast CC). UE followed the established formula in the third inning, facing the minimum batters in the top of the inning and scoring a run in the bottom.
Starting pitcher Owen Byberg (Barrie, Ontario) had a strikeout in every inning while adding two in the third for four strikeouts in only 33 pitches. While in the bottom of the third after a video review, Taubert connected on his fifth long ball of the season out to left center. The solo home run from the right fielder was the third of the series for Evansville after one in both Friday and Saturday’s games.
Valparaiso had its first hit of the game in the top of the fourth, but the Aces took the next two batters down in order to go back on offense. UE had its first empty inning in the bottom of the fourth as all three batters had putouts in the field. Evansville’s offense stayed quiet for three innings while the Beacons’ bats began to get going.
It was déjà vu for the Aces after the fifth inning as Valpo began to score in the back half of the game. The Beacons added a run in the sixth and seventh innings to make it a one-run game. UE was able to get back a run in the bottom of the seventh as third baseman Drew Howard (Ferdinand, Ind. / Forest Park HS) led off with a triple to right center. Howard then scored right after as Rumsey picked up his second RBI with a sacrifice fly.
But Valparaiso answered right back with a solo home run to lead off the eighth and again make it a one-run game. Evansville didn’t add an insurance run in the bottom of the inning as catcher Kaleb Wilkey (Manhattan, Ill. / Lincoln-Way West HS) was stranded at second after hitting a double just past the shortstop. The Beacons tied the game up in the top of the ninth as they strung together a single and a double for their fourth run.
After the tying run scored, the Aces were able to strand Valpo’s go-ahead run with a strikeout from reliever Parker MacCauley (Paducah, Ky. / Tennessee Tech) and a ground out to McConnell. UE needed a run as they returned to offense to avoid its third extra innings game of the season.
Evansville’s first two batters in the ninth recorded outs, bringing the ninth down to Flaherty’s at-bat. Flaherty did not start on Sunday but instead entered as a pinch hitter after shortstop Brodie Peart (Markham, Ontario) pitched in the eighth inning. The graduate player faced two pitches before he connected on a bomb past the left-field fence to win the game for the Aces. It was Flaherty’s first home run of the season, UE’s second of the game, and Evansville’s fourth of the weekend.
First baseman Cal McGinnis (Kimberly, Wis. / Bradley) was the only Aces player with multiple hits on Sunday in front of his high school team, who were in town to watch UE while playing local baseball teams over spring break. Seven other Evansville batters recorded a hit, while Rumsey had two RBIs. On the mound MacCauley earned his first victory in an Aces uniform as he pitched 1.0 inning with a strikeout, no walks, and two hits. Byberg had the longest outing for UE at 5.2 innings, allowing only four hits and one run while striking out six batters and allowing a single walk.
Evansville hosts one more team at The Braun in its first homestand of the season. The Aces play the second game of their home-and-home series with Southeast Missouri on Tuesday evening. UE welcomes SEMO to the River City for a 6 p.m. first pitch on Tuesday, April 1.
