Aces coming off much-improved 2016 campaign

 In just his second season at the helm, University of Evansville head men’s soccer coach Marshall Ray engineered the second-largest turnaround in program history, leading the Purple Aces to 10 wins in 2016.  Heading into this season, Ray and his squad are anxious to get back to work as the 2017 schedule has been released.

“It is important we stay focused on who we are and what the tradition of our program demands of us.  Our players and staff must approach every day with the same attitude and effort that has allowed us to make great strides on and off the field in the last 2.5 years,” UE head coach Marshall Ray said.  “We are excited for the start of training camp in August and look forward to the opportunity to continue to improve.  We have made strides, but still have a tremendous amount of work to do to emulate the success of past Aces teams.”

“Our 2017 non-conference schedule is going to prepare us for the rigors of the Missouri Valley Conference,” Ray added.  “There is no question that we play in one of the most competitive leagues in the country, and with the addition of Valparaiso our league has gotten better from top to bottom.  You can look through our schedule and see multiple 10 win teams and conference champions from 2016.  This schedule will challenge us and allow us the opportunity to continue to grow as a program.”

Preseason play takes place on Sunday, August 20 as UE welcomes IUPUI to Arad McCutchan Stadium.  The regular season quickly commences five days later with a home contest against Oakland City.  Evansville welcomes the Mighty Oaks at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 25.  The Aces finish their opening weekend against a familiar squad – Marshall University.  Last season, the Aces grabbed a 2-1 home win over the Thundering Herd and look for another victory on the 27^th in Huntington, W.Va.

Next up is the annual ProRehab Aces Soccer Classic.  One of the most prestigious yearly traditions for the Aces soccer program will see three stout teams making their way to Evansville – Milwaukee, Northern Illinois and Bradley.  UE starts the weekend with a 7 p.m. match against Milwaukee on Sept. 1.  The Panthers went 8-8-3 last year and were 5-3-1 in Horizon League action.  Two days later, Evansville faces off against NIU at 2:30 p.m.  Other matches over the weekend feature Bradley taking on Milwaukee and NIU.

An exciting non-conference trip will take place on Sept. 7 as UE heads to Phoenix, Ariz. to take on upstart Grand Canyon University.  The Antelopes participate in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).  Evansville remains in the road for another big match-up on Sept. 12 when they make the trek to Indianapolis to face Butler.  The defending Big East Champions went 13-5-2 last year and 9-1-1 at home on their way to a final ranking of #18.

A home match versus Eastern Illinois is the final tune-up on the 17^th before the Aces commence Missouri Valley Conference play six days later at Missouri State.  The Bears posted a 9-8-3 mark in 2016 and split the season series with UE as both road teams picked up the win.  Valley play continues on Wednesday, Sept. 27 with a home match versus Bradley.  UE defeated the Braves by a 2-0 final last year.

It is back to non-conference action to start the month of October as the Purple Aces head north on Interstate 69 to Bloomington to face Indiana University.  The Hoosiers finished last year ranked 9^th in the nation after going 12-2-7 while playing in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.  IU was 3-0-5 last year in Big Ten play.

MVC play resumes on Oct. 7 as the Aces head to Valparaiso for their first meeting as conference foes.  The Crusaders notched a 10-5-4 record last year in their final season as members of the Horizon League.  Two home matches are on tap following that trip.  The Aces welcome Belmont to McCutchan Stadium on Oct. 10.  UE defeated the Bruins by a 2-0 final last season.

On October 14, the Aces play host to Loyola.  The Ramblers were the top MVC squad in the 2016 regular season, going 14-4-1 overall and 6-1-1 in the Valley while finishing the season ranked 21^st in the country.  Evansville played the Ramblers tough last year, with the match finishing in a 1-1 tie.  Loyola defeated UIC in the opening round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament before falling to Notre Dame in the second round.

UE takes to the road on October 18 to play at Lipscomb.  The Bisons went 10-6-2 last year.  Three days later, it is back to MVC play with a trip to Des Moines, Iowa to face Drake.  In 2016, the Aces went 2-0 against the Bulldogs.  They earned a 4-3 win in Des Moines before opening up the conference championship with a 2-1 triumph.

A 3-match homestand will mark the end of the 2017 home slate.  That stretch starts with Central Arkansas on Oct. 24 before finishing up the season series against Drake on Saturday, Oct. 28.  The final home match is set for Halloween when UE hosts Northern Kentucky, a team they defeated on the road last season by a 2-0 final.

