The University of Evansville men’s and women’s track and field teams earned a pair of individual victories at the Kentucky Wesleyan Twilight Invitational on Friday evening in Owensboro, Ky.

As a team, the Purple Aces’ men earned a podium finish as Evansville finished in third-place in the nine team invitational while Evansville’s women captured a fourth-place finish among 10 teams.

Evansville’s outing was highlighted by two individual victories, both coming from the Aces’ women’s squad. The first victory came from Samantha Bittner who set her second outdoor program record with a time of 1:16.15 in the 400 meter hurdles. UE earned its second win of the night in the women’s 4×400 meter relay where the Aces earned the event victory in a time of 4:28.10.

Aside from the two individuals wins, the Aces found success throughout the invitational. In the women’s 100 meter dash, Monica Watkins paced the Aces’ contingent with a fifth-place finish in a time of 13.35. Following Watkins were Nikki Hutchcraft (13.70), Crimson Jones (14.35), and Holli Buretta (15.65) who finished in seventh, ninth, and 12th, respectively. On the men’s side, Aaron Straight was the lone Ace to compete in the men’s 100 meter dash, earning a ninth-place finish in a time of 11.80.

In the women’s 200 meter dash, Watkins once again led the way, earning a fifth-place finish in a time of 28.10, while Buretta (33.66) and Taylor Williams (47.87) finished in 10th and 11th. Straight represented Evansville in the men’s 200 meter, finishing in 10th and crossing the line in a time of 24.06.

Lizzy Walston captured a podium finish in the women’s 400 meter dash, crossing the line in second in a time of 1:04.92. Finishing in eighth in the 400 meters was Kylie Hasenour with a time of 1:10.59. On the men’s side, Everett Plocek finished the men’s 400 meter dash in seventh-place with a time of 55.61.

Three Purple Aces women competed in the women’s 800 meters, led by Izzy Dawson. Dawson earned a seventh-place finish in a time of 2:36.69, while her teammates Sarah Poltrack (2:41.56) and Lexi Sutherland (3:09.89) finishing in ninth and 15th, respectively. The Aces’ men showcased their might in the 800 meters as both Ricky Hendrix and Stanley Chepchieng finished in the top 10. Hendrix led the way for the Aces with a time of 2:02.48, earning Hendrix a fifth-place finish. Finishing in eighth, Chepchieng crossed the line in a time of 2:04.21 in the 30-runner field.

In the women’s 1500 meter run, Sienna Crews broke the program record by more than six seconds with a time of 4:59.10, earning Crews a fourth-place finish. Lauren Meyer followed Crews with an 11th-place finish with a time of 5:19.39. On the men’s side, Ethan Price paced Evansville with a seventh-place finish in a time of 4:10.91, while Jonathan Newby (4:48.83) and Grant Mangan (4:59.13) finished in 29th and 32nd, respectively.

The records continued to be set, this time on the men’s side. In the men’s 3,000 meter run, Timmy Miller set an Aces’ program record with a time of 9:56.04, earning Miller a 20th-place finish.

In the women’s 3000 meter steeplechase, Anna Lowry set the Aces third program record of the night. Lowry recorded a time of 12:22.80, finishing in fourth-place. For Evansville’s men, Kalen Ochs was the lone Ace in the men’s 3000 meter steeplechase with a fourth-place finish in a time of 11:08.13.

Breaking her own record, Samantha Bittner continued to impress for the Aces in the women’s 100-meter hurdles. Bittner improved on her program record by nearly a second with a time of 16.53, earning her a second-place finish in the race.

In the men’s 4×100 meter relay, Evansville finished in fourth with a time of 47.09 just a second-and-a-half off third place. For the Aces’ women, Evansville earned a second-place finish in the women’s 4×100 meter relay with a time of 53.04.

Following the women’s team’s victory in the 4×400 meter relay, the Aces’ men captured a third-place finish in the men’s 4×400 meter relay. Evansville earned the podium finish with a time of 3:40.88 in the six-team field.

