The Evansville Otters and the Normal Cornbelters split a doubleheader at Bosse Field, with the Otters winning game one 4-0 and the Cornbelters taking game two 9-8 in eleven innings before 2,032.

The Otters took game one of the twin bill against the Cornbelters by a final score of 4-0.

Evansville jumped on the board early when Jeff Gardner hit a two-out two-run home run to center, his first of the season, giving the Otters a 2-0 lead.

That lead was doubled in the fifth after Ryan Long’s first home run of the year, a two-run shot over the wall in left field, that gave the Otters a four-run lead.

Patrick McGuff was outstanding for the Otters, throwing a complete game shutout and earning his second victory of the season. McGuff struck out eight hitters, walking just one and allowed only six hits. McGuff has not allowed a run on the season in 13 innings of work.

Taking the loss is Matt Portland for the Cornbelters. Portland threw a complete game himself, striking out nine, allowing the four runs on six hits. The only damage Portland allowed came on the two home runs as he was dealt his first loss of the season.

Normal withstood multiple comebacks in game two.

The Cornbelters got started quickly with two, two-run home runs in the first from Chris Iriart and Tanner Lubach.

Evansville got on the scoreboard in the third on an RBI from Zach Welz. But the Otters would leave the bases loaded in the frame after Travis Harrison grounded out to end the threat.

The next inning the Otters continued to chip away as after Mike Rizzitello tripled and Hunter Cullen drove him home with a ground out to short.

The lead was trimmed to one when Toby Thomas scored on a wild pitch from Cornbelters starter Billy Roth.

Normal extended their lead back to two on a Derek Loveless RBI triple in the sixth.

With a man on in the seventh, Thomas crushed a two-run homer to left to tie the game and send it to extra innings.

After a scoreless eighth inning, the teams exchanged runs in the ninth and tenth before Normal broke through with two in the eleventh. Evansville responded with one run in the bottom half of the inning, but left the tying run on second base as Caleb Eldridge struck out to end the game.

The two squads will finish up their three-game set on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. at Bosse Field.

Sunday is a Family Fun-Day Sunday at the ballpark. For $40, families will receive 4 G.A. tickets, 4 popcorn, soda, and snow cone vouchers, and 2 inflatables passes.

Austin Nicely will make his second start of the season for the Otters after picking up his first win of the season back on Tuesday in Joliet.

For Normal, Kevin Matthews will be handed the ball and will be making his second start of the season. For the season, he is 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA.

Broadcast coverage will be available on WUEV 91.5 FM for Sunday’s with Sam Jellinek (play-by-play) and Bill McKeon (analyst) on the call.

Fans can also follow Otters social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for game updates throughout the day.

The Evansville Otters are the 2006 and 2016 Frontier League champions. Season tickets, group outing packages, and single game tickets are on sale now for the 2018 season.

 The National Fastpitch Coaches Association has announced that 389 student-athletes from 164 programs have received 2018 NFCA Division I All-Region accolades.

These awards honor softball student-athletes from the Association’s 10 regions with first, second and third-team selections. NFCA member coaches from each respective region voted on the teams, and all the honorees now become eligible for selection to the 2018 NFCA Division I All-American squads.

Earning recognition from the University of Evansville softball team were Eryn Gould and Morgan Florey.  Gould was named a utility player to the Mideast Region First Team while Florey was named as a pitcher to the Mideast Region Second Team.  This marks the first time the Purple Aces have had two players recognized on the All-Region Team since 2006 when Alicia Laraway and Brittany Herald earned Second Team accolades.

“This is an exciting day for our program to have two players recognized on the NFCA All-Region Team,” UE head coach Mat Mundell said.  The accolades continue to come in for Eryn. She had one of best offensive season ever for a player at UE, let alone a freshmen.”

“Morgan continues to improve every season for us in the circle. This recognition helps to validate the season she had,” Mundell added.  “The big thing for us is we have both players coming back to help lead us next year. It’s been awhile since UE had two All-Region players. We hope to carry this momentum going forward.”

Gould, who was the 2018 Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year, completed the season batting .377, one of the top five averages in the league.  She also led the Valley with 13 doubles.

Florey set the Evansville program record with 303 strikeouts, becoming just one of six in the history of the MVC to reach the 300-strikeout mark.  She set a career mark with 26 strikeouts this season against Southern Illinois, the 3^rd-highest total in NCAA history.

On a day that saw eight members of the University of Evansville baseball team play their final games at Braun Stadium, the Purple Aces came out slugging, but couldn’t avoid a doubleheader sweep at the hands of Illinois State, falling 14-11 in the first game and 11-7 in game two of the twin bill, Saturday afternoon.

“The seniors left it all out there one the field today”, said Purple Aces Head Coach Wes Carroll. “I really liked the effort, the execution just wasn’t there. We just didn’t do enough to win a game on Senior Day. But just a great overall effort by some of our seniors. It was great to see them make some lasting memories here at Braun Stadium.”

Game one saw the Aces jump out to a quick lead, as freshman designated hitter Evan Aders continue his May assault on opposing pitching, launching a 3-run home run over the fence in left in the second inning. His fourth roundtripper of the season gave UE a 4-0 advantage.

