Southern Illinois 5, Evansville 4 – Baseball Recap
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – For eight innings, the University of Evansville baseball team was in control, however the final frame belonged to Southern Illinois, as the Salukis edged the Purple Aces 5-4 in Missouri Valley Conference play at Braun Stadium Saturday afternoon.
“Obviously another tough loss,” said University of Evansville head coach Wes Carroll. “We’re a team late in the season, still trying to learn how to win. Here we are in the ninth inning, with a two run lead, and we hand the game over to them with walks and hit by pitches. It’s very unfortunate.”
Carroll sent junior left hander Alex Weigand out to start against SIU, who got himself in and out of a bases loaded, one out jam in the first inning unscathed.
The Evansville offense rewarded Weigand in the bottom of the inning, beginning with sophomore center fielder Kenton Crews’ RBI single to left-center, tallying senior third baseman Stewart Nelson for the icebreaker. Senior catcher Andrew Tanous followed that up with a two-run single, which scored both Crews and sophomore shortstop Craig Shepherd, giving the Aces a 3-0 lead after one inning.
SIU would get one back in the top of the second on an RBI single by Grey Epps. However, UE would get it right back in the bottom of the frame, as junior second baseman Sam Troyer delivered a one out double down the third baseline. Some heads up base running allowed Troyer to steal third, then Stewart Nelson would ground out to short. That would bring in Troyer, building the Aces lead back up to 4-1.
The Salukis would whittle that down in the top of the third, cutting the Evansville lead to 4-2 on a throwing error. Then, Weigand give way to the bullpen in the fourth, beginning with junior righty Austin Allinger, who would keep SIU off the scoreboard for the next 3-plus innings.
Allinger would turn the game over to senior reliever Ryan Brady in the eighth frame, who, after giving up a one out single, induced an inning double play, as Evansville took a 4-2 lead into the ninth.
Brady came out to finish the game off, but after striking out the first batter of the inning, walked the bases full. Then, Brady plunked Niko Vasic, bringing in a run, cutting the UE lead to 4-3. With the bases still loaded, Brady was replaced by freshman right hander Jace Burke. The first batter he faced, Alex Lyon, hit a fluky infield single, which allowed the tying run to tally. Then, Connor Kopach lifted a sacrifice fly to center, bringing in the go-ahead run, making it 5-4 Southern Illinois.
In their last at bat, the Aces got a pinch hit single by senior Travis Tokarek, but couldn’t cash him for the tying run.
“Through the course of the game, our offense didn’t take advantage of some opportunities to extend the lead,” said Carroll. “We let a good team stick around, and put us away. Very unfortunate. We’ve got to come to the yard with a lot of energy tomorrow.”
The loss drops Evansville to 7-29 on the season and 1-10 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while SIU improves tp 23-20 and 6-5 in the MVC.
The Aces and Salukis cross paths one more time in the series finale Sunday afternoon back at Charles H. Braun Stadium. First pitch is at 1 p.m.
- INFO: For all of the latest information on University of Evansville baseball, log on to the sport page on GoPurpleAces.com or follow the program on Twitter via @UEAthleticsBASE.
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Softball drops a pair of close games to SIU
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – In an exciting day of action, the University of Evansville softball team dropped two games to Southern Illinois, including an NCAA-record game on Saturday at Cooper Stadium.
UE (14-31, 7-15 MVC) and SIU (26-20, 9-11 MVC) played a 16-inning marathon to start the day with the Salukis taking a 1-0 win. In the second tilt, Southern Illinois entered the 7th inning trailing 3-2, but plated three runs and held on for a 5-3 victory.
Game one was an absolute pitcher’s duel with Morgan Florey and Brianna Jones pitching 16 frames apiece. The duo combined to strike out an NCAA Division I record 46 batters in the game with Morgan Florey setting her career mark with 26, the most in an NCAA game this season. SIU starter Brianna Jones struck out 20.
Eryn Gould extended her hit streak to nine games with a single in the first inning while Florey got the job done in the circle, fanning seven batters through three frames.
Evansville had its first big chance in the top of the fourth when Lindsay Renneisen singled before Florey reached on a Saluki error with one out, but SIU was able to get out of the inning unscathed.
The next scoring chance did not come until the bottom of the 11th for UE as Gould reached once again with a walk. Renneisen posted a hit to left center and Gould tried to score, but was thrown out on a close play. UE had another chance in the 12th when Florey hit a leadoff double, but once again, the game remained scoreless.
