EVANSVILLE, Ind. –  The University of Evansville baseball team will renew its annual rivalry with the nationally-ranked Kentucky Wildcats on Tuesday night, as the Purple Aces will travel east to Lexington, Kentucky for a 5:30 p.m. central contest at UK’s Kentucky Proud Park.  Tuesday’s game can be heard live on 107.1 FM-WJPS and it can be seen on the SEC Network+ streaming service.

Evansville will bring a 9-10 overall record into Tuesday night’s game after dropping a 6-5 decision at Michigan State on Sunday.  Tuesday’s game will cap a stretch of seven out of eight games against Power Five competition for the Purple Aces.  It will also be UE’s fifth game this year against nationally-ranked competition, as the Wildcats currently rank as high as 24th nationally in the Perfect Game Top 25, while also ranking 25th in the USA Today Coaches Top 25.

Graduate outfielder Mark Shallenberger continues to lead the UE offense with a .406 average.  Shallenberger has reached base safely in 35-straight games dating back to last year, and he currently ranks 10th in NCAA Division I baseball with 10 hit-by-pitches, and 18th in Division I baseball in on-base percentage at .564.  Shallenberger has not gone more than four consecutive trips to the plate without reaching base so far this year.

UK will ride a five-game winning streak into Tuesday’s contest after sweeping nationally-ranked Georgia over the weekend.  Graduate infielder Nick Lopez, a transfer from USC, currently paces the UK offense with a .431 batting average, nine doubles, two triples, two home runs and 17 RBI.  Lopez ranks 41st nationally in terms of batting average, while also ranking 25th in doubles.  Pitching has powered the UK 17-3 start overall, as the Wildcats rank 15th nationally in team earned run average at 3.69, while ranking sixth nationally in fewest hits allowed per nine innings at 6.71.

UK leads the all-time series 11-10 over UE.  The two teams met last year in Lexington, with the Wildcats posting a 6-3 victory over UE.

Aces play on March 24 at 4:30 p.m. CT

 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Making its first postseason appearance in nine years, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team is set to open the 2024 Ro College Basketball Invitational on March 24 against Quinnipiac.

Game time for the Purple Aces Ro CBI opener is 4:30 p.m. CT on the 24^th at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla.  Tickets for Sunday’s game are $20 and can be purchased by clicking here.  The UE fan sections are 105/106.

Evansville will be staying at the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort.  There is a fan block discount available that can be found here.  For more information, please call Logan Belz at 812-488-2623.

In an exciting 2023-24 campaign, the Purple Aces accomplished a number of milestones on its way to the postseason.  Currently standing at 16 wins, UE has its highest win total since 2017-18.  On March 7, Evansville opened Arch Madness with a 59-53 win over Illinois State.  That was the first victory in St. Louis for the program since 2017.

Six consecutive wins opened the season for UE, marking the first time for the program since the undefeated 1964-65 National Championship team.  Multiple individuals played a pivotal role in the success throughout the season highlighted by 2024 Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year and All-Newcomer Team member Ben Humrichous, All-Freshman and All-Bench honoree Chuck Bailey III and Tanner Cuff, who joined Bailey on the All-Bench squad.

Quinnipiac completed its season with an overall record of 24-9 while finishing 15-5 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).   The Bobcats were the top seed entering the MAAC Tournament before falling to Saint Peter’s in the second round.

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University baseball closed out the weekend Sunday afternoon at Jerry Blemker Field with the final two games of their four game Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) series with the Cougars of Illinois Central College.

The Trailblazers unfortunately came up on the wrong end of a 7-0 game one and an 11-5 final in game two Sunday.

VU did not get off to a great start at Jerry Blemker Field, with the Cougars quickly taking control of game one with a pair of runs in the first and second innings to take an early 4-0 lead.

Vincennes would get a couple of runners on in the fourth on a two-out double by sophomore Jack Robinson (Mooresville, Ind.) and a single by Holden Clifton (Louisville, Ill.) but were unable to push across a run in the inning.

Illinois Central continued to add on with a run in the fifth and two more runs in the sixth.

Vincennes again looked to be in striking distance in the seventh after a double by sophomore Brandon Juarez (Evansville, Ind.) but were again held off the scoreboard as ICC closed out the 7-0 victory in game one of the day.

Freshman Alex Wandersee (Centerville, Ind.) got the start in game one for Vincennes, throwing five and one-third innings, allowing six runs on seven hits and striking out four.

