ONB announces massive commitment to UE

Old National Bank and the University of Evansville have enjoyed a long and successful relationship.  The partnership reaches a new level with the formation of the Walter McCarty Leadership Academy powered by Old National Bank.

The academy is an initiative that will benefit the Evansville community in many ways.  The primary goal of the academy is to develop leadership skills and provide growth opportunities through unique experiences for the participants and their families.

One of those experiences will be through the ONB Community Section.  For each men’s and women’s basketball home game, 50 complimentary seats behind the visitor’s bench will be given out through the academy.  It will provide those in attendance with the chance to enjoy the game from a premium section while also being able to share the experience with Purple Aces head coaches Walter McCarty and Matt Ruffing following each home game.

“Old National is happy to serve as a University of Evansville partner and truly honored to bring the vision of the Walter McCarty Leadership Academy to life – supporting our community’s greatest asset, our youth,” said Old National Region CEO Sara Miller. “Through educational programming and unique experiences focused on leadership and life skills development, we hope to create, strengthen and empower the next generation of leaders.”

Being a native of Evansville, the opportunity to give back his home town is very meaningful to McCarty.

“It is an honor to team up with Old National Bank to form the Walter McCarty Leadership Academy,” McCarty said.  “This is a way for us to really give back to the community while having a positive impact on the lives of the youth in our town.”

“I am very excited about the formation of the ONB Community Section.  Being located behind the visitor’s bench, this group has a chance to make a difference during the game and provide a great advantage for our team,” McCarty continued.

The continued partnership between Old National Bank and UE is not limited to just the academy.  Beginning in 2018, for every 3-pointer made by the Aces men’s and women’s squads, Old National Bank will donate $3 to the academy.  This venture will be called the “ONB Three”.

ONB is also set to become the presenting sponsor of the Purple Aces Radio Network.  In what will be called the “Old National Bank Radio Network”, the newly-established partnership will see UE men’s basketball games broadcasted on five affiliates in the area.  The flagship station will be 107.1 WJPS in Evansville while WAOV 1450/97.7/97.3 in Vincennes, WRCY 1590/106.7 in Mt. Vernon, WROY 1460/92.1 in Carmi, Illinois and WYFX 106.7 in Evansville will also carry broadcasts.

“We are very excited about the commitment that Old National Bank has made to the University of Evansville and our athletic programs,” UE President Chris Pietruszkiewicz explained.  “This relationship impacts our entire university and we are honored to have Old National Bank set the precedent for how our university is represented on and off the court.”

This relationship will be managed by Learfield’s Purple Aces Sports Properties, the university’s athletic multimedia rights holder.

Five current Indiana University swimmers along with five postgraduate swimmers will compete in the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo this week.

The event will run from Thursday, August 9 through Tuesday, August 14 at the Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center.

The current Indiana swimmers competing will be Lilly King (USA), Michael Brinegar (USA), Zach Apple (USA), Vini Lanza (Brazil) and Gabriel Fantoni (Brazil). The IU postgrads are Zane Grothe, Blake Pieroni and Margo Geer on the American side, along with Kennedy Goss (Canada) and Isabella Arcila (Columbia).

IU head swimming coach Ray Looze will serve as Team USA’s head men’s coach at Pan Pacs, while associate head sprint coach Coley Stickels will serve has Columbia’s head coach.

Any athlete who makes Pan Pacs can swim any event they want to there, regardless of which events they qualified in. In addition, open water swimmers can swim pool events and vice versa.

The Evansville Otters lost 5-3 to the Southern Illinois Miners on Tuesday night at Rent One Park as the Otters were walked off on by Chance Shepard for the second time this season.

Austin Bush opened the scoring for the Otters with a two-run homer in the second inning, his first of the year.

Ryan Long extended the Otters lead with a solo homer, his eighth on the year, in the third inning.

Southern Illinois got on the board in the bottom of the fourth on a Harrison Bragg solo home run.

The game would stay at 3-1 until the bottom of the ninth. Southern Illinois got one run back on a Romeo Cortina RBI fielder’s choice to make it a 3-2 game. Then with runners at first and second, Shepard hit a three-run homer to left to walk it off for the Miners and give Southern Illinois the 5-3 victory.

Zach Hartman picks up the win for the Miners after throwing a scoreless ninth inning.

Mitch Aker is saddled with his fifth loss of the season. Aker recorded one out in the ninth while giving up four runs on three hits.

Otters starter Austin Nicely is given a no-decision for his efforts. Nicely went six innings, allowing just one run on four hits while walking four and striking out five.

Geno Encina also gets a no-decision for Southern Illinois. Encina tossed 6.2 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits while striking out six.

The Otters will take a day off tomorrow and then return to Southern Illinois on Thursday to take on the Miners in a doubleheader that will begin at 5:30 p.m. at Rent One Park.