Aces face Quinnipiac at 4:30 p.m. CT

 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Making its first postseason appearances since the 2015 CIT, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team is in Daytona Beach, Fla. for the College Basketball Invitational.  Tip is set for 4:30 p.m. CT with the FloHoops and the Purple Aces Radio Network on the call.

All-Bench Team Honorees    

– Chuck Bailey III and Tanner Cuff were both named to the 2024 MVC All-Bench Team on Tuesday afternoon

– Bailey played in 32 games as a freshman while making one start

– The 4-time MVC Freshman of the Week averaged 8.4 points and 2.6 boards per game

– Cuff saw action in all 33 regular season games with his top game being a 16-point effort in the win over UIC

Last Time Out

– Arch Madness saw the Purple Aces win their first game in St. Louis since 2017 with a 59-53 win over Illinois State in the opening round

– Ben Humrichous posted his first double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Yacine Toumi approached a double-double with 10 points and 8 caroms

– In their second-round game, UE faced eventual league champion Drake and fell by a 79-58 final

Finishing Strong

– Yacine Toumi had an excellent showing at Arch Madness, approaching a double-double in both games

– Toumi averaged 12 points and 8.5 boards as he opened with a 10-point, 8-rebound effort in the win over ISU before adding 14 tallies and 9 caroms versus Drake

Reversing the Trend

– Entering the SIU game, Antonio Thomas averaged 2.8 points in the prior four games while shooting 21.4%

– He rebounded against the Salukis with 10 points before adding 11 at Belmont; he has notched 9.0 PPG while going 17-of-32 from the field in the last five contests

– Thomas continues to be efficient from the line, connecting on 85.9% of his tries (4th in MVC); he has hit 30 of his last 32 tries

Scouting the Opponent

– Entering the SIU game, Antonio Thomas averaged 2.8 points in the prior four games while shooting 21.4%

– He rebounded against the Salukis with 10 points before adding 11 at Belmont; he has notched 9.0 PPG while going 17-of-32 from the field in the last five contests

– Thomas continues to be efficient from the line, connecting on 85.9% of his tries (4th in MVC); he has hit 30 of his last 32 tries

The Purple Aces men’s team currently sits in second place after 10 events

MURRAY, Ky. – The University of Evansville track and field team opened the 2024 outdoor season on Friday afternoon with multiple podium finishes.

The Purple Aces throwers had a big day at the Margaret Simmons Invitational. UE’s field athletes picked up five podium finishes, including two graduate throwers taking the top spot in the men’s discus and hammer throws. Zach Dove (Princeton, Ind. / Princeton Community HS) earned Evansville’s first top-place finish of the night in the men’s discus with a throw of 47.44 meters.

Jaden Hayes (Huntingberg, Ind. / Southridge HS) also earned a podium finish in the discus with a throw of 44.12 meters for third. Hayes earned a 1^st place finish of his own in the men’s hammer throw as he came just shy of the program record with a 50.68-meter toss. Dove was right behind Hayes in the event with a throw of 48.99 meters while also earning a second-place finish in the men’s shot put at 14.52 meters.

On the women’s side, sophomore Gwen Darrah (Cleveland, Ohio / Orange HS) finished eighth in the women’s hammer throw at 41.67 meters. She was followed by seniors Hannah Bryan (Evansville, Ind. / Reitz HS) and Brooke Springer (Henderson, Ky. / Henderson Community HS) with throws of 30.96 and 25.30 meters respectively. Springer led the Aces in the women’s discus throw at 29.18 meters while freshman Jillian Miller (Boonville, Ind. / Boonville HS) had a 24.29-meter throw.

UE also had a big night in the 4×800-meter relay races. Evansville placed first in both the men’s and women’s events to set program records on both sides. The men’s team of Alvaro Monfort (Castile Y Leon, Spain), Adam Oulgout (St. Paul, Minn. / Central HS), Tommaso Losma (Lombardia, Italy), and Rafael Rodriguez (Segovia, Spain) broke a 44-year-old record with a time of 7:42.29. The women’s team was the first to run the 4×800 relay in program history finishing in 9:10.84 behind Eilen Brenne (Skien, Norway), Kalina Urbaniak (Suchy Las, Poland), Nayla Martin (Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec, Canada), and Nicole Prauchner (Neuhofen an der Ybbs, Austria).

