Scherry wins it in walk-off fashion for Aces in series opener against Bradley

EVANSVILLE – Trailing by one run entering the bottom of the ninth, the University of Evansville baseball team struck for a pair of runs, walking-off with a 6-5 win over Bradley in the series opener on Friday night at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.

“Offense finally came through when it mattered tonight. Pitching kept us close enough for us to do something special,” said Aces head baseball coach Wes Carroll on the win. “Their starter is going to be a handful for many years to come so it was great to get a win. Tomorrow is going to be a special day for our program as we honor Jamey Carroll! Can’t wait to see our energy.”

Starter Shane Gray threw seven innings of work on the evening, allowing five runs and striking-out eight. On in relief, Drew Dominik held the Braves in check, going two innings, not allowing a base runner and striking-out three in what would be his third win of the season.

At the plate, Simon Scherry played the hero on the evening, going three-for-five and driving in half of the Aces runs in the game. Continuing a run of strong form in conference play, Brendan Hord finished the night with a pair of RBI, going one-for-three on the day, including a base-hit that helped set up the ninth inning comeback.

Bradley opened the contest with a pair of runs in the top of the first as Keaton Rice lifted a home run to left to give the Braves the early lead. One of Hord’s two RBI came in the third to help halve the Braves’ lead, driving in Eric Roberts on a groundout.

The Braves pushed their lead back to two with a responding RBI groundout in the top of the fourth, owning a 3-1 advantage.

Evansville’s offense found a spark in the fourth as Chase Hug ripped a single through the right side to score Brent Widder and Hord reached on a fielder’s choice that allowed Scherry to score and tie the game. In the next inning, Scherry gave Evansville its first lead of the night with an RBI base hit that sent Tanner Craig home and earned a 4-3 lead for the Aces.

The sixth inning saw Bradley tie the game again the back-and-forth affair as Jack Lincoln singled to center, which scored Jackson Chatterton to tie the contest at four. A solo home run that drifted out to right field in the seventh by Connor O’Brien gave the lead back to Bradley with just nine outs left for Evansville.

The Braves took their one-run lead to the bottom of the ninth where Hord opened the frame with a signle to left and was replaced by pinch runner Max Malley. Danny Borgstrom then laid down a sacrifice bunt to allow Malley to move to second. With two outs, Craig was intentionally walked and Widder stepped to the plate and was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Scherry then came up and on a 1-0 count blooped a single over the second baseman’s head and into right field allowing Malley to score easily and Craig to score without a throw to walk-off with a 6-5 win.

Saturday represents a special day for Evansville baseball as the Aces will retire UE Hall of Famer Jamey Carroll’s #23 in a ceremony prior to the 2 PM first pitch. The first 250 fans in German American Bank Field will receive a signed commemorative baseball as the Aces take on Bradley in game two of their series at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium.