STARKVILLE, Miss. –  The Mississippi State baseball team scored runs in every inning from the second through sixth innings on Saturday, as the Bulldogs powered past the visiting University of Evansville Purple Aces, 8-3, at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville, Mississippi.

“It is tough to lose a series on Saturday, as we came down here with expectations, but just have not played well enough to win in the first two games,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll.  “We have also run up against a very good opponent who is playing really good baseball right now, and their middle of the order has really done some damage this weekend.

“I am really looking forward to coming to the yard tomorrow, and seeing our character show.  I know that we are going to get a good effort tomorrow, and hopefully, we can salvage one here on Sunday and show what we are capable of.”

Mississippi State opened the scoring in the second inning thanks to a lead-off walk and then back-to-back singles by third baseman Logan Kohler and outfielder Connor Hujsak.  Catcher Joe Powell then delivered a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 2-0 after two innings.

Evansville threatened to tie the game in the top of the third inning after a two-out double by junior outfielder Harrison Taubert and a walk by Mark Shallenberger, but MSU starter Khal Stephen (2-1) induced a fly-out to end the inning.  Mississippi State first baseman Hunter Hines followed in the bottom of the third inning with a solo home run to right field to push the lead to 3-0.

Stephen would proceed to retire nine of the next 10 UE batters, while his teammates would extend the lead in every frame through the sixth inning.  A two-out RBI double by shortstop Dylan Cupp in the fourth inning moved the MSU lead to 4-0, before outfielder Dakota Jordan delivered a towering two-run home run in the fifth inning and a two-run double in the sixth inning to give the Bulldogs an 8-0 lead.  Through the first two games of the series, Jordan has gone 6-for-7 with two doubles, two home runs, eight RBI and two runs scored.

Evansville’s offense would finally get on the scoreboard in the eighth inning, as Taubert crushed a two-run home run to left-center field and graduate third baseman Brent Widder followed two batters later with a solo home run to left field to trim the MSU lead to 8-3.  That would be as close as Evansville would come though.

Taubert led Evansville by going 2-for-4 with a double, home run, and two RBI.  Widder also went 1-for-4 with his team-leading fifth home run of the year.

With the victory, Mississippi State extends its winning streak to eight-straight games, as the Bulldogs improve to 11-4 overall.  Evansville, meanwhile, sees its season record even at 7-7.  The series will conclude on Sunday at 1 p.m.  Freshman left-hander Kenton Deverman (2-0, 2.55 ERA) is expected to get the start for UE.  Sunday’s game can be seen live on the SEC Network+ streaming service.

GODFREY, Ill. – The wind was blowing out for most of Saturday afternoon as the Vincennes University baseball team opened Mid-West Athletic Conference play at Lewis & Clark Community College and the Trailblazer bats took full advantage, clubbing four home runs and scoring 25 runs over two games.

VU got the afternoon started with a big late comeback win in game one over L&C 17-9 before closing out the day by winning game two 8-5.

The Vincennes bats got off to a slow start Saturday, with Lewis & Clark jumping on the scoreboard first with a run in the second.

The Trailblazers would immediately respond in the third inning with a three-run home run by sophomore Brandon Juarez (Evansville, Ind.), his second home run of the year, putting the Blazers on top 3-1.

Lewis & Clark answered back in their half of the inning however, taking the lead back with four runs to lead 5-3.

Vincennes would chip away at this deficit in the fourth after a lead off double by sophomore Jace Parnin (Fort Wayne, Ind.), who would come around to score on a fielding error put in play by sophomore Dylan Ecken (Louisville, Ky.).

VU would even the score in the 5th after another lead off double, this time by redshirt freshman Holden Clifton (Louisville, Ill), who would come around and score on a wild pitch to tie the game at 5-5.

Lewis & Clark again looked to take a commanding lead in the bottom of the 5th, scoring four runs in the inning and grabbing the lead back in a big way.

Vincennes would again chip away in the seventh with an RBI single by freshman Corbin Napier (Indianapolis, Ind.) and a bases loaded walk by sophomore Trevor Newman (Fort Wayne, Ind.) to cut the L&C lead to 9-7.

The Trailblazers would hold Lewis & Clark scoreless down the stretch before VU’s bats came alive in a big way in the top of the ninth.

Looking to extend the game, VU came to bat in the top of the ninth down two runs and were able to get the first three batters on base to load the bases for sophomore Blake Heyerly (Monroe, Ind.) who came through with a big pinch hit grand slam, his first collegiate home run, to push the Blazers in front 11-9.

Vincennes wasn’t done there though, sophomore Jack Robinson (Mooresville, Ind.) plated another run with an RBI single, followed by a two-run home run by Holden Clifton, his first home run of the season and second of his VU career.