Southern Illinois put two batters on with no outs in the top of the 15th inning, but Florey was the hero once again as she earned two strikeouts, pushing her total to 25, to keep it at 0-0. The scoreless tie was broken in the 16th as the Salukis started off with a pair of bunts, the second resulting in an error that saw Susie Baranski score. UE was unable to push a run across in the bottom half of the 16th and dropped the 1-0 contest. Renneisen had two of the Aces six hits in the game.
After going 16 innings with a combined one run, the first score of game two came in the second inning as Southern Illinois got on the board with a bases loaded walk before Jenny Jansen hit a solo shot in the top of the third to extend the advantage to 2-0.
A walk by Mea Adams was the only baserunner for the Aces until Renneisen recorded an infield hit to lead off the fourth. Following her was Florey, who put the Aces on the board with her fourth home run of the season. With one out, Elyse Hickey came to the plate and gave Evansville the lead with the first home run of her Aces career to make it a 3-2 game.
In the top of the seventh, the Salukis rallied with three runs as they were able to finish the day with the 5-2 win. UE posted three hits in the contest, two of which were home runs. SIU notched nine hits with Sydney Jones and Megan Brown posting two apiece.
Tomorrow, the final home game of the season will take place at 11 a.m. when UE and SIU play the series finale.
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â INFO: For all of the latest information on University of Evansville softball, log on to the sport page on GoPurpleAces.com or follow the program on Twitter via @UEAthletics_SB.
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UE Track and Field closes successful regular season in Louisville
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Evansville men’s and women’s track and field teams finished the outdoor regular season with a pair of program record-breaking performances at the Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational in Louisville, Ky.
Both program records on the day were set by the Purple Aces’ women’s team while multiple other records came within seconds of being set.
In the women’s 100 meter dash, Nikki Hutchcraft paced the way for Evansville with a 36th-place finish in a time of 12.97, followed by teammates Monica Watkins (13.16) and Taylor Williams (15.69), who finished in 38th and 40th, respectively. Aaron Straight represented the Aces men in the men’s 100 meter dash, finishing in 33rd in a time of 11.73.
For the Aces in the women’s 200 meter dash, Holli Buretta finished in 43rd in a time of 32.99. Straight continued to represent the Aces men in the sprint events as the freshman crossed the line in 30th with a time of 24.62.
Lizzy Walston nearly took down a 34-year old record as the freshman crossed the line less than three seconds shy of the program mark in a time of 1:02.97, earning her a 33rd-place finish. Just behind Walston was Tess Hupe, who finished in 35th in a time of 1:08.84.
Continuing his strong spring for Evansville, Stanley Chepchieng finished just over two seconds off a program record that has stood since 1983. The freshman finished the men’s 800 meters in 17th in a time of 1:56.61, just 2.11 seconds off David Denny’s time set in 1983. Also for UE’s men in the men’s 800 meters were Ricky Hendrix (2:12.24) and Grant Mangan (2:21.00) who finished in 42nd and 43rd. The women’s 800 meters featured three Aces, led by Sienna Crews, who finished the race in 2:22.64 in 21st place, while Sarah Poltrack (2:37.67) and Lexi Sutherland (2:54.62) crossed the line in 41st and 43rd, respectively.
Freshman Anna Lowry captured her second program record of the outdoor season in the women’s 1500 meters as Lowry topped teammate Sienna Crews’ record by over two seconds with a time of 4:56.71, finishing in 31st. Also in the women’s 1500 meters for the Aces were Lauren Meyer, who finished 44th in 5:19.42, and Izzy Dawson just behind 45th in a time of 5:21.91. For the Aces men, Jonathan Newby crossed the line in a time of 4:43.98 in 38th-place.
In the men’s 5,000 meters, Ethan Price led the way for the Aces, finishing in 21st in a time of 16:23.23, while Timmy Miller came home in 28th with a time of 17:42.96.
Kalen Ochs took part in the men’s 3,000 meter steeplechase for Evansville as the freshman finished in 17th, recording a time of 10:47.54.
On the women’s side, Samantha Bittner crossed the finish line in a time of 17.20 in 34th place.
Bittner improved on her program record in the women’s 400 meter hurdles as the freshman recorded a time of 1:13.08, finishing in 19th place.
Evansville’s women finished in 12th in the women’s 4×100 meter relay, finishing the race in a time of 52.86.
