UE baseball drops doubleheader at Missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Evansville baseball team didn’t keep its series lead against the Missouri Tigers as they lost 6-2 and 17-7 on Saturday.

The Purple Aces played from behind in both games of its doubleheader with Mizzou on Saturday. UE’s offense wasn’t able to keep up with the Tigers red hot hitters as they pulled away for two wins. Of the 17 hits Evansville connected with on Saturday shortstop Cal McGinnis (Kimberly, Wis. / Bradley) led the Aces with four. On the mound UE used six pitchers with starters Owen Byberg (Barrie, Ontario / Frontier CC) and RJ James (Toronto, Ontario / Sir John A MacDonald HS) recording the losses.

“Game one was a competitive game that we just couldn’t get the lead in,” said Head Coach Wes Carroll after the doubleheader. “Byberg battled through the first couple of innings to give us a chance, but our offense couldn’t get the big inning. We didn’t pitch or defend well enough in game two to earn a win. Tomorrow is an important game as we need to compete in all three facets of the game.”

Evansville struggled with leaving runners on base while at the plate early on Saturday. The Aces stranded two runners to start the first game while the Tigers only stranded one and scored three runs in the first inning.  UE was able to recover in the top of the second as its first three batters loaded the bases on a walk and two singles.

Evansville scored its first run on a sacrifice fly from center fielder Ty Rumsey (Evansville, Ind. / North HS) to send home first baseman Ben Stuart (Mason, Ohio / William Mason HS). A walk to right fielder Harrison Taubert (Casper, Wyo. / Northeast CC) reloaded the bases and the Aces capitalized as McGinnis singled up the middle. Second baseman Drew McConnell (Blue Springs, Mo. / Blue Springs HS) scored UE’s second run to make it a one-run game.

Designated hitter Jake McGhee (Fenton, Mo. Christian Brothers College HS) popped up on the next at-bat to end Evansville’s offensive response. The Aces didn’t score another run over the next seven innings despite a strong performance on the mound from Byberg. Missouri added a run in the bottom of the second after three hits. A strikeout along with a ground out ended the inning at 4-2.

Over the next four innings, Byberg took down 12 of the 16 batters he faced to keep it a 4-2 game while setting a new career high in strikeouts with six. UE looked like they would add a run in the top of the seventh as a single for McGinnis followed by a double for McGhee had both in scoring position with two outs. But Missouri closed the door with a strikeout from their starter.

The Tigers added to their lead in the bottom of the seventh, scoring two more runs on a hit by pitch and a fielding error. Evansville had two runners reach base in the eighth but a double play and a flyout ended the half inning. The Aces went into the top of the ninth down to their last three outs.

After a lead-off strikeout, Taubert connected on his second hit of the game. Taubert was thrown out on the next play as McGinnis reached first on a fielder’s choice. McGinnis then advanced to second during a 10-pitch at-bat for McGhee that resulted in a walk. UE again had two on with two outs and couldn’t capitalize as a groundout ended the first game.

It was another rough start in Evansville’s second game of the day as Missouri loaded the bases with its first three batters. It wasn’t long before the Tigers scored adding four runs in the bottom of the first three straight singles and a fielder’s choice. James was able to end the inning with his first strikeout of the day.

Missouri got right back to scoring in the bottom of the second with a lead-off solo shot to right center. Two doubles in the next three at-bats had the Tigers up by six runs and they added a seventh on a scoring error before the Aces could get out of the inning. UE kept Missouri from scoring in the third with its second double play of the year and a fly out.

The Tigers added an eighth run in the bottom of the fourth as RHP Parker MacCauley (Paducah, Ky. / Tennessee Tech) took over on the mound for James after two batters. The first batter MacCauley faced singled through the right side to score a run. But Evansville sat down three of the next four batters to end the inning.

It was a scoreless fifth for both teams as MacCauley struck out the side, getting three of four batters down swinging. The Aces broke the shutout in the top of the sixth, scoring two runs with only one out on the board. UE’s next two batters flew out and struck out to keep it at an 8-2 score going into the bottom of the sixth.

Missouri’s offense exploded in the bottom of the sixth, putting the game out of reach for Evansville. The Tigers scored nine runs on eight hits and an error while going through their lineup a full-time. The Aces used three pitchers in the inning starting with MacCauley followed by freshman pitchers Jack Wills (Shelbyville, Ky. / Shelby County HS) and Jack Clevidence (Ankeny, Iowa / Ankeny HS).

But UE wasn’t going to go down without a fight as they headed into the top of the seventh facing a run-rule loss down by 15 runs. Catcher Matt Flaherty (Lake Zurich, Ill. / Bellarmine) led off the inning with a single to right center while third baseman Drew Howard (Ferdinand, Ind. / Forest Park HS) walked to have a runner in scoring position. First baseman Kevin McCormick (Orland Park, Ill. / St. Laurence HS) followed Howard’s walk with a double down the left field line, scoring Flaherty.

Evansville kept the hit parade going as its next two batters connected and scored a run each to make it 17-6. The Aces’ second out of the inning came in the next at-bat as they needed two more runs to go to an eighth inning. McGhee hit his second double of the day to score one of the two runs UE needed to avoid the run rule.

Left fielder Charlie Longmeier (Seymour, Ind. / Seymour HS) connected on his only hit of the day to put McGhee into scoring position. Flaherty followed Longmeier at the plate and loaded up the bases after being hit by a pitch. But with two outs on the board, a seven-pitch strikeout for McConnell ended Evansville’s chance at a comeback in the final game of the day.

The Aces will look to leave Columbia with a series split on Sunday. In the final game of the weekend UE is slated to pitch LHP Kevin Reed (Martinsville, Ind. / Martinsville, Ind.) who had a career outing against USI a week ago. First pitch from Taylor Stadium on Sunday is set for 1 p.m. and can be followed along through live stats.

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