“Typical Friday night kind of baseball game. Shane Gray gave us a chance on the mound, unfortunately we just didn’t compete well enough against their starter,” said Evansville head baseball coach Wes Carroll. “(Jared) Olson overmatched our offense throughout. Big day tomorrow for 16 innings.”
The two starters for each squad were the stars of the show on the night and they brought it early. Both Xavier’s Jared Olson and Evansville’s Shane Gray sat their opponents down in order in the opening inning.
Xavier struck first in the top of the second, scoring a run following a walk and a base-hit, eventually pushing one across the plate on an error to take a 1-0 lead. The Aces answered in the bottom half of the inning, as a pair of walks by juniors Tanner Craig and Mason Brinkley helped power the offense. With two on and one out, senior Craig Shepherd ripped a base-hit to right center to score Craig and tie the game.
The Musketeers regained the lead in the third, getting a solo home run from Andrew Walker to take a 2-1 lead. Following Xavier’s homer, Olson locked down on the mound, striking-out three in the third to end the Evansville threat.
After both sides went quietly in the fourth, the Aces threatened to tie the match in the fifth. Evansville led off the inning with a walk by senior Ben Komonosky and would advance him to third with two outs. With an opportunity to tie the match, Olson ended the inning for the Aces with a strikeout.
Evansville showcased its defensive strength in the top of the sixth. With two outs, the Musketeers got a single to right field and the runner on second attempted to score. Redshirt senior Troy Beilsmith gathered the ball and fired a strike to home plate as Komonosky tagged the runner, who tried to hurdle him to end the inning and keep the Aces within a run.
As the game waned, Xavier added two runs in both the seventh and ninth innings to secure the 6-1 win.
Gray pitched six innings in the loss, allowing three earned runs on five hits, while striking-out a career-high eight batters.
Evansville and Xavier meet for a doubleheader beginning at 1 PM on Saturday at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.