Regular-season play wraps up on Saturday, November 4 in a match that may have postseason implication as the Aces head to Chicago to take on Loyola to wrap up their in-season home-and-home league series.  The MVC Championship begins on Nov. 7.

Event to honor former Aces runner 

University of Evansville head cross country coach Don Walters announced that the Bailey George Memorial 5K Run/Walk will be held on Saturday, August 5, 2017 to honor the memory of former Purple Aces runner Bailey George, who passed away from cancer in 2016.

Registration for the event is just $20.00 with all proceeds going directly into the Bailey George Scholarship Fund at the University of Evansville.

All participants will have the opportunity to run on the Angel Mounds Cross Country Course. The 100% grass cross country course at Angel Mounds provides excellent footing for the competitors, and clear sightlines for spectators. The host location for the 2016 U-18 National Championship (with over 2500 competitors), the 2015 MVC Championships and University of Evansville home meets, the course will also be the location of the 2017 NCAA Division II Championships.

The race begins at 9 a.m. and is an untimed event. There will be a clock at the finish line. A 400-meter children’s race will also take place.

“This event is a great way to celebrate Bailey and what was important to her. Being outside, physical fitness, and cross country were important things to her, and I’m glad that we are able to celebrate her, and what was important to her, at her home cross country course,” says Coach Don Walters.

In 2016, 300 runners and walkers took part in the inaugural memorial run and walk.

Pre-registration is encouraged at www.uealumnionline.com/BaileyGeorgeRun17. Day-of registration will also be accepted. If you cannot attend this event but would like to contribute to the Bailey George Memorial Scholarship Fund, please visit www.evansville.edu/give.

Ellis Park 2-year-old spotlight: Fern Circle’s Classy Music
McPeek-trained filly overcomes miscues to romp at a mile in second start
It wasn’t a flawless rendition, but the 2-year-old filly Classy Music was so good that she overcame a couple off notes to score a 4 3/4-length victory over the promising Reality Queen in a mile maiden race Friday at Ellis Park.

“I’m lucky I won and survived,” said jockey Channing Hill. “She came down onto her face leaving the gate. This filly has quite a bit of talent. Kenny’s only real instructions were not to screw it up. He’s pretty excited about this filly, obviously.”

Kenny is Kenny McPeek, who trains Classy Music for Paul Fireman’s Fern Circle Stables. The daughter of Maclean’s Music covered the mile in 1:40.53 and returned $3.20 to win as the 3-5 favorite in the field of six.

“She’s still a little green,” Hill said. “Stumbled away from there. Got a little rank with me down the backside, then settled nice. I was super happy. Just one of those things, you just have a better horse and you’re not too concerned sitting behind (others). But then when we got into the turn, she … drifted across (other horses’) heels. I mean, I clipped heels for three or four jumps. I’m glad she had the athleticism to keep herself up. When you see the head-on shot, you’ll see it.

“Definitely going into that turn, we had a few tense moments. It was just green stuff. She was sitting good. It was one of those spots that I had her close to heels, expecting her to switch right to her left lead when we got there, and she kind of wanted to go a little straight. Not getting out or anything bad. Just green, baby stuff. Then to regroup, then to step on the brakes again and come outside, then she kind of pulled herself up the entire lane — nice filly. Once she gets a little company to go with her, she’ll be much better…. She outclassed those fillies.”

Classy Music had raced once before, breaking tardily that day, rushing up and fading to third April 20 in a 4 1/2-furlong race at Keeneland. The winner, Buy Sell Hold, beat the boys in her next start to take the $100,000 Kentucky Juvenile two days before the Kentucky Derby.

“She’s a good filly,” said McPeek, who mentioned a logical objective being the $75,000 Ellis Park Debutante on Aug. 20. He remembers his instructions a little differently. “I told him, ‘Don’t try to ride him from git to go; it’s not going to work. Just be patient with her.’”

McPeek said Classy Music didn’t run again until now because the filly had backed off her feed after her debut. “We just took our time with her,” he said. “I did think she was a filly who wanted to go longer.”

The race was taken off the turf, which was fine with McPeek, who was looking for the mile distance rather than the surface when he entered Classy Music in this spot.

“The same thing happened with Daddys Lil Darling last year,” he said of his Kentucky Oaks runner-up who broke her maiden in an off-the-turf mile race at Ellis. “It also came off the turf. She got in trouble. Won anyway.”

