It was a tough finish to a weekend that started out promising for the University of Evansville, as the Purple Aces fell to the eighth ranked team in the nation, Kentucky 8-4 , in Spartanburg, South Carolina Sunday afternoon.

The Wildcats got the jump on Evansville starter David Ellis, scoring the icebreaker in the first inning on Luke Becker’s double down the left field line, bringing in Tristan Pompey to make it 1-0. Then, in the second frame Troy Squires tallied from third base on a fielder’s choice, which put UE in a 2-0 hole.

“We came out in the first inning flat on the mound,” said University of Evansville baseball Head Coach Wes Carroll. “We just didn’t get ahead of hitters. They’re a good offensive unit over there.”

Sophomore first baseman Troy Beilsmith, who came in as part of a double switch, with Tanner Craig moving over to third base to replace an injured Sam Troyer, got the Aces on the board, drilling a solo home run to left, cutting the deficit to 2-1.

“We know we’re going to get a scrappy at-bat from Troy,” said Carroll. “For him to home run in two games opening weekend, it’s great to see for an offense that’s struck out at an enormous clip. Having 44 strikeouts over the course of the weekend, I think we broke some personal records. We’ve got to get better in the batters box, especially with two strikes. But to see him be a bright light over the course of the weekend was great to see, because we need versatile options in both our offensive and defensive units.”

However, it wouldn’t stay tight for long, as Kentucky answered in the bottom of the third, with a double from Tristan Pompey and a walk to Luke Becker, chasing Ellis from the game. Jimmy Ward came in in relief, but a flare to left off the bat of T.J. Collett got lost in the sun by sophomore outfielder Brendan Krob, dropping in for a double. That would score Pompey from second to make it 3-1 Kentucky.

Later in the inning, the Wildcats loaded up the bases on Ward, then Ryan Johnson unloaded them with a bases-clearing double down the right field line, bringing in a trio of tallies, giving UK a 6-1 advantage. That would close the book on Ellis, who went two innings, allowing four runs on three hits and three walks.

“He just wasn’t able to get his off-speed pitches over early in the count, and that was the game plan going in, and that’s what chased him out of the game”, said Carroll. “He’s going to continue to get better. He’s a young guy in our program, and the more innings he throws, the better his off-speed is going to come along. We’re real excited about his future.”

Evansville would cut into the deficit in the top of the 4th, as a throwing error would allow senior designated hitter Travis Tokarek to score, cutting the Kentucky lead to four. However, a sacrifice fly by T.J. Collett in the bottom of the frame would get the Wildcat lead back up to five.

Senior Dalton Horstmeyer would replace Ward in the fourth, and would give up an RBI sacrifice fly to T.J. Collett in the bottom of the frame. Then after a scoreless fifth, Luke Heyer would tag him for a solo home run in the sixth, increasing the UK lead to 8-2.

The Aces would attempt a rally in the seventh inning, loading up the bases on Kentucky reliever Daniel Harper. Sophomore outfielder Kenton Crews would slap a single up the middle, scoring both Craig Shepherd and Cooper Trinkle, drawing Evansville back to within 4.

“He’s (Crews) had some mechanical things going on in his swing that he was able to correct today and it was great to see,” said Carroll. “He’s such a great athlete, an elite athlete that he can make changes physically within a game, within an at-bat. It was great to see him make those adjustments, work back up the middle and get some big RBI hits. That’s what we’ve got to have out of our 3-hole, an explosive athlete and a dynamic hitter.”

However, the Aces would draw no closer, as they fell to 1-2 on the season. Kentucky improved to 4-0.

“I thought our hitters settled in and had some great at-bats later in the game”, said Carroll. “In winning time, I thought we had some winning at-bats. A lot of young guys got in there and got a  chance to get there feet wet this weekend. I feel like we got better as a team and I’m real anxious to see us play next week.”

Evansville is back in action next Friday, when they travel back down to the sunny South to face Kennesaw State for a four-game series. First pitch from Atlanta, Georgia is at 4 p.m. Central Time.

University of Southern Indiana Women’s Indoor Track & Field finished third of eight teams Saturday afternoon at the DePauw Indoor Classic in Greencastle, Indiana. USI had a total of 86 points.

The Screaming Eagles won four distance events in the meet, along with five other top five finishes.

