Strain stars as UE shuts out Eastern Kentucky 

RICHMOND, Ky. – Connor Strain put together his best start of the season on Friday afternoon, and the University of Evansville baseball team took full advantage of it as the Purple Aces dealt Eastern Kentucky a 4-0 decision at Turkey Hughes Field.

Strain (2-1) was once again impeccable on the mound, allowing just three hits and a walk over six frames. The senior right-hander also set a career high with eight strikeouts, and he’s now tossed 14.1 consecutive scoreless innings since returning from injury earlier this month.

“Right now, I’m just having a whole lot of fun going out there and competing,” Strain said. “I’m not taking it for granted, and I’m trying to do my best to help the team win. I had the confidence to throw all of my pitches today regardless of the count, and that makes a huge difference.”

“Connor just took control of the game for us,” UE head coach Wes Carroll added. “He was a really confident pitcher all game, and that’s what you like to see from your No. 1 starter. The key to our success is to get solid pitching and to take care of the baseball defensively. That’s something that we’ve been harping on the last couple weeks, so this is an important win for us.”

The defensive prowess also wasn’t missed on Strain.

“We’ve been playing a lot better defense,” the senior explained. “For me, as a sinker ball pitcher, I’m going to get a lot of ground balls, and it’s huge to see those guys making plays for me. It really puts me at ease to have them behind me like that because it allows me to focus on making my pitches.”

After being held hitless through the first three innings, the Aces (10-10) were able to get going in a big way in the fourth. Josh Jyawook led off the frame with a double, and Travis Tokarek, who was inserted into the line-up shortly before first pitch due to an injury, sent a 2-0 pitch soaring over the fence in right field to give UE the lead.

“Coach Carroll was talking earlier this week about how we need to show up with the right kind of intensity, whether you’re in the line-up or not,” Tokarek said. “I think the whole team did that today, and for me, I guess it kind of carried through into my at-bats.”

UE would manufacture another score with an Eric McKibban groundout in the fifth, and Jonathan Ramon hit his team-leading sixth home run of the season in the sixth to make it 4-0.

The Aces have now homered 22 times this season, surpassing the season total of a year ago.

Eric Nerl (3-1), who got the start on the mound for the Colonels (10-12), was pegged with his first loss of the season after allowing all four runs on six hits over eight innings.

EKU would try to make things interesting late, but Aces closer Brent Jurceka proved up to the task, stranding two in the eighth before tossing a perfect ninth to record his second save of the season.

The Aces will be back in action on Saturday with a doubleheader at Turkey Hughes Field, beginning at 11 a.m. Eastern time.

NOTES: Friday marked the second UE shutout of the season … It was also the first true road shutout since a 10-0 decision at Bradley on April 26, 2015 … The last time the Aces had a nine-inning road shutout was a 1-0 victory at Missouri State on May 15, 2014 … Jonathan Ramon’s six home runs represent the highest single-season total for an Aces hitter since former star Kevin Kaczmarski left the park six times in 2013 … The 22 team homers are the most in a single season since 2011, when the Aces hit 26 … Since 1978, the Aces are 9-8-1 against Eastern Kentucky and 112-85-2 vs. schools that hail from the state of Kentucky.