EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Following a midweek win over Butler, the University of Evansville baseball team travels to Springfield, Mo. for a three-game weekend series with Missouri State, its first road series in MVC play this season.

 
Previewing the Matchup: Missouri State

• The Aces and Bears are meeting for the 103rd time in series history in Friday’s series opener with Missouri State owning a 60-42 advantage for the all-time series.
• Last meeting at German American Bank Field in 2021, the Bears took a four-game set from the Aces, 3-1, a season ago.
• UE and Missouri State have not played each other in Springfield since 2018 playing seven-straight games in the series in Evansville before this weekend.
• Missouri State enters the weekend with a .500 record just like the Aces, opening MVC play last weekend, falling in all three games of a series at DBU, who sits second in the nation in RPI, and most recently falling by a narrow 9-8 margin to Oral Roberts in a midweek contest.

Night is Alright

• This season, Evansville has been excellent in games with first pitch at 6 PM or later.
• In night games, the Aces are 5-1 this season, averaging 8.5 runs per contest.
• Comparatively, UE is averaging just 6.1 runs in day games.
• Individually, Brent Widder is hitting .577 in night games and .257 during day contests.

Berkey Wears It

• For the second-straight season, an Evansville player is among the nation’s leaders in being hit-by-pitch.
• A year ago, Troy Beilsmith was hit 23 times, the sixth-most in the nation.
• This season, Evan Berkey has been hit 12 times, the 26th most in the nation and second-most in the MVC.
• Mark Shallenberger is not far behind, having been hit nine times, including a game-winning HBP to secure a series sweep over Michigan State.