The Purple Aces dropped their first game of the weekend to the Redbirds
NORMAL, Ill. – The University of Evansville baseball team had another night trying to contain a red-hot offense in a 17-8 loss to the Illinois State Redbirds.
The Purple Aces’ defense had a tough time containing Illinois State on Friday night as the Redbirds scored almost half of their 17 runs from defensive or pitching miscues. UE kept competing at the plate with its 14th game of the season with 10+ hits. Four separate Evansville batters had two hits on the night, with catcher Matt Flaherty (Lake Zurich, Ill. / Bellarmine) also adding two RBIs.
“We didn’t set a tone on the mound or defensively tonight,” said Head Coach Wes Carroll after the game. “We put ourselves in another tough situation on the road to get back in the series tomorrow.”
Both starting pitchers had to work early on Friday evening, as neither faced the minimum number of batters. Illinois State took the first lead in the bottom of the first inning on a double down the left field line that scored one. The Aces got the final out right after the double to limit the Redbirds to only one run with two left on.
UE took its only lead of the game in the top of the second. Evansville had three hits in four batters, scoring one run and having two runners in scoring position with only one out. A ground out from third baseman Drew Howard (Ferdinand, Ind. / Forest Park HS) scored first baseman Jake McGhee (Fenton, Mo. / Christian Brothers College HS). On the play for Illinois State, the first baseman had a throwing error to help score the Aces’ go-ahead run in shortstop Drew McConnell (Blue Springs, Mo. / Blue Springs HS).
The Redbirds didn’t wait long to answer UE’s offensive outburst in the top of the second. Illinois State retook the lead in the bottom of the inning and didn’t look back with four runs on five hits and one error. After only two innings, the Redbirds had a 5-3 advantage and continued to extend it. Evansville wasn’t able to get on base in the third while Illinois State added another run.
The Aces got back within two runs in the top of the fourth when Flaherty hit his first RBI single to score center fielder Ty Rumsey (Evansville, Ind. / North HS). But with two outs on the board already, UE didn’t bring home another run until the top of the sixth. Meanwhile, the Redbirds had back-to-back three run innings, taking an eight-run advantage just over halfway through the game.
Evansville had a strong start to the sixth inning, loading up the bases with no outs on a McConnell single, a hit by pitch, and a walk. A walk to left fielder Charlie Longmeier (Seymour, Ind. / Seymour HS) gave the Aces their first run of the inning. Flaherty followed up with his second RBI single of the game to score Howard and bring it back to a six-run gap.
But Illinois State kept its bats going in the bottom of the sixth with their biggest offensive frame of the night. The Redbirds added five runs on four hits and a sacrifice fly to try and get a run rule win with a 17-6 lead after two-thirds of the game. UE’s offense was able to continue its hot start to innings in the seventh with a lead off double for pinch hitter Aaron Nehls (Evansville, Ind. / North HS).
McGhee added a single right after Nehls and McConnell being hit by a pitch loaded up the bases for Evansville. The Aces brought in another pinch hitter in freshman Mason McCue (Bourbonnais, Ill. / Bishop McNamara HS), who delivered with an RBI single to left for UE’s seventh run. The single also kept the bases loaded, so when Rumsey hit a fly ball to left field, Evansville was able to score an eighth run to avoid a run rule loss. The Aces’ next two batters flew out to go to the bottom of the seventh.
Freshman pitcher Jack Wills (Shelbyville, Ky. / Shelby County HS) came onto the mound for UE in the bottom of the seventh and helped Evansville get its first scoreless inning on defense. While Wills didn’t throw a strikeout, he did pitch two innings for the Aces without allowing a run to score, not allowing a hit, and only giving up two walks. But UE wasn’t able to make up the nine-run deficit in the final two innings of the night, falling to Illinois State 17-8.
Evansville gets back to work against the Redbirds on Saturday afternoon. First pitch for the second game of the series is set for 3 p.m. from Duffy Bass Field on Saturday, April 12.
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