VU continued to add more as the Blazers sent 15 batters to the plate in the inning and capped off the massive inning with a two-RBI double by Jace Parnin and an RBI double by Blake Heyerly, giving him five RBIs in the ninth inning alone.

All totaled, the Trailblazers scored 10 runs in the ninth inning, the most runs scored by the Blazers in a single inning since March 17, 2018, vs. Lake Michigan College.

The Purple Aces led on the defensive side of the ball with 39 rebounds

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women’s basketball celebrated its two graduating players in a 67-46 loss to the Northern Iowa Panthers.

The Purple Aces offense didn’t find its rhythm until the second half in their final game at Meeks Family Fieldhouse. UE had only 12 points through the first half but got back into the game in the second half with another big performance from freshman forward Nevaeh Thomas. Thomas added her sixth double-double of the season with 19 points and 12 rebounds in 34 minutes.

“I thought we battled so hard, we just shot so poorly,” said Head Coach Robyn Scherr-Wells following the game. “We had good chances. And we made a nice run at it. Lots of credit to UNI for making a couple of big threes to widen the gap again and put a stop to our little run. They did a good job in that stretch when we made a push at it. They had answers to it.

“But I’m really proud of our ladies. We’ve been so banged up. To the point where I was worried, we wouldn’t play against Drake on Thursday. We thought we weren’t going to have more than six bodies available. To then get to today and have eight players available. I’m proud of our fight. We’ve had to play so many different lineups in the last week. But our team has been really tough through that process.”

Evansville got the first bucket of the game for Senior Day as graduate center Barbora Tomancova had a second-chance layup two and a half minutes in. But the Aces didn’t score another point until the final minute and a half of the first quarter. UNI built only an eight-point lead in the other five minutes as both teams struggled to score in the opening frame. A four-point run for the Panthers in the final minute had UE down by only 10 points despite shooting 6.3%.

The second quarter didn’t get any easier for Evansville as the team went three of nine from the floor. It took nearly four minutes for either team to make a shot in the second but the first went to UNI at 6:22. The Aces had their first field goal of the quarter at 4:33 on a layup from Thomas. But another long scoreless stretch for UE made it a 17-point game with under two minutes left in the half. Guard Sydney Bradley broke Evansville’s scoreless streak with an open jump shot that sparked a six to two run to end the half.

Both teams’ offense improved in the second half, with the Aces having their best quarter in the third. A three-point play for Thomas opened UE’s scoring in the half. The and-1 opportunity sparked a back-and-forth game through most of the third quarter. Evansville did end the quarter on a quick five-point run to get back within single digits. But the Panthers ended the quarter with a jump shot to again make it a double-digit deficit for the Aces.

The final ten minutes began with a quick three for UNI to begin pulling away from UE. But Evansville didn’t back down as Thomas had another three-point play to get within 11. The Panthers responded with a five-point run that made it a 16-point game with just under seven minutes left to play.  It became a shot-for-shot game over the next three minutes.

The Aces put together their final scoring run of the regular season as Thomas made a layup and two free throws in just under a minute. But UNI ended UE’s potential comeback with an eight-point run to close out the game. Evansville got the final bucket as Thomas added another layup on an assist from guard Tené Smith to make the final score 67-46.

While it was a tough game on offense for the Aces, UE stayed in the game with a strong defensive presence. Evansville outrebounded the Panthers 39 to 34 while also blocking four shots. The Aces’ best offensive category came on second-chance points with 10 while tying UNI in points in the paint with 28 each.

UE gets its shot in the postseason next week at Hoops in the Heartland in Moline, Ill. Evansville is locked into the 12^th seed in the tournament and will play the fifth seed on Thursday afternoon. Tip-off for the Aces from Vibrant Arena at the MARK is set for 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 14.

Huntsville, Al.:  Despite a stronger effort in both ends of the ice and fewer penalties, the Thunderbolts were unable to solve Havoc goaltender Mike Robinson, as they fell 3-0 in Huntsville on Saturday night.   The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Sunday, March 10^th against the Pensacola Ice Flyers, puck drop at 3:00pm CT.

Despite several high-quality chances early, the Thunderbolts were unable to grab the first lead.  Instead, the Havoc took a 1-0 lead in the first period, as Craig McCabe scored at 10:29.  The second period was close but scoreless, as the Thunderbolts twice hit the post but could not score.  Huntsville extended their lead early in the third period, as Doug Elgstam scored at 1:49, later followed by Phil Elgstam on a power play at 15:39 to put Evansville behind by a 3-0 score.  In goal, Ty Taylor made 30 saves on 33 shots.  The Thunderbolts and Havoc do not meet again this regular season.