Wandersee then turned it over to freshman Bryce Gross (Bridgeport, Ill.) who came in to throw the final one and two-thirds innings, allowing one unearned run on two hits and striking out one in his outing.

“Game one was the pitching,” VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. “We gave up four runs in the first two innings and their guy stepped up and did a great job. You have to tip your cap to him. We got three hits off of him in seven innings and he didn’t walk anybody. He threw strikes and really did a good job against us.”

“Offensively it was hard to get it going,” Barney added. “It was 4-0 after two, the tacked on a couple more later on. We battled, but at the same time came up short, so not a very good outing for us in that one.”

Vincennes looked to turn things around and close out the weekend strong in game two of the day and got on the scoreboard in the second inning in a big way.

VU’s first six batters of the inning reached base safely, led off by sophomore Blake Heyerly (Monroe, Ind.) being hit by a pitch, followed by back-to-back walks for sophomores Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Trevor Newman (Fort Wayne, Ind.) to load the bases.

Sophomore Bryton Griffy would drive in the first two runs of the game on a fielding error, giving VU an early 2-0 lead.

The Blazers weren’t done there though, as freshman Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, Ind.) followed that with a single to load the bases a second time in the inning, which was then followed by a big two-RBI double by Jack Robinson.

Douglas would come in to score the fifth Vincennes run in the inning on a groundout put in play by sophomore Kade Hinton (Fort Wayne, Ind.), giving the Blazers a big 5-0 early lead over the Cougars.

Illinois Central would answer back in their next inning however, scoring three runs in the third and three more in the fourth to rally back to take a 6-5 lead.

ICC would add another run in the fifth and tack on a few late insurance runs in the eighth and ninth.

Illinois Central closed out the ninth and picked up the 11-5 victory over the Trailblazers to end the weekend series.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Golf heads to Sevierville, Tennessee to compete in the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate. The host of the Intercollegiate is OVC conference rival Tennessee Tech University at the Sevierville Golf Club. The course is 6,891 yards with a par of 72 featuring three rounds on March 17-19.

The format of the event includes five golfers, counting four. 15 teams will compete including: Alabama A&M University, Bellarmine University, Belmont University, Chicago State University, Christian Brothers University, Cleveland State University, Delta State University, University of Detroit Mercy, University of Evansville, Lee University, Morehead State University, Northern Kentucky University, Tennessee State University, Tennessee Tech, and USI.

The Intercollegiate features multiple OVC squads including Morehead State (projected to finish fourth), USI (projected to finish fifth), Tennessee Tech (projected to finish sixth), and Tennessee State (projected to finish tenth) in the OVC, respectively. Therefore, USI looks to make an early statement to the conference rivals ahead of the OVC Championship in late April. The Eagles are familiar with this event as they placed an impressive third in the intercollegiate at last season with a final team score of +15.

USI last competed on February 19-20 at the World Golf Village Collegiate in St. Augustine, Florida. The Eagles placed 11^th place at the highly competitive 18-team invite. Senior Jace Day (Bloomington, Indiana) shattered the 18-hole school record with a score of 64 (-8) in the second round. Day finished the round with an incredible eight birdies. Junior Jason Bannister (Laguna Niguel, California) led the way with a tied at 13^th place with a three-round score of 216 (67, 75, 74).

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball built a 6-0 lead early before getting an 8-3 win over the University of Illinois Sunday afternoon in Champaign, Illinois. USI is 9-10 in the non-conference season, while Illinois goes to 7-11.
 
The Screaming Eagles grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first, scoring on a ground out by senior designated hitter Jack Ellis (Jeffersonville, Indiana). The 1-0 lead would stand until the sixth when USI increased the lead to 4-0 with a trio of runs.
 
USI’s first two runs of the three-run sixth were the result of Illinois miscues. USI sophomore shortstop Caleb Niehaus (Newburgh, Indiana) crossed the plate with run number two when junior second baseman/first baseman Thomas Emerich (Ava, Missouri) reached on an error, while Ellis scored to put USI up 3-0 when junior catcher Logan Mock (Livingston, California) reached on second Illini error of the frame.
 
The Eagles pushed the fourth run of the game and third of the inning when sophomore first baseman Jacob Winzenread (McCordsville, Indiana) used a bunt single to drive in Emerich for a 4-0 lead.
 