The Aces’ success continued in the field events, beginning with the women’s high jump. Crimson Jones led Evansville with a third-place finish with a height of 4’5″.

Following a one-two finish at the Stan Lyons Invitational, Ian Alberts and Kevin Yeung continued to find success in the men’s pole vault competition. Alberts led the Aces’ contingent with a second-place finish with a final height of 3.80 meters, while Yeung finished fourth with a height of 3.50 meters.

In the women’s long jump, Kylie Hasenour improved on her program record with an eighth-place finish. Hasenour bested her program mark of 3.40 meters by .21 meters with a jump of 3.61 meters at the invitational. On the men’s side, Stanley Chepchieng captured a third-place finish with a distance of 6.10 meters, just .18 meters off first place. Kevin Yeung grabbed an 11th-place finish with a jump of 5.27 meters.

Lizzy Walston recorded the second-best triple jump mark in women’s track and field program history on Friday evening. In the women’s triple jump, Walston earned a sixth-place finish with a distance of 9.08 meters.

Continuing her record-breaking campaign, Brittany Corley shattered her own program record in the women’s shot put. Corley captured a seventh-place finish in the shot put with a distance of 9.29 meters, breaking her own program-best mark by .61 meters. For the Aces’ men, Ryan Freeman paced Evansville with a second-place finish. Freeman earned the podium finish with a distance of 13.21 meters, a personal best throw and the best throw by a Purple Ace since 1981. Following Freeman were Clay Doty (10.99 meters) and Chris Zapata (10.83 meters) who finished in 10th and 11th, respectively.

Corley’s strong evening continued in the women’s discus where she set her second program record of the invitational. The first Ace to compete in the women’s discus, Corley finished in fourth with a distance of 31.31 meters, giving Corley her third program record on the season. For the second time on the night, Freeman recorded the best distance by a Purple Ace since 1981, this time in the men’s discus. Freeman earned a third-place finish with a distance of 39.34 meters. Chris Zapata finished less than a meter behind Freeman with a throw of 38.39 meters, earning him a fourth-place finish. Also for the Aces in the men’s discus, Clay Doty (25.17 meters) and Alton Hoops (18.04 meters) finished in 12th and 14th, respectively.

In all, seven program records were set for the Aces in the invitational.

Evansville is back in action at the Austin Peay Invitational on April 13 and 14 in Clarksville, Tenn.

In a rare Friday afternoon home doubleheader, the University of Evansville softball team dropped a pair of games to Missouri State at Cooper Stadium.

The Bears (22-14, 7-4 MVC) took game one by a 4-1 final in nine innings before earning a 6-5 victory over the Purple Aces (11-21, 4-6 MVC) in the second contest.

Evansville opened game one with a run in the top of the first.  Mea Adams reached on a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice by Brittany Hay.  She would later score on a single by Elyse Hickey.

MSU starter Erin Griesbauer found her groove after the first inning, giving up one hit over the next four frames.  The Bears offense was able to tie the game on a Madison Hunsaker single in the fourth.

In the bottom half of the fourth, Evansville had a chance to retake the lead, but a double play with the bases loaded ended the threat and kept the game tied up.  The score would remain that way as the squads headed into extra innings.  Missouri State saw their leadoff batter reach second on an error before Morgan Florey buckled down with two strikeouts and a pop up to get out of the inning.

Darian Frost broke the tie in the top of the ninth, leading off the frame with a home run.  Kelly Metter added some insurance with a 2-run shot later in the inning to help the Bears take a 4-1 win.  Both pitchers went the distance.  Griesbauer won her sixth game of the year, allowing four UE hits.  Florey struck out 12 in the game and now stands at 597 in her career.

Missouri State grabbed an early lead in the second contest, plating three in the top of the second.  Kaitlin Beason had an RBI groundout as the other two crossed the plate on a walk and hit batter, each with the bases loaded.

Facing the early deficit, UE made its way back into the game in the bottom half of the second.  Hickey reached on a 1-out walk to bring McKenzie Johnson to the plate.  She responded, delivering her fifth home run of the season, bringing the Aces back within one.

