Aces head back to Evansville for final four home games

Michal Luckett finished with two hits and a pair of RBIs while Chandra Parr hit her sixth home run of the season to lead the University of Evansville softball team to a come-from-behind 6-5 win on Sunday at Price Field.

Evansville (22-21, 10-10 MVC) is on a streak that has seen them take wins in five of the last six games and 8 out of 10 overall.  In the circle, Morgan Florey picked up her 15^th victory of the season as she threw the final two innings, taking over for starter Emily Lockhart

This week, the Aces wrap up their home schedule, playing Southern Illinois in a single game on Tuesday at 5 p.m. before welcoming Missouri State to Cooper Stadium for a 3-game weekend set.

“Positions 4-8 in the conference are still up for grabs.  Having these next four in a row at home is huge,” UE head coach Mat Mundell said.  “It is going to be great to play in front of the home crowd.  Evansville has an exciting team to watch.”

Chandra Parr led the game off with a home run as the Aces scored four runs off of Indiana State (14-29, 8-10 MVC) starter Taylor Lockwood.  Two quick outs followed Parr’s blast before the UE offense strung together four hits in a row.  Morgan Lambert and Hayli Scott each singled to bring Luckett to the plate.  She responded, doubling to center to score Lambert and Scott.  Susan Norris laced another double to left-center to bring home Luckett.

The Sycamores scored a pair of runs in both the first and third innings before taking their first lead in the 4^th as Erika Crissman hit a solo shot to center.

Things remained that way until the game entered the seventh wi9th the Aces down to their final three outs.  Tess Hupe started the inning off with a single before Parr reached on a fielder’s choice with Hupe out on the play.  Next up was Courtney Land, who singled.  An ISU error in centerfield allowed Parr to score the tying run.  Great base running by Land saw her advance all the way to third in the sequence.  That gave the next opportunity to Florey, who hit a sacrifice fly to left, bringing home what would be the game-winning run.

Luckett, Scott and Lambert each had two hits on the day as the Aces plated six runs on 12 hits.  Lockwood pitched all seven innings for ISU, giving up the six runs, four of which were earned.  Lockhart made the start for UE, going three innings while allowing four runs.  Florey went the final four innings and gave up just one run on two hits.

The University of Southern Indiana baseball team bounced back in the nightcap to earn a doubleheader split with Lewis University Sunday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. The Screaming Eagles lost the opener, 9-8, in eight innings, before salvaging the nightcap, 6-1.

USI saw its record go to 25-16 overall and 13-7 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, while Lewis finished the day 22-17 overall, 11-9 GLVC.

Eagles’ freshman right-hander Austin Krizan (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) was dominating in nightcap to lead USI to the 6-1 win. Krizan (4-0) won his fourth game and posted his third complete game of the year, allowing one run on seven hits and one walk in seven innings of work. He also struck out three batters.

The Eagles provided Krizan all of the offense he would need in the first two innings of nightcap with USI pushing across five runs in the first and one tally in the second inning to build a 6-0 lead. Krizan surrendered his only run of the day in the sixth before shutting the door on the 6-1 win .

Senior first baseman Andrew Cope (Evansville, Indiana) led the Eagles at the plate with a pair of hits, including a two-single in the first inning rally. Sophomore second baseman Sam Griggs (Evansville, Indiana) also had a pair of hits with a run scored and one RBI.

USI could not hold onto a 6-3 lead after five innings and lost game one 9-8 in the eighth inning of the seven-inning game one. USI, which spotted Lewis a 3-0 lead in the opening frame, scored two in the first, third, and fifth to take a 6-3 lead before Lewis rallied with four runs in the sixth to take back the lead, 7-6.

Battling back with a pair of runs in the bottom of sixth, the Eagles briefly regained the lead, 8-7, only to see the Flyers tie the game in the top of the seventh, 8-8, to send the game into an extra frame. Lewis scored the game winner in the top of the eighth for the 9-8 victory off of USI senior right-handers Alex Holder (Princeton, Indiana) and T.J. Decker (Brazil, Indiana).

Holder (3-5) picked up the loss after walking the eventual game-winning run to lead off the eighth. Decker finished the eighth allowing one hit to load the bases and a fielder’s choice that drove in the game-winning run.