Ellis would strike again for USI to increase the lead to 6-0 when he blasted his third-round tripper of the series and the season. The junior designated hitter’s two-run shot would give him three RBI in the game.
 
The Illini got onto the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth, driving three runs to cut the USI advantage in half. The Eagle re-extended the lead to four runs when senior rightfielder Ren Tachioka (Japan) gave USI a 7-3 advantage with an RBI single.
 
USI sealed the 8-3 victory with another tally in the ninth when Niehaus scored after Emerich reached on a ground out.
 
USI junior right-hander Gavin Morris (Brazil, Indiana) started and picked up the win. Morris (2-1) allowed three runs on three hits and three walks, while striking out five in 6.2 innings of work.

EAST LANSING, Mich. –  The Michigan State baseball team rallied for two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on Sunday to knock off the visiting University of Evansville Purple Aces, 6-5, at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field in East Lansing, Michigan.

“This is a tough one,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll.  “After we rallied to take the lead with some great at-bats in the middle innings, to lose this late is really tough.

“We have to find a way to put this game behind us and bounce back quickly though.  This week is a very important week for us, especially with MVC play starting on Friday.”

After Evansville rallied for three runs in the sixth inning to take a 5-4 lead on home runs by senior first baseman Kip Fougerousse and graduate catcher Brendan Hord, the Spartans mounted a rally of its own in the eighth inning to win the game and the series.  Outfielder Nick Williams and second baseman Ryan McKay knocked back-to-back one-out doubles to tie the game at 5-5.  Then, the Spartans worked back-to-back walks to load the bases, and after a strikeout, catcher Noah Bright worked another walk to give Michigan State a 6-5 lead.

After a brief delay for snow going into the ninth inning, Michigan State closer Tommy Szczepanski worked a perfect ninth inning with a pair of strikeouts to earn his second save of the year.

Michigan State took an early 3-0 lead in the contest with two runs in the first inning, and one more in the third inning, before Evansville would begin to chip away.  A lead-off double by senior shortstop Simon Scherry and an RBI single by junior second baseman Cal McGinnis in the fourth inning plated UE’s first run of the contest.

The two teams traded runs in the fifth inning, before Fougerousse and Hord powered Evansville to a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning.  With one out, Fougerousse wrapped a solo home run around the right-field foul pole for his team-leading fifth home run of the year.  Then, after a single by junior outfielder Harrison Taubert, Hord launched his second home run of the series over the wall in right field to give UE a 5-4 lead with a two-run blast.

Evansville out-hit Michigan State, 11-7, in the contest, as graduate third baseman Brent Widder went 3-for-4, while graduate outfielder Mark Shallenberger went 2-for-3 with a run scored to extend his on-base streak to 35-straight games dating back to last year.  Third baseman Dillon Kark led Michigan State by going 3-for-4, while McKay went 2-for-4 with a run scored and three RBI.

With the victory, Michigan State improves to 7-10 overall.  Evansville, meanwhile, falls to 9-10 on the 2024 season.  Evansville will be back in action on Tuesday night at 5:30 p.m. central time with a contest at the University of Kentucky.  Tuesday’s game can be heard live on 107.1 FM-WJPS and seen on the SEC Network+ streaming service.

UE is in 12^th place with two rounds remaining

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. – Opening day of the spring season saw the University of Evansville men’s golf team compete at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate at the River Course of the Sevierville Golf Club.

Leading the way for the Purple Aces was Caleb Wassmer.  He opened the tournament with a 4-over 76 and stands in a tie for 35^thplace with two rounds remaining.  Carson Parker and Andres Rodriguez were just behind him with rounds of 77.  Both are in a tie for 47^th with their 5-over-par rounds.

Isaac Rohleder was fourth for the Aces with a 79 while Daniil Romashkin carded an 81.  Rohleder and Romashkin are tied for 68^th and 80^th, respectively.

Evansville wrapped up Sunday with a team score of 309 to stand in the 12^th position.  They are four behind Tennessee State and trail 10^th place Northern Kentucky by seven strokes.

Belmont holds the team and individual lead following day one.  The Bruins’ 282 has them 10 shots in front of their nearest competition with Morehead state in second.  Michael Senn of Belmont leads the individuals with a 68.  His 4-under opening round is one in front of Nolan Piazza from MSU.

Round two begins on Monday morning.