in the West Lafayette, Indiana area on Tuesday, the University of Evansville baseball game at Purdue has been moved to Wednesday evening at 5 p.m. central time. Now, the streaking Purple Aces will put its eight-game winning streak on the line on Wednesday against the Big Ten’s Purdue Boilermakers.
Evansville will enter Wednesday’s game with a 22-17 overall record after sweeping Bradley in a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series over the weekend. UE enters the week tied for the nation’s second-longest winning streak, as the Purple Aces have won eight-straight games, and 12 out of 13 games overall. It marks the fourth year in a row in which the Purple Aces have put together an eight-game winning streak during the course of the season, something that has never happened before in program history.
Pitching has helped power UE’s current eight-game winning streak, as over the last eight games, UE’s pitching staff has posted a 3.31 ERA. Freshman left-hander Kevin Reed (3-0, 7.50 ERA) will get the start in Wednesday’s contest. Reed is coming off of one of his best outings of the year last time out, as he allowed just three runs (two earned) over 5.0 innings of work at Indiana in the Purple Aces’ 5-4 win. Reed has been at his best this year against big-time competition, as he has posted a combined 1-0 record and 4.82 ERA in two starts against Indiana and Kentucky.
Offensively, Evansville continues to rank among the nation’s leaders in doubles, as UE currently ranks fifth in the country with 102 doubles. The Purple Aces are just five doubles shy of the national lead, and five different Purple Aces already have double-digit doubles totals on the year. Senior infielder/outfielder Kip Fougerousse and junior outfielder Harrison Taubert are currently tied for the team lead, and rank second in the Missouri Valley Conference with 14 doubles this season.
Purdue will enter Wednesday’s game at 25-15 overall. The Boilermakers boast one of the nation’s top freshman hitters in redshirt freshman Luke Gaffney. Gaffney will bring a .403 batting average into Wednesday’s game, and he has already set a new Purdue freshman record with 54 RBI this season. Gaffney provides the power in the Boilermaker lineup as well, as he has launched a team-leading 10 home runs, while also knocking 13 doubles and two triples. Overall, the Boilermakers are tied for second in the Big Ten in scoring at 8.4 runs per game.
All-time, Purdue holds a slim 20-19 edge in the series with Evansville, after the Purple Aces won three series meetings last year, including a 12-10 victory at Purdue’s Alexander Field. Wednesday’s game can be heard live in the Tri-State area on 107.1 F