Nikki Hutchcraft upped her own program record by more than two meters in the women’s javelin with a throw of 25.59 meters, earning her a 23rd-place finish. Fellow Ace Brittany Corley also competed in the women’s javelin, finishing in 26th with a throw of 18.53 meters. On the men’s side, Clay Doty paced Evansville with a throw of 35.38 meters, finishing in 11th, while Ryan Freeman finished in 13th with a throw of 33.55 meters.
In the women’s discus, Corley finished in 21st  as the freshman recorded a distance of 30.75 meters.
Freshman Ian Alberts set a new personal best in the men’s pole vault competition as Alberts finished in eighth with a height of 3.87 meters.
Evansville returns to action at the 2018 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships May 11 through 13 in Terre Haute, Ind.
- INFO: For all of the latest information on University of Evansville track and field, visit GoPurpleAces.com or follow the program on Twitter via @UEAthleticsXC.
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China Looks To Speed Up Chip Plans As U.S. Trade Tensions Boil – Sources
China Looks To Speed Up Chip Plans As U.S. Trade Tensions Boil
By Elias Glenn and Cate Cadell
BEIJING (Reuters) – China is looking to accelerate plans to develop its domestic semiconductor market amid a fierce trade stand-off with the United States and a U.S. ban on sales to Chinese phone maker ZTE that has underscored the country’s reliance on imported chips.
Senior Chinese officials have held meetings this week with industry bodies, regulators and the country’s powerful chip fund about speeding up already aggressive plans for the sector, two people with direct knowledge of the talks told Reuters.
The talks underscore China’s concern about its reliance on imported chips from global names such as Qualcomm Inc and Intel Corp, aggravated by a worsening dispute with the United States centered on cutting-edge tech.
“In the last few days senior Chinese officials have met to discuss plans to speed up the development of the chip industry,” one person with knowledge of the talks said, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.
That goal has been given fresh urgency after a U.S. ban on sales of products – including chips – to Chinese phone maker ZTE Corp roiled the firm, which uses mainly U.S. chips in its smartphones.
A second person with knowledge of the talks said senior officials had met with key ministries, as well as the National Integrated Circuitry Investment Fund, “this week” to discuss speeding up plans due to recent trade tensions.
China’s Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) did not immediately respond to faxed requests for comment late on Thursday. The IC Fund did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The seven-year ban on U.S. firms selling parts to ZTE comes at a time when the two countries have threatened each other with tens of billions of dollars in tariffs in recent weeks, fanning worries of a full-blown trade war.
Washington said ZTE had violated an agreement reached after it was caught illegally shipping goods to Iran.
ZTE, which has chips from U.S. firm Qualcomm in an estimated 50-65 percent of its phones, is now facing a struggle to save its smartphone business as it looks to find new supplies.
That over-reliance has spooked China – though most industry insiders said shifting production back home would not be easy.
“China won’t allow the U.S. to use chips as a stick against it. China can take steps to replace foreign-made chips with domestic,” the country’s hawkish Global Times newspaper said in a commentary this week.
“The Trump administration is helping us Chinese make such a decision.”
The move could boost domestic firms including Tsinghua Group, Huawei [HWT.UL], Unisplendour Corp Ltd, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, and smaller rival Jiangsu Changjiang Electronics Technology Co.
China already wants locally-made chips inside 40 percent all smartphones in the domestic market by 2025 and is betting billions of dollars on domestic “champions” to get there. It also has targets in robotics, electric cars, and drugs.
Analysts say money is now “raining down” from Beijing and state-backed funds to support the chip market, while the country’s state chip fund, known as the “Big Fund”, raised an estimated $32 billion in a new round of financing last month.
China’s chip push is at the heart of the trade stand-off with the United States. Beijing wants to boost its tech prowess and escape from its reliance on U.S. products. Washington sees the move as a direct challenge to its own technology leaders and a potential security threat as China’s power grows.
FOOTNOTE: (Reporting by Elias Glenn and Cate Cadell in BEIJING; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Alex Richardson)
GOP Senate Candidates Run Outsider Campaigns With Insider Consultants
By Abrahm Hurt
TheStatehouseFile.com
INDIANAPOLIS — The three Republican candidates running in the May 8 primary to unseat incumbent U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly, a Democrat, paint themselves as outsiders prepared to shake up the status quo in Washington, D.C.
Yet, the candidates rely heavily on political consulting firms in the Washington area or the east coast to steer their campaigns in Indiana, according to their campaign finance spending reports filed earlier this month with the Federal Election Commission.