However, junior starting pitcher Alex Weigand got in trouble in the top of the third frame, giving up four runs, including a 3-run homer by Collin Braithwaite, knotting the game up at four apiece. The Redbirds would strike for three more in the fourth to take the lead, 7-4.

The Aces would respond in the bottom of the inning, beginning with Evan Aders hitting his second home run of the game and fifth roundtripper of the season, a 2-run laser to left. Sophomore center fielder Kenton Crews followed that up with an RBI single, then sophomore left fielder Troy Beilsmith reached on an error allowing another run to tally, and finally senior right fielder Dalton Horstmeier grooved a 2-run double to right-center. The resulting six-run frame put Evansville back out in front 10-7.

However, Illinois State responded with a six-run frame in the fifth, and went onto to take a 14-11 slugfest.

In game two, Evansville fell behind early, as Collin Braithwaite tagged Aces freshman starting Jace Burke for a 3-run home run in the top of the first. Then in the third, Jordan Libman would send a Burke pitch to center, singling one run. Joe Aelits followed that up with an RBI double down the left field line, making it 4-0 Redbirds, and chasing Burke from the game. He would be replaced by senior right hand reliever Jimmy Ward.

However, Ward’s luck was no better, as John Rave lifted a 2-run double to left off him in the fifth inning, making it 6-0 Illinois State. He would give was to senior right hander Nick Eggemeyer, who came in and tossed a shutout sixth frame.

Evansville would rally in the bottom of the sixth, highlighted by a 3-run home run off the bat of Dalton Horstmeier. Horstmeier’s fourth roundtripper of the season put the Purple Aces right back in the game, trailing 6-4.

However, Illinois State would strike for two runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth, taking an 11-5 lead into the ninth.

Evansville battled to their final out, with Stewart Nelson, in his final at-bat at Braun Stadium, drilling a 2-run home run, his first of the year, getting the Aces back within four. But that’s as close as they would get, as Illinois State hung on for an 11-7 victory.

The Purple Aces finish up the regular season at 12-37 and 3-18 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while Illinois State winds up at 22-28 and 9-12 in the MVC.

Now it’s onto the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, hosted by Dallas Baptist. Evansville will open the tournament as the eighth seed and will face regular season champion league champion Missouri State on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. Central Time.

“It was just good offensively to create some momentum going into the conference tournament”, said Carroll. “I feel like our line up has some balance right now, and some guys are starting to produce and playing with a lot of confidence. Hopefully that and our defense can help out our pitching.”

The University of Southern Indiana baseball team advanced to the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional finals for the third time in five seasons after defeating top-seeded and sixth-ranked University of Illinois Springfield in a slugfest, 13-11, Saturday at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois. USI, the seventh seed, watched its record go to 35-21 overall, while Illinois Springfield falls to 47-8.

With the victory, the unbeaten Screaming Eagles earn the day off on Sunday as Illinois Springfield, fifth-seeded Quincy University, and fourth-seeded Ohio Dominican University battle for the right to play USI for the regional crown on Monday. The first regional final game Monday is slated for noon. Should the Eagles lose the noon contest, an “if necessary game” would follow immediately.

The slugfest started in lopsided fashion in USI’s favor as it built a 6-0 lead after one-and-a-half-frames. USI scored a pair in the first inning before exploding for four runs in the second, highlighted by a three-run blast to left center by senior designated hitter Drake McNamara (Mt. Vernon, Indiana), who will finish the game with three hits, three runs scored, and six RBIs. The home run was McNamara’s school record 17^thof the year.

The Prairie Stars, however, were not about to go quietly and responded with a seven-run second inning and captured the lead, 7-6. USI evened the score, 7-7, when senior rightfielder Buddy Johnson(Shelbyville, Kentucky) scored on a RBI-ground out by senior third baseman Sam Griggs (Evansville, Indiana) in the top of the third.
Illinois Springfield regained the lead with a tally in the bottom of the fourth and posted its largest lead of the game, 10-7, with a pair of runs in the fifth.

USI closed the gap to 10-9 in the sixth when McNamara singled in freshman shortstop Ethan Hunter (Terre Haute, Indiana) and junior second baseman Jacob Fleming (Evansville, Indiana). The Eagles regained the lead, 11-10, in the eighth on a RBI-sacrifice fly by Johnson and a RBI-single by junior catcher Logan Brown (Mt. Vernon, Indiana).

The Eagles sealed the victory in the ninth when Fleming doubled in freshman centerfielder Bryce Krizan (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) and scored on a RBI-double to left by senior first baseman Nick Gobert (Jasper, Indiana) to make the score, 13-10.

The Prairie Stars would get a run in the bottom of the ninth before USI senior right-hander Kyle Griffin(Morganfield, Kentucky) closed out his second victory of the regional, 13-11. Griffin (7-3) won his team-high seventh game of the season after three innings of relief work, allowing one unearned run on no hits and striking out eight batters.

In his two relief appearances in the regional, Griffin has allowed the one unearned run, two hits, walked four, and struck out 18 batters in eight innings of work.

USI junior left-hander Chase Partain (Evansville, Indiana) started but had to be lifted in the second inning. Senior right-hander Nick Coudret (Newburgh, Indiana), sophomore right-hander Tyler Hagedorn(Evansville, Indiana), and sophomore right-hander Jacob Bowles (Mt. Washington, Kentucky) followed Partain to the mound before Griffin took over in the seventh.