The Mike Maker-trained Reality Queen and jockey Jon Court finished eight lengths in front of Tiz B B N.

“She did well,” Court said. “I tried to get a jump on that 3 (the winner), because I knew she was going to close on me. She finished up well, just second-best today.”

Sprinting out: Pride is on the line as jockeys jump aboard camels and ostriches Saturday for one of the meet’s most popular promotions. Riding the four camels will be 2015 camel titlist Calvin Borel (who missed last year’s race during his five-month hiatus from the track), Didiel Osorio, apprentice jockey Rogelio Miranda and Rito Almanza. Riding the five ostriches will be Osorio, Miranda, Almanza, Sergio Figueroa and the racing office’s Bailey Hare, who finished second in last year’s ostrich race despite, by his admission, spotting the field 40 pounds.

Other upcoming promotions: Brass Hat, who earned $2 million and legions of fans through seven years of racing, will return to Ellis Park July 16 to commemorate Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Day. Brass Hat will parade through the stretch (while ridden by Borel, who won Keeneland’s Grade 3 Sycamore at age 9 and Churchill Downs’ Grade 3 Louisville Handicap at age 8 on the popular gelding) and greet the public in the paddock midway through the card. Five-hundred commemorative Brass Hat posters will be given out, with Borel and Brass Hat trainer and co-owner Buff Bradley signing autographs. Other retired thoroughbreds will be on display throughout the afternoon, including Brass Hat’s buddy King of Speed, whose 111-race career included 15 starts at Ellis.

July 23 is College Day with full-time students having a chance to win a laptop or a $1,000 tuition scholarship via drawings after every race. The laptops are courtesy of the Kentucky HBPA, which represents owners and trainers at the commonwealth’s five tracks, with the scholarships a collaboration between Henderson County businesses and the Kentucky HBPA.

Kids on the Track: Kids 12 and under line up for foot races after the horses races every Sunday, with winners getting a pair of jockey goggles and all the fame they can stand.

The Evansville Otters used a 10-run seventh inning to beat the Joliet Slammers 10-5 in Friday’s series opener at Bosse Field.

Both starting pitchers came out strong, tossing three scoreless innings each to begin the game and Otters starting pitcher Max Duval recorded six strikeouts in the process.

The Slammers would strike first in the top of the fourth.

A Melvin Rodriguez RBI single scored the first run of the game, giving the Slammers a 1-0 lead.

Rodriguez would later score behind a two-run home run by Spencer Navin, pushing the Slammers lead to 3-0.

Joliet extended the advantage to 4-0 in the sixth when Navin scored Josh Merrigan on an RBI single.

The Otters offense would come alive in the seventh.

Jeff Gardner hit a solo home run to right field to cut the deficit to 4-1.

Following back-to-back singles from Nick Walker and Ryan Long, Christopher Riopedre scored Walker with an RBI single to make it a 4-2 game.

Brandon Soat tied the game with an RBI single and throwing error by Joliet, scoring Long and Riopedre.

A one hour, 44 minute rain delay paused the game in the seventh.

Once play resumed, the Otters picked up right where they left off.

Dane Phillips had an RBI single that scored Soat, giving the Otters a lead at 5-4. John Schultz’s bases-loaded walk made it 6-4.

Gardner would provide Evansville with some insurance runs as he hit an RBI double to left field, scoring Phillips and Alejandro Segovia.

With an 8-4 lead, Walker hit an RBI single, allowing Schultz and Gardner to score.

Evansville scored all ten runs in the bottom of the seventh, a season-high for one inning.

The Slammers would add a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

Duval took a no-decision, going six innings and surrendering four runs. He struck out 11 while recording his fifth game of the season with 10 or more strikeouts.

Reliever Hasten Freeman earned the win for Evansville, moving to 2-1 on the year.

Joliet starter Duke von Schamann also took a no-decision while Jordan Wellander was handed the loss.

Evansville and Joliet return to action at Bosse Field Saturday for a doubleheader, starting at 5:35 p.m.

Tickets for Saturday against Joliet are still available by going to evansvilleotters.com or calling 812-435-8686.

On Saturday, Heritage Federal Credit Union celebrates A League of Their Own’s 25th anniversary with a special 5:35 p.m. doubleheader and jersey auction. Plus, the first 1,000 fans will receive a hat courtesy of Heritage Federal.

Fans can listen live on 91.5 FM WUEV and watch on the Otters Digital Network. Lucas Corley (play-by-play) will provide coverage.