Junior right-hander Devin Williams (Evansville, Indiana) started and got the no-decision after allowing seven runs, four earned, on seven hits in 5.2 innings of work. He also struck out five in the first half of the game.

USI sophomore designated hitter Joe Redburn (Newburgh, Indiana) and senior third baseman Trent Gunn (Tell City, Indiana) led the Eagles at the plate in the opener. Redburn had three hits and five RBIs, while Gunn had three hits, three runs scored, and one RBI.

The Eagles continues their 10-game homestand Wednesday at 6 p.m. when they host the University of Missouri-St. Louis for non-conference match-up at the USI Baseball Field. Live coverage of Wednesday’s game can be found on GoUSIEagles.com.

USI holds a 49-42 lead over the Tritons all-time after dropping an 8-1 decision April 5 in St. Louis. The Tritons are 24-16 overall after dropping a doubleheader on the road at Truman State University Sunday.

During Wednesday’s USI-UMSL game, Hucks will be giving away a $500 USI Bookstore certificate to a lucky USI student. Students must have a valid USI student ID and be present at the start of the baseball game to be entered in the drawing.

NOTE: USI senior rightfielder Kyle Kempf (Evansville, Indiana) ends the weekend one hit short of tying the USI career-record for hits. The record of 270 is held by Mike Peerman (1997-2000).

The best-hitting lineup in the Missouri Valley Conference proved no match for the University of Evansville pitching staff on Sunday afternoon as the Purple Aces shut down 16^th-ranked Missouri State for a 7-1 victory at Hammons Field.

“That was a statement game for our players,” UE head coach Wes Carroll said. “I think they have the confidence to know that if they play good baseball like they did this weekend, they’ll be in position to win games. I’m really proud of the effort from our guys to go on the road and win a series against an opponent like Missouri State.”

The Aces (23-15, 6-3 MVC) scored in each of the first three innings on Sunday, but aside from a single run in the bottom of the third, the Bears (28-10, 3-5 MVC) were unable to get much else going as the trio of Alex Weigand, Brent Jurceka and Ryan Brady combined  to help UE to a third consecutive series victory.

“Alex made some confident pitches out there for us against a good lineup, and then Brent just put the whole team on his back,” Carroll said. “That was one of those senior moments for him. He made all the big pitches when needed, and he did it consistently. Our pitchers were outstanding today.”

For the third time this weekend, the Aces drew first blood as a Stewart Nelson walk and an error by Bear shortstop Jeremy Eierman put a pair of runners on in the top of the first inning. Boomer Synek followed up with a single to cash in the opening score, and Korbin Williams would triple the advantage an inning later with a two-run blast over the wall in left field.

Back-to-back doubles from Trey Hair and Synek in the third pushed the Aces lead to four before the Bears reclaimed a score with a Blake Graham single in the bottom half of the frame.

Hair and Synek led the rest of the Aces lineup on the day, combining to go 5-for-10 with a pair of runs batted in.

The Bears would also challenge in the fifth inning as MSU put runners on second and third with no outs, but Brent Jurceka would make the jog from the bullpen to shut things down, inducing three straight groundouts to end the threat.

“When I came in, I was just trying to make my pitches,” Jurceka said of the jam. “I try to take it one pitch at a time and not think ahead. I had all the confidence in the world, and I knew the guys behind me would make the plays.”

Jurceka was lights-out over the course of the next four innings, giving up just one hit while striking out four, and Ryan Brady officially closed the door with a 1-2-3 ninth.

A pair of two-out rallies added some insurance for the Aces as hits from Shain Showers and Nelson brought home a score in the sixth, and consecutive eighth-inning hits from Eric McKibban and Hair made it 7-1.

UE will return to action on Wednesday with a trip to Austin Peay.

NOTES: The Aces played in a Missouri Valley Conference rubber game for the third successive week … Since 1978, the first season that UE competed at the NCAA Division I level, UE is 38-49 vs. MSU … The Aces are 871-67 all-time against Missouri schools … Last season, the Aces were swept by Missouri State at Charles H. Braun Stadium.