UE baseball matches season-high in hits but falls in extras at Central Arkansas
The Purple Aces had two players with three hits on the afternoon
CONWAY, Ark. – The University of Evansville baseball team took the Central Arkansas Bears into extra innings in the series opener but didn’t find the winning run in the 11-10 loss.
The Purple Aces came back from an early six-run deficit at Bear Stadium as the game went into an extra 10th inning. UE’s offense didn’t have quite enough juice to score the winning 11th run in extras. But Evansville tied a season-high 16 hits in Friday’s game as senior right fielder Harrison Taubert (Casper, Wyo. / Northeast CC) and redshirt junior infielder Kevin McCormick (Orland Park, Ill. / St. Laurence HS) had three hits each.
“It’s tough to lose your starter after the first inning on Friday, but our offense showed a lot of fight to regain the lead,” said Head Coach Wes Carroll after the game. “But we couldn’t find a way to win another close game. [RHP Owen] Byberg needs to give us a good start to get back in this series tomorrow.”
The Aces struck first in the slugfest on Friday as senior center fielder Ty Rumsey (Evansville, Ind. / North HS) hit a lead-off double into left center. Taubert followed up Rumsey’s double with a single to put runners at the corners. In the next at-bat, Taubert stole second base while UE added two outs. Evansville was able to connect on another hit in the first inning as shortstop Drew McConnell (Blue Springs, Mo. / Blue Springs HS) had a long single to left field, scoring Rumsey and Taubert to give the Aces an early 2-0 lead.
But Central Arkansas was able to answer back immediately in the bottom of the first. The Bears scored five runs on five hits and an error to take a three-run lead. That lead was then extended in the bottom of the second with a three-run homer to make it an 8-2 game for Central Arkansas early.
UE began chipping away at the Bears’ six-run lead over the next five innings. In the top of the third Evansville scored a run as Taubert was brought home for the second time on a single to left field by designated hitter Matt Flaherty (Lake Zurich, Ill. / Bellarmine). The Aces added two more runs in the top of the fourth as Taubert hit a double with the bases loaded for the second game in a row scoring infielders Ben Stuart (Mason, Ohio / William Mason HS) and Drew Howard (Ferdinand, Ind. / Forest Park HS).
With the game deficit down to only three runs, UE’s offense kept pushing in the top of the fifth. Flaherty led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a groundout in the next at-bat. He then scored Evansville’s first run of the fifth on an RBI single from catcher Evan Waggoner (Bedford, Ind. / Bedford North Lawrence HS). The Aces soon had the bases loaded for the second inning in a row as their next two batters were hit by a pitch and walked. Howard hit a sacrifice fly to right field with the bases loaded, scoring Waggoner to make it a one-run game.
Central Arkansas was able to add a run in the bottom of the fifth as their fastest runner scored from second base on a long single. The Bears’ two-run lead didn’t last long as UE erased the deficit in the top of the sixth. Evansville began the inning with a single for Taubert followed by a double from outfielder Jake McGhee (Felton, Mo. / Christian Brothers Academy) scoring the team’s eighth run.
The Aces’ next two batters hit into outs in the outfield. But it was Waggoner who connected on his second hit of the day with a double to right center, scoring McGhee for the tying run. Central Arkansas switched pitchers after the double and got the last out of the half-inning. UE kept the Bears from scoring in the bottom of the sixth heading into the seventh tied.
Evansville had another inning where its first two batters had hits to put runners into scoring position. The Aces scored the go-ahead run on their next at-bat as Rumsey ground out to second base, sending McCormick across home plate. After trailing by six runs UE headed into the bottom of the seventh leading by a run at 10-9.
Central Arkansas was able to find the tying run in only two at-bats in the bottom of the seventh. After the tying run scored, Evansville’s defense and relief pitcher Max Hansmann (Elmhurst, Ill. / York HS) locked in for three straight outs. Neither team found the winning run in the next two innings forcing the game into extras.
McGhee walked to start the 10th inning putting a runner on base early. But a strikeout followed by a double play quickly ended the top of the inning for the Aces offense. The Bears also had a walk to start the bottom of the 10th. Their first batter was soon at third base on a hit followed by a sacrifice bunt. Central Arkansas ended the game on the next play as the fourth batter of the inning singled to left center, scoring the winning 11th run.
Closing pitcher Kellen Roberts (Monroe, Mich. / Monroe HS) was charged with the loss. In total UE used five pitchers on Friday with freshman right-hander RJ James (Toronto, Ontario) having the longest outing with three innings of work. On the mound Evansville’s pitchers combined for 17 hits, 10 earned runs, eight walks, and seven strikeouts. Hansmann recorded the most Ks for the Aces with three in two innings of work.
All nine of UE’s starting lineup had at least a hit on Friday while five players had multiple hits. Taubert and McCormick were the only two batters with three hits while Rumsey, Flaherty, and Waggoner had two each. Three batters had two RBIs on the day while Taubert added two more stolen bases to his season total.
Evansville’s second game against the Bears has been moved up to a 1 p.m. start due to projected rain in the forecast. The Aces will look to even the series with junior right-hander Owen Byberg (Barrie, Ontario) expected to start on the mound.
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