EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The red-hot University of Evansville baseball team will open up Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend in Springfield, Missouri with a key conference series against defending MVC Tournament champion Missouri State at Hammons Field. Due to heavy rain in the Springfield area on Friday, the series will be a two-day set, beginning on Saturday with a noon doubleheader and concluding on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Evansville will enter Saturday’s series-opener having won six games in a row and 13 out of 15 overall. The Purple Aces will bring a 13-7 overall record into conference play. UE was predicted to finish third in the league’s preseason poll, right behind Missouri State, which currently stands at 11-8 overall. RPI-wise, Evansville and Missouri State rank second and third in the league entering conference play, with UE ranking 47th and Missouri State 75th, respectively.
The Purple Aces won their sixth-straight game on Wednesday with an 11-7 win at SIU-Edwardsville. Junior catcher Brendan Hord hit home runs in back-to-back at-bats to spur four-run frames in both the third and fourth innings to help lead the way for UE. Fifth-year outfielder Eric Roberts and senior third baseman Brent Widder also homered in the game, as UE has launched 25 home runs already this year.
Offensively, Evansville is led by fifth-year first baseman Chase Hug, who will bring a .420 batting average into the weekend. Hug ranks third nationally with a .596 on-base percentage, and he loved hitting at Hammons Field last year, as he hit four of his 11 home runs in seven games at the park during both UE’s regular-season series at Missouri State and in the MVC Tournament. In fact, he has homered in four of his last five games at Hammons Field.
Pitching-wise, UE will send traditional weekend starters Nick Smith (2-3, 5.16 ERA), Tyler Denu (1-0, 3.66 ERA) and Donovan Schultz (3-1, 2.67 ERA) to the mound in the three games. Schultz is the current MVC Pitcher of the Week, and UE’s pitching staff has been a big part of UE’s success of late. Wednesday night was the first time that UE had allowed more than four runs in a game since March 1, and overall, the Purple Aces have posted a 3.19 ERA in the month of March.
Missouri State will enter this weekend’s series trying to bounce back from a three-game sweep at #10 East Carolina last weekend. The Bears once again boast one of the more potent lineups in the MVC entering league play, as Missouri State leads the Valley and ranks in the nation’s top 35 in both doubles (47) and home runs (30). The Bears’ pitching staff also ranks second in the league in ERA (behind Evansville) with a 4.62 staff ERA.
Saturday’s doubleheader can be seen live on ESPN3 and can be heard in the Tri-State area and on-line through 107.1 FM-WJPS and the Old National Bank/Purple Aces Sports Properties Radio Network. Sunday’s game can be seen live on ESPN+, with radio coverage once again available on 107.1 FM-WJPS.