Junior Kate Henrickson (Boonville, Indiana) paced the Eagles in the 800 meters, claiming the top spot in the event in a time of two minutes, 24.51 seconds. Freshman Amanda Moore (Farmersburg, Indiana) was the second Eagle to cross the line in fourth in 2:31.12.

In the mile, junior Allison Rollins (Newburgh, Indiana) took first in in 5:18.80, besting teammate freshman Jennifer Comastri (Indianapolis, Indiana), who finished third in 5:24.26. Junior Micalah Booher (Pendleton, Indiana) finished fourth to give USI three of the top four finishers.

Junior Emily Roberts (Fredericktown, Ohio) picked up her first win of the season in the 3000 meters, while senior Kate Duty (Owensboro, Kentucky) won the 5000 meters with senior Allyson Watson coming in third.

USI next heads to Indianapolis, Indiana, February 24-25, for the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships.

The weather mirrored the University of Evansville baseball team’s fortunes on the diamond this soggy Saturday afternoon in Spartanburg, South Carolina, as the Purple Aces (1-1)suffered their first loss of the season, falling to Dayton (1-1), 6-3.

The UE bats were silenced for much of the game, as Flyers starting pitcher Jordan Cox and the Dayton bullpen combined to strike out a dozen Aces on the day. Fordham racked up 19 Evansville punchouts in Friday’s opener.

“Our offense was anemic, especially with two strikes, non-Competitive,” said University of Evansville Baseball Head Coach Wes Carroll. “Having a 12 strikeout game, following a 19 strikeout yesterday. We didn’t put the ball in play enough on a real wet field to make a real difference today.”

Still, there were a some bright spots at the plate. Sophomore shortstop Craig Shepherd delivered a clutch 2-run double in the third inning, driving in both freshman third baseman Sam Troyer and junior outfielder Dalton Horstmeier, which gave the Aces the lead, 2-1.

“Certain times in the game, we thought we were building moment, then we’d have a bad at-bat,” said Carroll. “Either a 3-1 pop-up or a double play. You mix in a bad at-bat, and it can kill your day.”

Meanwhile on the hill, junior left-hander Alex Weigand overcame Dayton’s Pat Meehan solo home run to lead off the game, tossing a pair of scoreless frames. However, in the 4th inning, things got tough for the southpaw. It began with a passed ball, allowing Tirotta to come in from third base with the tying score. Later in the inning, Bailey Montoya lifted an RBI lace to the left side, bringing in Takahiro Yamada with the go-ahead tally. That would end Weigand’s day, as he finished with four runs, all earned, on six hits, while striking out a pair. Ward would give up a run before finally putting down the fourth inning uprising, leaving Evansville down 4-2.

The Flyers would put two more on the board in the sixth inning. Down 6-1 in the eighth, the Aces got a shot in the arm offensively, as senior slugger Travis Tokarek belted an RBI single to center, scoring sophomore center fielder Kenton Crews. However, the rally ended there, as Evansville dropped to 1-1 on the young season.

“We got beat in all three aspects of the game,” said Carroll. “You look on the mound. A wild pitch and a run in, walking a run in, and then having an error on the mound.”

The Aces face a tall task in Sunday’s weekend finale in Spartanburg, as they look to bounce back against the eighth ranked team in the nation, Kentucky, on the campus of University of South Carolina-Upstate. First pitch is at 10 a.m. central time.

Grooms led the Eagles with 26 points and a career-high tying 12 rebounds, while Dahlstrom earned her league-leading 12th double-double of the year with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Grooms had 15 points and six rebounds in the final 10 minutes of the first half, including a buzzer-beating rebound and basket to end the first period.

Davidson finished with 13 points and three blocks, while senior guard Randa Harshbarger (Philo, Illinois) chipped in nine points. Senior guard Jillian Myers led Rockhurst with 21 points.

USI returns to action Thursday at 5:30 p.m. when it travels to Somers, Wisconsin, to take on the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

Notes: USI’s deficit in the second half was the first time the Eagles have trailed in the last 20 minutes since being down 39-37 in the third quarter against Truman State January 20…USI moved to within one win of clinching its second straight GLVC East Division title…the Eagles can clinch the Division with a win Thursday or a victory over Lewis University Saturday…despite the win, USI slipped into a tie with Drury for first in the latest GLVC Tournament Points Rating System as both teams