MSU stormed back with two more in the fourth and had runners on second and third with no outs.  Freshman Jaime Nurrenbern entered the game at that time and immediately ended the threat as she struck out the side to keep it a 5-2 game in favor of the Bears.  They added a sixth run on their 10^th hit in the top of the seventh.

Never giving up, the Aces opened up the seventh inning in spectacular fashion.  Eryn Gould and Lindsay Renneisen reached with no outs and Morgan Florey brought them home with a long home run to center field, getting the Aces within one at 6-5.  Mea Adams then came through with two outs, lacing a single to center to bring home Toni Galas for the tying run.  The momentum was short-lived for UE as the Bears rallied back with a run in the eighth as they held on for a 7-6 win in eight frames.

Nurrenbern matched her career mark with five innings of work.  She struck out five and allowed two hits.  She also picked up a hit at the plate.  Mea Adams and Renneisen each posted two hits apiece as UE finished with ten.  For the Bears, Daphne Plummer went 4-4 with three runs batted in.  Holly Kelley went 1 1/3 innings to get the win while Griesbauer, the winner in game one, got the final two outs to earn the save.

The University of Southern Indiana baseball team swept Lewis University in dramatic fashion, 12-11 and 6-5, Friday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. USI watches its record go over .500 to 14-13 overall and 6-4 in the GLVC, while Lewis goes to 10-16-1 in 2018, 4-5 GLVC.

USI and Lewis conclude the four-game series Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader.

Game 1: 
The Screaming Eagles rallied from a 7-1 deficit to win the opening game, 12-11, behind the four RBI efforts of senior third baseman/pitcher Nick Gobert (Jasper, Indiana) and designated hitter/third baseman Brodie Brown (Carmi, Illinois).

After the Flyers grabbed a 7-1 lead after five-and-a-half frames, USI scored two in the sixth and six in the seventh to take a 9-7 lead. The six-run seventh was highlighted by the two-run bomb by Brown, his second blast of the season.

Lewis posted a comeback of its own in the top of the eighth, re-taking the lead, 11-9. The Eagles rallied for a second time with three tallies in the bottom half of the inning with junior first baseman Jaylen Breshears(Evansville, Indiana) knocking in Brown with the winning run on a two-out single.

Gobert (3-2) posted his third win of the season by allowing one run on four hits and striking out three in two innings of relief work. He also finished game one at the plate with three hits, two runs scored, and tied for the team-high with four RBIs.

Brown also had three hits, two runs scored, the sixth-inning home run, and tied Gobert with four RBIs. He also had a two-run double in the eighth to tie the opener, 11-11.

The Eagles started junior right-hander Austin Krizan (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) on the mound. Krizan went the first six innings and allowed seven runs, six earned, on 13 hits, while striking out four in getting the no-decision.

Game 2: 
USI scored six unearned runs in the nightcap to complete the doubleheader sweep, 6-5, over Lewis. Junior designated hitter Brodie Brown drove in the game-winner in the bottom of the seventh to give the Eagles the victory, knocking in freshman centerfielder Bryce Krizan (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) after USI loaded the bases with one out.

The Eagles led 1-0 after a first inning tally and before the Flyers briefly took a 2-1 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the third. USI rallied with four runs in the bottom of the third, taking advantage of three Lewis errors.

The four-run outburst in the fourth was highlighted by a two-run single by senior rightfielder Buddy Johnson (Shelbyville, Kentucky). Johnson led the Eagles at the plate in the nightcap, going two-for-three with two RBIs.

Lewis would bounce back with two in the top of the fourth to cut the USI lead to one, 5-4, and tied the game with one in the sixth to set the stage for Brown in the bottom of the seventh.

On the mound, sophomore right-hander Tyler Hagedorn (Evansville, Indiana) picked up the win in relief in game two. Hagedorn (2-2) allowed one run on one hit and one walk and struck out three in two innings of work.

Senior right-hander Kyle Griffin (Morganfield, Kentucky) started and got the no-decision. Griffin allowed four runs on five hits and six walks, while striking out nine in five innings of work.