The Purple Aces connected on six hits Tuesday night
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville baseball team wasn’t able to keep up with a red-hot offensive night from the Butler Bulldogs.
The Purple Aces took an early lead at German American Bank Field but didn’t hold on in a 17-5 loss to Butler. Senior infielder Cal McGinnis (Kimberly, Wis. / Bradley) was the only UE batter with multiple hits off the Bulldogs on a single in the third and fifth innings. While senior outfielder Ty Rumsey (Evansville, Ind. / North HS) stole his 20th and 21st bases of the season for the most by an Evansville runner since Eric Staments had 30 in 2012.
The Bulldogs got a walk to begin Tuesday’s contest, but the next three batters went down in order as starting pitcher Drew Fieger (Fort Mitchell, Ky. / Lincoln Trail CC) added two strikeouts. The Aces offense led off with a single from Rumsey in the first. During the next at-bat, Rumsey stole two bases and scored the first run of the game on a throwing error from Butler’s catcher.
UE then had its next two batters reach base with a walk and a single. A sacrifice fly after Evansville’s second single scored outfielder Charlie Longmeier (Seymour, Ind. / Seymour HS) to put the Aces up 2-0 early. The Bulldogs offense responded in the second, scoring a run on Fieger with a double and a sacrifice fly. But the senior right-hander added his third strikeout of the night to end the inning.
The second inning ended shortly after as UE went down in order. Butler soon took the lead, scoring two runs on a hit and an error in the top of the third. Evansville tied the game back up in the bottom frame as Longmeier led off with a walk. The outfielder took second on the Aces’ next at-bat on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a passed ball during UE’s third AB of the inning. McGinnis hit his first single of the night in the third, putting the base knock into left field to score Longmeier as the tying run.
After Evansville tied the game at three runs in the bottom of the third, the Bulldogs’ offense exploded for five runs in the fourth. Butler batted through its lineup in the inning with two hits and four walks to take an 8-3 lead. The Aces got a run back in the bottom of the fourth as Rumsey hit a sacrifice fly on their fourth at-bat of the inning. The sac fly scored shortstop Drew McConnell for UE’s fourth run of the game.
The Bulldogs extended their lead in the fifth with another five-run inning that went through their order. Butler centerfielder David Ayers started and ended the top of the fifth with a ground out and a fly out. In between Ayers ABs, the Bulldogs connected on four hits, a walk, and two hit-by-pitches to make it a 13-4 contest.
Evansville had its longest inning on offense in the bottom of the fifth. The Aces had seven batters come up to the plate with two hits from McGinnis and catcher Evan Waggoner (Bedford, Ind. / North Lawrence Bedford HS). UE also added two walks to score a fifth run before heading to the top of the sixth.
Butler’s defense shut down Evansville’s offense for the final two innings of the game while adding four runs in the top of the seventh. The Aces went down swinging in the bottom half of the frame to end the game at a 17-5 final. UE returns to conference action this weekend at Illinois State. Evansville’s first game in Normal is set for 6 p.m. on Friday, April 11.