Collectively, they have spent nearly $3 million with the consultants who have helped run the campaigns of everyone from President Donald Trump to U.S. Rep. Trey Hollingsworth, R-Jeffersonville.Â
Senate candidate Mike Braun, who is running on his anti-D.C. business acumen, has spent nearly $2 million on media advertising and management consulting with Jamestown Associates, which has offices in Washington, Philadelphia and New Jersey.
“[Jamestown Associates’] expertise has been honed through decades of strategy, research, and trench warfare,†the company says on its website. “For us, it’s not just about producing, shipping and broadcasting top-notch product, it’s about winning – and our record proves it.â€
Jamestown Associates touts its involvement in the successful campaigns of President Donald Trump, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Indiana’s Hollingsworth.
U.S. Rep. Luke Messer is relying on the firm, OnMessage Inc. of Annapolis, Maryland, in his campaign to be the GOP Senate nominee. So far, his campaign has spent nearly $1 million on digital advertising and political consulting, according to his campaign finance reports.
Like Jamestown, OnMessage has broad experience electing Republicans to political office. It has been involved in the campaigns of Gov. Rick Scott of Florida, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson from Wisconsin.
“OnMessage is our Media, Digital, and Pollster,†Molly Gillaspie, Messer’s press secretary, said in a statement in response to questions about the company.
The third Republican in the race, U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita, has been relying on different political consulting and advertising firms to promote his campaign. He has spent $80,000 with D.C.-based FP1 Strategies LLC on campaign consulting and advertising, which has worked on the Republican campaigns of  U.S. Sen. Rob Portman from Ohio and U.S. Rep. Karen Hendel from Georgia.
Rokita has additionally spent almost $360,000 with other GOP consulting groups, including nearly $90,000 with LVH Consulting LLC, which worked on the campaign of former U.S. Sen. Dan Coats from Indiana, and $75,000 with the Prosper Group, which worked on former Indiana Gov. Mike Pence’s campaign.
Neither Braun’s nor Rokita’s campaigns responded to requests for comments about their political consultants.
Hoosiers are seeing the results of the consultants’ work in the barrage of television advertisements on every station at all hours.
Ads range from Rokita donning a “Make America Great Again†hat to emphasize his support of Trump to Mike Braun walking around with cardboard cutouts of Messer and Rokita asking bystanders if they can tell the difference between the two. Some of Messer’s ads have portrayed him as a family man who supports the Trump agenda.
“It’s clear that all three of the candidates are emphasizing the same things,†Dr. Marjorie Hershey, professor of political science at Indiana University, said. “All three of them are basically saying over and over again, ‘I’m a Trump supporter, I’m pro-gun, I’m pro-life and I’m a Christian.’ It’s really been a specific message with those four points.â€
Hershey said that because Donnelly is one of the top three most vulnerable senators running for re-election, this race will be targeted by both the Republican and Democratic parties after the primary.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the race ended up with about $100 million in spending,†she said.
So far, more than $21.5 million has been raised by the three Republicans and Donnelly, with most of the money going to the Democrat. Messer, Rokita and Braun have reported almost $11.5 million in contributions and have spent more than $7.6 million.
Going into the final days before the May 8 primary, Braun has the biggest bankroll with nearly $2.5 million cash on hand while both Messer and Rokita have around $1.9 million each in their accounts, according to FEC reports.
But Braun is mostly self-funded, contributing nearly $5.5 million of his own money to the $5.8 million in his campaign fund.
Messer has raised almost $3 million, with most of his contributions coming from individual donors and 80 percent of his contributors have been from Indiana.
Rokita has raised a little more than $2.5 million with most of his money being raised from individual contributions. Seventy-five percent of his donors are Indiana residents.
FOOTNOTE: Abrahm Hurt is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
RICK MARTIN CONTINUES TO SUPPORTS STEVE HAMMER
HOW HONOLULU TRANSFORMED FROM UTOPIA TO URBAN MUDDLE
By Joe Guzzardi
Let’s be clear from the outset. Travelers who have never visited Honolulu, Hawaii’s capital located on Oahu, should make it their next destination before what was once paradise vanishes forever.
In some ways, Honolulu, with Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head, is still magnificent. But with each day that passes, Honolulu is less like the garden utopia that existed decades ago and that might still live in many people’s Hawaiian fantasies.
