After grabbing a pair of series victories at Charles H. Braun Stadium the last two weekends, the University of Evansville baseball team will look to see if it can duplicate its Missouri Valley Conference success on the road when the Purple Aces set out to Springfield to square off against Missouri State for a three-game series.

The Aces (21-14, 4-2 MVC) sit just one-half game out of first place in the conference, and this weekend could prove one of the biggest tests of the season as the Bears (27-8, 2-3 MVC) boast of the league’s top offense and have been ranked as high as 15^th in the national baseball polls.

A big reason for their success is the power slugging duo of Jake Burger and Spencer Johnson, who have combined for 27 home runs this season. The Bears hold conference-best totals in batting average (.305), runs (277), doubles (79), triples (15) , home runs (44), slugging (.502), on-base percentage (.401) and stolen bases (33)

However, the Bears have yet to win a conference series this year. MSU opened up with a series split against Bradley before dropping two out of three to Wichita State last season.

Faced with the task of halting the MSU offense, the Aces will be looking to continue their prowess on the mound. Patrick Schnieders and the freshman duo of Brandon Gomer and Alex Weigand will get the starting nods for the Aces, and it’s been the bullpen that has really impressed the most. Prior to reliever Brian Jestice giving up two runs in Wednesday’s 6-2 win over Western Kentucky, the Aces relief staff had gone 26.2 consecutive frames without allowing an earned run.

Overall, the Aces own a 3.90 earned run average.

UE also boasts of a number of impressive offensive statistics, highlighted by a line-up that has produced 38 home runs on the season, which is already the most in a single season for a UE squad since 2010. Eleven different players have left the park this season, led by the duo of Jonathan Ramon and Korbin Williams, who have racked up nine and eight round-trippers, respectively.

The Aces are hitting .283 this season, and five different players this season currently own a better than .300 batting average.

First pitch on Friday is slated for 6:05 p.m., and the series will continue Saturday at 2:05 p.m. before wrapping up on Sunday at 1:05 p.m.

UE Head Women’s Tennis Coach Jayson Wiseman has announced the signing of two transfer student athletes for the fall of 2016. The addition of the Daria Pentsova and Chieko Yamada brings the incoming class of tennis players to five with the signing of three freshmen for the incoming class.

Pentsova comes to Evansville as a sophomore transfer from University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley. A native of Kiev, Ukraine, Pentsova met with early success at the collegiate level both on and off the court. In addition to being honored on the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll at UTRGV, Daria also went 3-1 in her first collegiate tournament and won the back draw at the Marco & Co. Catering Islanders Open.

“I was very interested in Daria coming out of High School, but by the time I had arrived here at UE, she had already signed at UTRGV. I am very excited to have Daria joining us as a transfer here at UE, she has a game that is tailor made for the American hard courts and she is an aggressive and tough player on the court. I am confident that she will be a major contributor to our line up in both singles and doubles.”

Yamada joins the Purple Aces as a junior transfer from Shasta College in California. A native of Saitama, Japan Yamada played Junior College tennis in Northern California for Shasta. In 2015, she was undefeated in league play and was crown champion at 1^st singles. Chieko was the #1 seed from Northern California in the California State Community College Championships where she was ultimately the runner up. Chieko also has an extensive background in international tournament play, participating in numerous ITF events and achieving a career high ranking of 552 in the world.

“We are very excited to have Chieko joining our team next fall. Her proven success at the international and collegiate level is a fantastic addition to our incoming class and will provide an experienced and successful presence in our line-up. Chieko is also a very hard worker who is dedicated to her success in the classroom, she and Daria both fit what we are looking for in our student athletes here at UE.

Both transfers will join the Aces in the fall of 2016.