Reeder leads Aces past NIU in home opener

Nate Reeder made a memorable first impression to the home crowd on Friday as the freshman knocked in four runs to lead the University of Evansville baseball team to a 5-2 win over visiting Northern Illinois at Charles H. Braun Stadium.

Reeder, a freshman out of Shawnee, Kan., began his day with a run-scoring single in the second inning, but he’d save his best for last, clearing the bases with a three-run triple in the seventh, which would prove to be the game-winning hit.

“I’d worked on some timing stuff over the week leading up to today, and it worked out well for me,” said Reeder. “I was just trying to make sure that I did my job when I was up at the plate. I try to come out here every day with the same focus, but I think having a game like this can be a huge confidence boost for me.”

Reeder was the only Ace on the day to record multiple hits, ending 2-for-4.

A Korbin Williams double set up the game’s opening score in the second as the two-out single by Reeder drew first blood. Trey Hair brought in another run after being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, but that would be it as Shain Showers flew out to end the frame.

NIU would reclaim a score with a Johnny Zubek single in the ensuing half-inning, but that would prove all the Huskies (1-8) could do against Patrick Schnieders, who enjoyed his best start of the season for UE (4-4). The junior tossed six innings and allowed just four hits before ceding the mound to Ryan Brady.

“That’s a very good offensive club that Schnieders shut down tonight,” UE head coach Wes Carroll said. “He was dealing with some back spasms, but he was able to keep going out there and put up goose eggs when we couldn’t get that big hit when we needed to. That was huge for us, and it was a great start from him”

In the seventh, Luke Yapp started off NIU’s comeback bid with a two-out single, and a wild pitch would put him into scoring position. Brandon Mallder singled him home later in the at-bat to chase Brady from the mound, but Boomer Synek ended the rally with his second pick-off of the game to keep things level at 2-2.

In the bottom half of the frame, a Travis Tokarek single and a Williams walk put runners on, and Jonathan Ramon would earn another walk to set the stage for Reeder’s game-deciding triple.

Jurceka was credited with the win, allowing two hits over 2.1 frames to move to 2-0 on the year.

The Aces and Huskies will return to action on Saturday afternoon at Braun Stadium. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m.