In the 1920s, not that long ago in the long-term picture, a Los Angeles Steamship Company ocean liner sailed for the Hawaiian Islands every Saturday to make the 2,500 mile journey, while the Royal Hawaiian band played “Aloha Oe.†As friends and family stood cheering, tossing confetti and waving goodbye, passengers danced on deck to the popular jazz tunes that the ship’s band played. Ocean travel’s romantic imagery soon gave way to quicker airliners, and eventually to jumbo jets like the Airbus A330 that brings millions of worldwide tourists to Honolulu each year, great for the state’s multi-billion dollar economy but devastating to its landscape.
Many of Honolulu’s popular restaurants display glorious pictures from the 1930s. In one, legendary surfer Duke Kahanamoku is standing on Waikiki’s shoreline without another building in sight. Today, the coast is overbuilt with high-rise condos and expensive resorts. International sunbathers lie shoulder-to-shoulder, a far cry from the magnificent conditions during the Duke’s day.
Since 1970, when the Ala Moana Hotel was Honolulu’s first building to exceed 350 feet, the construction boom has brought the total to more than 470 high-rises. To put the 470 number in perspective, it places Honolulu as sixth in the nation behind New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and Washington, D.C. More than 17 Honolulu asymmetric eyesores exceed 40 floors.
With tourism comes the rental car scourge, the leading factor in Honolulu’s ranking on America’s most congressed highways’ list. In the dubious most trafficked category, Honolulu comes in eighth, behind nightmarish California cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose. Consistent with Americans’ love affair with the automobile, tourists disdain a viable public transportation option, Honolulu’s efficient citywide bus system.
Like much of the rest of the nation, Honolulu’s underbelly has a growing homeless population. In 2016, Hawaii Governor David Y. Ige, in an effort to move homeless individuals away from popular tourist hotels, declared a state of emergency. A U.S. Housing and Development report identified Honolulu as having America’s highest per capital homelessness rate, hardly surprising given the city’s exorbitant living costs. Recently, Hawaii set up a homelessness initiative to help identify the neediest among the unsheltered and get them emergency medical attention. In the meantime, homelessness has contributed to an increased crime rate.
Population increases have also contributed to Honolulu’s sprawl. Since 2010, Honolulu’s population increased 3.7 percent from 953,000 to 989,000, an unsustainable growth pattern. Honolulu’s construction boom brought with it a significant migration increase; the U.S. Census Bureau reflects a 9.7 percent Latino population.
When asked about Honolulu’s transformation over the decades kama’ainas, native Hawaiians or long-time residents, express resignation to their diminished quality of life. Some have departed for the mainland. Last year, more than 1,000 people, net, left Hawaii.
No matter how gradually they occur, dramatic changes like those Honolulu has undergone are hard to come to terms with, especially for those who knew it back when.
Holcomb Stresses Importance Of Collaboration In Workforce Development
By Quinn Fitzgerald
TheStatehouseFile.com
INDIANAPOLIS –Various business and policy leaders got the inside scoop Wednesday on how Gov. Eric Holcomb wants to improve Indiana’s workforce development.
Holcomb participated in a question and answer event led by Tom Guevara, director of the Indiana University Public Policy Institute on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. The event was part of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Innovation Policy Forum.
Scholars, practitioners, people of the business community, government officials, and others attended the forum to learn what Holcomb had to say on the economic challenges throughout Indiana and how to meet them.
Because businesses follow the talent, Holcomb said a number of groups have to collaborate at the local level.
“I think it’s government for sure, philanthropic organizations, our schools and our corporate community, all at that table,†Holcomb said. “That’s the whole reason why we said we’re going to take a deep dive this legislative session into workforce development.â€
The table also includes Holcomb’s Workforce Development Cabinet, a group created during the regular session to assess and realign the state’s workforce development programs and services.
The cabinet includes Chairman Danny Lopez, Blair Milo, secretary of career and connections, and Teresa Lubbers, commissioner for the Indiana Department of Higher Education.
“It’s a holistic approach,†Holcomb said.
Holcomb said cultivating talent for the workforce starts with identifying students’ passions and strengths at the earliest stage possible, making sure they are equipped by the time they receive their high school diplomas.
This, Holcomb said, will require a greater emphasis on creative thinking skills, computer science, and STEM––a program that focuses on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
“We’re all part of the same journey for every single individual out there,†Holcomb said. “A large part of the business community needs to be part of that discussion, especially in [each] regional area.â€
On the other side, Holcomb said employers need take action on their end by being involved with these schools.
“You have to be involved a step before and a step after in someone’s life,†Holcomb said. “We have to pay for that pathway together.â€
FOOTNOTE: Quinn Fitzgerald is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