In individual track performances, freshman sprinter Woody Burrel (Cedarburg, Wis. / Cedarburg HS) had the best finish, placing fourth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 57.73 seconds. Evansville had four runners in the men’s 200-meter race with freshman Raymond Felton III (Houston / Clear Brook HS) placing 10^th with a time of 22.30 seconds. Sophomore Kate Walke also broke a program record in the women’s 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.60 seconds for 11^th place.

After the first day of the Margaret Simmons Invitational, the Aces men sit in second place with 62 points just behind Purdue Fort Wayne with 66 points. UE’s women are currently tied for fifth place with Olivet (NAIA) at 12 points. Evansville will begin Day 2 of the Invite on Saturday at 10:15 a.m. with field events. Running events for the Aces will begin at noon.

EVANSVILLE, Ind.- University of Southern Indiana Baseball (9-12, 0-1 OVC) opened Ohio Valley Conference play Friday night with a 9-7 extra-inning loss against Tennessee Tech University (13-9, 1-0 OVC) at USI Baseball Field.

USI jumped out to a one-run lead in the first inning with a deep sacrifice fly by senior infielder Tucker Ebest (Austin, Texas), which drove in senior outfielder Ren Tachioka (Saitama, Japan) following his leadoff single. The score remained locked at 1-0 until the bottom of the fourth, where the Screaming Eagles extended their lead to 2-0 on a freshman outfielder Cameron Boyd (Villa Hills, Kentucky) RBI single.

Tennessee Tech stormed back with three runs in the top of the fifth, taking a 3-2 lead. Freshman pitcher Grant Parsons (Owensboro, Kentucky) exited the game at that point despite a career-high nine strikeouts in 4.2 innings.

After Tennessee Tech extended their lead to 4-2 in the top of the sixth, USI fought back with a two-run bottom half of the inning to tie the game with an RBI double from junior infielder Ricardo Van Grieken (Merida, Venezuela).

The Golden Eagles snatched the lead back due to two USI errors before extending it further with a two-run top of the eighth to push the lead to 7-4.
Southern Indiana made a push in the bottom of the eighth putting up two runs. However, USI extended the game in the bottom of the ninth by tying the game on a fielder’s choice up the middle by junior outfielder Terrick Thompson-Allen (Sioux City, Iowa), which scored senior pitcher Trent Robinson (Louisville, Kentucky) and sent the game into extras.

The Golden Eagles came out in extra innings swinging, as they tacked on two runs in the top of the tenth inning. USI was unable to push anything across in the home half, resulting in sophomore pitcher Will Kiesel’s (Wadesville, Indiana) first loss of the season.

ATHENS, Ga. – Two silver medals and four All-America finishes pushed Indiana up the team leaderboard Friday (March 22) night at the 2024 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships inside the Gabrielsen Natatorium on the campus of the University of Georgia.

Indiana moved back into seventh, totaling 138 points through the three days. The Hoosiers are within striking distance of USC, trailing the Trojans by 19 points going into the final day. IU is the highest scoring team from the Big Ten so far, ahead of Ohio State (104) and Michigan (102.5). Last season, Indiana’s seventh-place finish tied a program record as the Hoosiers earned 219 points.

Peplowski earned her second medal in two days, finishing second in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:40.97. It was a photo finish with Florida freshman and Olympian Bella Sims, who touched in 1:40.90. The Indiana junior allowed the Gator to take an early lead, intending to finish strong, and nearly caught her in the final 50 yards with a 25.52 final lap.

“It was another good day for the Hoosiers at the NCAA meet,” IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said. “Anna was spectacular tonight, and I think she’s taken that next step as a swimmer. Although she didn’t win the national title, she did everything she could have done – except maybe she shouldn’t have cut her fingernails! I’m so proud of her, and I think that really lends itself to a bright future for Anna.”

Peplowski has seen the podium in four of her five races this week – she also led off the fifth-place 400-yard freestyle relay Wednesday night and the eighth-place 200-yard freestyle relay.

Senior Anne Fowler wrote her final collegiate chapter to a memorable conclusion, earning her second-straight silver medal on the 3-meter springboard with a score of 342.45. Fowler qualified for the championship final just four-tenths of a point better than the ninth-place prelim placement. She finishes her career a six-time All-American, two-time NCAA medalist and three-time Big Ten Champion.

