EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Evansville graduate outfielder Eric Roberts blasted a two-out, solo walk-off home run to right field in the bottom of the ninth inning on Sunday to power the UE baseball team to a Missouri Valley Conference series victory over the Valparaiso Beacons with a 4-3 win at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium.
“Big-time players do big-time things, and Eric Roberts is a big-time player!†said UE head coach Wes Carroll.  “It was great to have a walk-off Valley series win on Easter!  This is a big spark for this program.â€
Roberts crushed the first pitch he saw from Valparaiso reliever Grant Jablonski (0-3) over the right-field wall for his MVC-leading 13th home run of the year.  It marked the third-straight Valley Sunday in which Roberts has homered, as he has crushed five home runs on Sundays in league play so far.
Evansville jumped to an early 3-0 lead in the third inning, as Roberts began UE’s scoring with a sacrifice fly to right field.  Fifth-year first baseman Chase Hug followed with an RBI single to right, and junior catcher Brendan Hord followed two batters later with an RBI single to center field to give UE a 3-0 lead.
The Beacons would not be extinguished easily though.  Valpo got a sacrifice fly from emergency starter Spencer Warfield in the fourth inning to cut the UE lead to 3-1.  Second baseman Nolan Tucker then came through with an RBI single in the seventh inning to trim the lead to 3-2.  Things could have been vastly different in that frame, as Tucker was thrown out at second base trying to stretch the play into a double.  Then, Valparaiso tied the game in the eighth inning on a suicide squeeze bunt base hit by Warfield.  Warfield originally was not in the starting lineup, but was added after Matt Olive was injured in pre-game warm-ups.
UE threatened with two men on in the eighth inning, but came up empty.  UE closer Nate Hardman (1-1) then worked a perfect top of the ninth inning to keep the score tied at 3-3.  Jablonski got the first two UE batters of the inning to pop up to begin the frame, before Roberts ended the afternoon with the walk-off blast on the first pitch.
Offensively, sophomore designated hitter Evan Waggoner led all UE players by going 2-for-4.  Roberts drove in two of UE’s four runs, while adding the walk-off home run and going 1-for-3.  Tucker led Valparaiso with a 3-for-5 day at the plate.
With the victory, Evansville improves to 19-12 overall and 5-4 in the MVC.  Valparaiso, meanwhile, falls to 10-14 overall and 2-7 in the Valley.  Evansville will now hit the road for four-straight road games this week, beginning on Tuesday night, as the Purple Aces will travel to Bowling Green, Kentucky to take on the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.  Tuesday’s game is set for a 6 p.m. first-pitch, and can be heard live in the Tri-State area on 107.1 FM-WJPS and the Old National Bank/Purple Aces Sports Network from Learfield.
