SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The 2018 campaign opened with a bang for the University of Evansville baseball team, as they outslugged Fordham 9-8 in ten innings at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina Friday afternoon. Freshman Pete Vaccaro drove in the game-winner in the top of the tenth on an RBI single to left.
“It was a marathon kind of a baseball game”, said University of Evansville head baseball coach Wes Carroll. “A real roller coaster ride of emotions. Obviously, getting a win is crucial. About a quarter of your games are going to be one-run games, and if you can put those into the win column, you’re set up for a good year.”
The Purple Aces’ youth movement got the ball rolling for UE (1-0) from the opening frame. A pair of errors allowed freshman lead-off hitter Sam Troyer to come across with the first run of the contest. Two batters later, another freshman, left fielder Evan Aders, launched a towering 2-run double to the center field fence off Rams starting pitcher Evan Knehr, scoring both Craig Shepherd and Kenton Crews and the Aces were up 3-0 before Fordham got to bat.
“That first at-bat, I was nervous, I won’t lie”, said Aders. “I was just concentrating on finding a my pitch. I saw the fast ball on the 3-2 and I bought into it, swinging at the fastball. And it was right there. We got a little bit of video on it. I knew it was going to run in on me a little bit, and I was able to bale it up.”
A pair of throwing errors in the bottom of the first allowed the Rams to get a run back. However, UE starting pitcher Austin Allinger put out the fire, as Evansville held a 2-run advantage over the next two innings.
Then in the 4th, the Evansville bats erupted again. After senior slugger Travis Tokarek got hit by a pitch, sophomore second baseman Troy Beilsmith crushed a 2-run over the left field fence off Fordham reliever Anthony DiMeglio, giving the Aces a 5-1 pad. Later in the inning, freshman Sam Troyer drove in the first RBI of his college career, knocking in Dylan Horstmeier, with an opposite field single. A Craig Shepherd sacrifice fly to center would tallyTroyer, giving UE a 7-1 lead.
Still, Fordham (0-1) proved to be ram tough, striking for three more runs in the bottom of the 4th, helped out be a pair of Evansville errors, cutting the Aces lead down to 7-4.
However, UE flashed its power at the plate again in the top of the 5th, as senior catcher Andrew Tanous launched a solo home run to left-center, and Evansville lead was back up to four, 8-4.
Austin Allinger’s day came to an end in the bottom of the frame, as an error and a single put a pair aboard with on out. The junior hurler allowed four runs, 3 unearned on three hits, 2 walks in 4 1/3 innings, while striking out four batters. Senior reliever Ryan Brady came in to put down the uprising with a pair of fly outs, keeping it 8-4 Aces lead.
Brady would got the next two frames giving up a single run on a solo homer by Billy Godrick, cutting the Evansville pad to 8-5.
Fordham had one more rally in them. In the 8th, freshman Jake MacKenzie, with two aboard, tagged Brady for a game-tying 3-run home run, knotting the game at 8 and ending the senior reliever’s day. Sophomore Adam Lukas took over from there, tossing a scoreless two innings to force extra frames.
“With such a thin in the bullpen, especially on opening weekend, we were trying to squeeze another out out of Ryan Brady”, said Carroll. “Of course, a freshman nine-hole hitter goes up top and gets us to tie the ball game.”
In the 10th, Pete Vaccaro picked the right time for his first college hit, lifting a flare to left that fell in between a pair of Fordham fielders, allowing Troy Beilsmith to score from second with the go-ahead tally.
“I fell a little behind, got down with two strikes”, said Vaccaro. “I just tried to battle, got a hold of something, and just got lucky that it fell.”
Fordham would threaten in the bottom of the inning, putting a pair in scoring position with two outs. However, Lukas ended the nearly four hour contest, striking out Justin Bardwell looking to close out the 9-8 victory.
“Giving up that 3-run shot in the 8th, our guys responded”, said Carroll. “Adam Lukas really came in and threw well. We had some scrappy at-bats in the tenth inning to get the go-head run. I’m proud of this team’s overall effort, attitude and energy today.”
The Aces are back in action tomorrow morning against Dayton at Wofford College’s Russell C. King Field. First pitch is at 11 a.m. central time.
