EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville baseball team will begin a rugged stretch of seven out of eight games against Power Five competition this weekend, as the Purple Aces will travel to Starkville, Mississippi to battle perennial Southeastern Conference power Mississippi State in a three-game series.  All three games are scheduled to be streamed on the SEC Network+ streaming service.

Evansville will bring a 7-5 overall record into this weekend’s series after winning three out of four games against Purdue Fort Wayne over the weekend.  The UE offense has started the season on fire, as the Purple Aces rank among the NCAA’s top 15 in five major offensive categories entering the weekend:  doubles (2nd-41), hits (6th-152), batting average (9th-.345), on-base percentage (13th-.454) and scoring (13th-10.4 runs per game).  Graduate outfielder Mark Shallenberger currently leads the UE offense and the Missouri Valley Conference with a .447 batting average, and will ride an 11-game hitting streak into Friday’s series opener.  Senior shortstop Simon Scherry (.405) and junior second baseman Cal McGinnis (.404) also both hit above .400 on the season for UE.

Mississippi State will bring a 9-4 overall record into the series after rallying past Southern Miss, 5-4, on Tuesday.  The Bulldogs have won six-straight games, and Mississippi State has done it with power pitching.  MSU ranks 32nd nationally in team earned run average at 3.76, and the Bulldogs rank 11th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (12.0) and fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.03), as they have racked up 153 strikeouts against just 38 walks in 13 games.

The series is scheduled to start on Friday at 6 p.m., although rain is forecast for the Starkville area all day on Friday.  It will continue on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. with single contests.  UE will send senior RHP Nick Smith (0-1, 8.71 ERA) to the mound in the opener.  He is expected to be opposed by MSU junior RHP Nate Dohm (2-0, 1.02 ERA).  This series will mark the first ever meetings between UE and Mississippi State in baseball.

Humrichous leads the way with 15 points

1. LOUIS – Leading from start to finish, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team earned a 59-53 Arch Madness win over Illinois State inside the Enterprise Center.  With the victory, the Purple Aces will face the #2 seed Drake on Friday evening at 6 p.m.

“As the game went on, Illinois State did not go away.  It was a hard-fought game for 40 minutes.  Proud of these guys for sticking together and finding a way.  We did a lot of good things today to come out on top,” UE head men’s basketball coach David Ragland exclaimed.  “This is the same team that started 6-0, the same special group that tripled our win total from last season and we made a decision as a group to have a ton of pride and play this game with no regrets.”

“The way we dove on the floor and got those 50/50 ball shows that we came here to win.”

Ben Humrichous was the leading scorer for UE, totaling 15 points and 11 boards.  Yacine Toumi registered 10 points and 8 caroms while Antonio Thomas registered 9 points and Gage Bobe had 8.  Myles Foster was the leading scorer for Illinois State, posting 18 points.

Bobe knocked down a triple to open the scoring while Yacine Toumi followed with a basket to put UE up 5-0.  Illinois State registered the next three points and hung around a possession with the score sitting at 13-11 just past the midway point of the opening half.

Following two Ben Humrichous free throws, Bobe converted from downtown for the second time to put Evansville in front by an 18-11 margin.  With 2:30 remaining in the half, Cam Haffner gave the Aces their largest advantage of the half at 22-13.  ISU closed the gap over the final moments, cutting the UE lead to 25-21 at the break.

Antonio Thomas drained a triple to open the second-half to push the advantage to 28-21.  Five in a row from the Redbirds got them right back within a possession.  Humrichous converted his first triple to push the lead back to seven points before his putback gave the Aces a 37-27 lead with 13:16 left in the game.

Over the course of less than two minutes, Illinois State stormed back with seven in a row to cut the deficit to 37-34.  Evansville countered with a 7-0 run of its own, holding ISU to five consecutive misses while taking a 44-34 edge.  Humrichous had five during the run and would later add his third 3-pointer to make it a 47-36 game with under seven minutes remaining.

Another run by ISU saw them reel off eight in a row as they got back within three before cutting the gap to just a pair a few times, including the final minute.  Three free throws in a row by Tanner Cuff and a pair from Thomas would seal the UE victory.

The Purple Aces led on the offensive glass with 10 boards

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – With only seven active players, the University of Evansville women’s basketball team faced a battle in an 86-53 loss to the Drake Bulldogs.

Three Purple Aces ended Thursday evening’s game in double-figures while center Barbora Tomancova had her fifth double-double of the season. But it wouldn’t be enough for UE to get past the regular season champion Drake Bulldogs in the 33-point loss. Evansville did have a strong defensive game despite the score with 38 rebounds, three blocks, and drawing nine fouls.

Both teams had a tough offensive outing in the first quarter. A shot was made for each team in the first two minutes, but it was Drake who took the early lead on an eight-point run. A three-point play by forward Nevaeh Thomas got UE’s offense back into the game. The Bulldogs responded with two field goals to quickly make it a double-digit deficit. Evansville headed into the second quarter down by 11 as neither team could score in the final three and a half minutes of the first.

The Aces had a similar start to the second, not making a basket until it was past the two-minute mark. UE began to make it a back-and-forth game with just under six minutes to go in the half after Drake pulled out to a 21-point lead. Evansville’s best scoring runs came in the second with back-to-back layups. It was the last run of the half for either team as both again struggled to make shots in the final minutes of the second. Thomas had a second three-point stretch in the final minute of the first half. But a last-second three made by the Bulldogs still had the Aces down by 18.

In contrast to the first half, UE’s offense had the first bucket of the second as Thomas made another layup. But Evansville had a two-minute cold spell following that was broken by guard Kynidi Mason Striverson in the paint. Drake responded with another quick run that was stopped when Tomancova drew a foul and split her free throws. The Aces had another four-point run as guard Sydney Bradley had back-to-back jump shots. The final five minutes of the third quarter were mostly back-and-forth baskets until the final minute when the Bulldogs made two layups to keep UE down by 24 going into the fourth.

The shot-for-shot pace continued to start the third quarter. But Drake pulled away as guard Katie Dinnebier made four straight shots. Mason Striverson ended the streak with her third three of the game. The three sparked a rash of treys for the Bulldogs, forcing an Evansville timeout with six minutes to go. It took almost two minutes out of the timeout for either team to score, but the Aces broke through as Bradley made only her second three of the season. But a six-point run for Drake gave UE its largest deficit of the game at 37. Evansville found three more layups in the final two and a half minutes ending the 86-53 loss.

Thomas led the Aces on offense with 14 points while Mason Striverson was right behind with 13. Tomancova also finished the game in double-digits with 11 while leading UE in rebounds with 10 boards after a month away from the court. Freshman guard Sydney Bradley also set a career-high against the Bulldogs, scoring seven points in 26 minutes of action.

Evansville’s final game of the season is set for Saturday afternoon against the Northern Iowa Panthers. The Aces will celebrate their two senior players, Tomancova and guard Lexie Sinclair before the regular season finale. Tip-off for UE against the Panthers on March 9 is set for 2 p.m.