CARBONDALE, Ill. – University of Evansville senior outfielder Mark Shallenberger launched two home runs and drove in six runs in his first game back from injury on Friday night, as the visiting Purple Aces cruised to a 10-2 victory over the Southern Illinois Salukis at Itchy Jones Stadium in Carbondale, Illinois.
“What a tremendous night all the way around tonight,†said UE head coach Wes Carroll.  “I thought that up and down our batting order, we had different guys step up, but I really cannot say enough about the job that Mark Shallenberger did tonight.
“To not see live pitching since February and come in and have a game like tonight is incredible.  It is really a credit to all of the hard work that Mark has put in the last two months in rehab with our athletic trainer Eric Harcourt.â€
Shallenberger capped a five-run third inning with his first home run of the night, a three-run shot to right field to give UE the lead for good.  Shallenberger’s home run followed RBI singles by graduate outfielder Eric Roberts and fifth-year first baseman Chase Hug in the frame.
The Salukis would threaten to get back into the contest against UE starter Nick Smith (3-3) in both the fourth and fifth innings, but Smith would get back-to-back inning-ending 4-6-3 double plays to get out of both frames.  Shallenberger then added to UE’s lead with a two-run blast to right field to push UE’s lead to 7-1.
Junior second baseman Kip Fougerousse would add to the lead in the seventh inning on a two-run single down the left-field line to move the advantage to 9-1.  After the Salukis got an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh to cut into the deficit, Shallenberger knocked an RBI double down the right-field line to cap the six-RBI performance and the 10-2 victory.
Shallenberger finished 3-for-5 with six RBI, while Fougerousse added two RBI and fifth-year outfielder Danny Borgstrom added two doubles and a run.  Smith earned the victory on the mound by giving up a single run on five hits in 5.0 innings of work.
With the victory, Evansville improves to 20-13 overall and 6-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference.  Southern Illinois, meanwhile, sees its six-game winning streak come to an end, as the Salukis fall to 20-14 overall and 8-2 in the MVC.  The two teams will continue the series on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m., with UE sending senior LHP Tyler Denu to the mound to face SIU LHP Jordan Bloemer.  The game can be seen on ESPN3 and heard live in the Tri-State on the Old National Bank/Purple Aces Sports Network from Learfield.