“Wow! what a day!” IU head diving coach Drew Johansen. “I’m so proud of Anne showing us one last time how tough of a competitor she is. She is one of our all-time greats.

“It’s an emotional thing to be able to perform at anything, at any level. The emotion from the team today was unbelievable. The girls were amazing in the morning swims, and the emotion was with us – excitement, nerves, anxiety all working for us. An injury scare for Skyler (Liu) in the diving warmup for the preliminary created a new emotion for the team – concern, love, thankfulness. Everyone on the team responded and left it all in the pool.”

“Anne was awesome,” Looze said. “She had to overcome a lot just to make the A final and then moved herself all the way with grit and determination and perseverance to second. And that really encapsulates our team: grit, determination, perseverance and togetherness.”

Junior Kacey McKenna earned her first-career NCAA podium finish, placing sixth in the 100-yard backstroke. McKenna set a program record in 50.23 during prelims to glide into the championship heat. IU’s Big Ten Champion is the first Hoosier ever to swim under 51 seconds and has done so four times this season and did so three times Friday.

“Kacey was phenomenal, making her first A final and scoring her first points at an NCAA meet,” Looze said. “Her development is truly remarkable. This is a young woman that went 55 at Big Tens last year and is now in the A final – went 50.2 this morning!”

McKenna went 50.97 to lead off Indiana’s 400-yard medley relay that finished 15th. The Hoosier quartet of McKenna, junior Brearna Crawford, Peplowski and sophomore Kristina Paegle actually improved the program’s season-best time by seven tenths but were perhaps unfortunate to finish below their seed.

“We would have liked to push that baby higher,” Looze said, “but I have no doubt we gave everything we could and left it in the pool. We have one important day left, and I believe it’s our best day.

RESULTS

200 FREESTYLE

1. Anna Peplowski – 1:40.97 (NCAA Silver, All-America, Program Record, Career Best)

100 BACKSTROKE

6. Kacey McKenna – 50.65 (All-America)

3-METER DIVING

2. Anne Fowler – 342.45 (NCAA Silver, All-America)

400 MEDLEY RELAY

15. Kacey McKenna, Brearna Crawford, Anna Peplowski, Kristina Paegle – 3:29.65 (Second-team All-America)

HOOSIER ALL-AMERICANS
Brearna Crawford (200 medley relay*, 400 medley relay*)
Ching Hwee Gan (800 freestyle relay)

Anne Fowler (1-meter*, 3-meter)
Kacey McKenna (200 medley relay*, 200 freestyle relay, 100 backstroke, 400 medley relay*)
Kristina Paegle (200 medley relay*, 800 freestyle relay, 50 freestyle*, 200 freestyle relay, 400 medley relay*)
Anna Peplowski (800 freestyle relay, 500 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay, 200 freestyle, 400 medley relay*)
Ella Ristic (800 freestyle relay)
Chiok Sze Yeo (200 medley relay*)

Ashley Turak (50 freestyle*, 200 freestyle relay)

Evansville, In.:  Behind two goals from Brendan Harrogate, more solid goaltending from Ty Taylor, and an excellent 60-minute defensive effort, the Thunderbolts secured their 4^th win in a row and snapped Peoria’s 6-game win streak, 3-1 on Friday night at Ford Center.   The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Saturday, March 23^rd against the Peoria Rivermen, puck drop at 7:00 pm CT.

In a very evenly played first period, the Rivermen scored the lone goal as Nicholas Aromatario scored at 7:49 to give Peoria the first lead of the night.  Evansville’s offense came alive in the second period, starting with Harrogate’s first goal of the night on a power move to the Rivermen net to tie the game, assisted by Myles Abbate and Mark Zhukov at 4:51.  At 9:22, Harrogate sniped home his second goal of the game off an entry play from Scott Kirton and Dmitri Yushkevich to put Evansville ahead 2-1.  Only 15 seconds later at 9:37, Adam Pilotte finished a net-front rush by Lincoln Hatten to extend the lead to 3-1, the goal being Pilotte’s first professional goal in his professional debut, with the assists at this time being awarded to Grayson Valente and Matthew Hobbs.  Evansville’s defense did the bulk of the work in the third period, holding Peoria to only 8 shots while also frustrating the Rivermen enough to force them to take four penalties down the stretch, as the 3-1 lead for Evansville held to the finish.

