Falling behind early, the University of Evansville baseball team demonstrated late inning grit, rallying from four runs down in the final frame, only to come up painfully short in their season opener, losing to Mercer University, 5-4, in Macon, Georgia Friday night.
Trailing 5-1 in the top of the ninth, freshman designated hitter A.J. Fritz got the ball rolling with a one out single. Sophomore pinch hitter Pete Vaccaro followed that up with a single to center, and would be replaced on the base paths by senior pinch runner Matt Jones. Then, freshman second baseman Danny Borgstrom drilled a double to the gap in left-center, driving in Fritz, cutting the deficit to three runs. After pinch hitter Ben Komonosky drew a walk, senior third baseman Sam Troyer drew a bases loaded free pass, scoring Jones, drawing the Aces within two runs. Next, junior outfielder Kenton Crews would get hit by a pitch, bringing in Matt Jones, putting Evansville with one, with bases still loaded. Mercer would change pitchers, and senior right-hander Kevin Coulter would come in and strike out junior outfielder Troy Beilsmith and sophomore first baseman Evan Aders, ending the game.
“Proud of the fight tonight”, said University of Evansville baseball head coach Wes Carroll. “We just couldn’t get the big hit. Look forward to getting to the yard tomorrow to compete against a great opponent.”
The Aces fell in a big hole early, as the Bears struck for four runs in the first two innings. However, junior starting pitcher Adam Lukas (0-1) recovered quickly, tossing a pair straight scoreless frames.
Meanwhile, junior shortstop Craig Shepherd got Evansville on the board in the fourth inning, on an RBI single to short, tallying senior outfielder Nate Reeder, cutting the Mercer lead to 4-1.
Lukas would open the fifth inning on the hill, but his night would end there, as Kel Johnson greeted him with a lead-off home run, increasing the Bears lead to 5-1. Lukas, who finished with five strikeouts, would give way to junior Jake McMahill, who would come up clutch in relief, tossing three innings of one-hit shutout work, keeping the Aces within striking distance. McMahill would rack up four strikeouts in the process.
Freshman hurler Michael Parks would keep it a four run game, taking over for McMahill in the eighth frame, striking out a pair in a perfect inning of work.
The University of Evansville baseball team is back in action Saturday afternoon back at OrthoGeorgia Park for game two of the three game season opening series. Carroll will send out junior left-hander Nathan Croner to make his first start of the season. First pitch from Macon, Georgia is at 1 p.m. Central Time.