Harrogate scored two goals on the night with Pilotte scoring the other Evansville goal.  In goal, Ty Taylor made 18 saves on 19 shots  for his 6^th win of the season.  The Thunderbolts and Rivermen meet for the final time this regular season on Saturday, March 23^rd at Ford Center.  With the win and Knoxville loss, the Thunderbolts now only need 1 more point or another Knoxville loss to clinch a playoff spot.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – No. 13 Indiana rowing will face a field full of ranked opponents Saturday (March 23) at the Big Ten-Ivy League Dual, hosted by No. 5 Yale on the Cooper River in Camden, New Jersey.

Indiana will face No. 8 Penn, No. 12 Syracuse and No. 19 Harvard in its morning session. In the afternoon, the Hoosiers will face the hosts head-to-head. IU’s four varsity boats will see the water Saturday.

Indiana moved up in the ranking from No. 16 to No. 13 after a winning weekend at the Oak Ridge Invitational last week. The Hoosiers won 16 of 21 races over three sessions, collecting a 39-6 head-to-head record. IU’s Varsity Eight, Varsity Four, Third Varsity Four and Second Novice Eight were all undefeated in their three races.

Saturday’s full schedule can be found below. Results will be available via @IndianaRowing’s social media platforms.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
All times eastern
Saturday Morning
7:55 a.m. – V4 (vs. Syracuse, Penn, Harvard)

8:15 a.m. – 2V8 (vs. Syracuse, Penn, Harvard)

8:35 a.m. – V8 (vs. Syracuse, Penn, Harvard)

8:55 a.m. – 2V4 (vs. Syracuse, Penn, Harvard)

Saturday Afternoon
11 a.m. – 2V4 (vs. Yale)

11:30 a.m. – 2V8 (vs. Yale A, Yale B)

Noon – V8 (vs. Yale)

12:30 p.m. – 2V4 (vs. Yale)

MURRAY STATE TAKES VALLEY OPENER OVER EVANSVILLE, 13-6

MARCH 23 2024

EVANSVILLE, Ind. –  The visiting Murray State University baseball team used a five-run third inning to take control of the contest on Friday night, and the Racers held off a late charge by the University of Evansville Purple Aces for a 13-6 victory in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both schools at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville

“Tonight was a tough one,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll.  “We didn’t get the quality start that we needed on the mound tonight, and Murray State came to the yard and put it on us in all three facets of the game.

“Tomorrow is an important day for us.  We are going to face some quality arms once again, but we feel like we have some guys who can answer that.  We will need some guys to step up, and our offense will have to go get one for us these next two days.”

Murray State took an early 1-0 lead on an RBI ground out in the second inning, before UE answered right back in the home half of the inning to grab a brief lead.  Junior outfielder Ty Rumsey led off the second inning with a solo home run to right-center field for his third home run of the year.  Then, after a walk and a single put men on the corners, junior designated hitter Evan Waggoner drove in a run with an RBI ground out to give UE a 2-1 lead.

The Racers would break things open in the third inning, though, scoring five runs on five hits, highlighted by a two-run home run by designated hitter Dan Tauken, to take a 6-2 lead.  Murray State would tack on two more runs each in the fourth and seventh innings, and a solo run in the sixth to push the lead to 11-2.

Evansville would rally for two runs of its own in the seventh and eighth innings, as junior second baseman Cal McGinnis had an RBI single in the seventh and a sacrifice fly in the eighth, and graduate outfielder Mark Shallenberger drove in a run with a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch to trim the deficit to 11-6.  But, that would be as close as UE would come, as a pair of unearned runs by Murray State in the ninth inning provided the final margin of victory.

McGinnis and graduate catcher Brendan Hord had two-hit efforts for UE, while Rumsey added a solo home run.  Tauken and outfielder Riley Hawthorne both had two hits and drove in three runs for Murray State.

With the victory, Murray State improves to 15-6 overall and 1-0 in the Valley.  Evansville, meanwhile, falls to 9-12 overall and 0-1 in the MVC.  The series will continue on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m., with UE sending freshman left-hander Kenton Deverman (2-1, 4.75 ERA) to the mound for the start.  Saturday’s game can be seen live on ESPN+