INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – After a slow start, the University of Evansville baseball team caught fire on Tuesday afternoon en route to a 15-5 run-rule victory over the homestanding Butler Bulldogs at Bulldog Park in Indianapolis, Indiana.
“Today wasn’t the prettiest performance we have had all year, especially early, but the guys found a way to grind out a nice road victory today,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll. “Obviously, Kip Fougerousse had a monster day today in the middle of the order, and when he is going well, our offense can put up runs in a hurry. But, we had a lot of guys step up with multi-hit games today, which was great to see.
“I also thought that we got some great outings on the mound from guys like Jace Kressin, Max Hansmann, and Jakob Meyer, which was huge. We need those guys to pitch like they did today down the stretch, because if they can, we can really get rolling.”
Butler jumped out early with two runs in the first inning, before UE took advantage of some wildness from the Bulldogs to plate three runs in the top of the second inning on only one hit to grab a 3-2 lead.
The lead would be short-lived, as the first five Butler hitters in the second inning reached base, plating two runs and loading the bases with no one out to grab a 4-3 lead. At that point, Kressin came out of the UE bullpen and recorded three-straight outs against the three, four and five-hole hitters in the Butler lineup to turn the tide and give Evansville the momentum.
The Purple Aces quickly retook the lead at 5-4 in the third inning on an RBI double by senior shortstop Simon Scherry and an RBI single by junior outfielder Harrison Taubert. Evansville then added two more runs on a Scherry RBI single and a double-steal in which Scherry stole second, and freshman second baseman Brodie Peart stole home to move the lead to 7-4.
Butler would scratch across a run against Kressin in the fourth inning on a balk, but then sophomore reliever Max Hansmann came on with two men on and no one out, and got a strikeout and two infield ground outs to end the threat and keep UE in the lead at 7-5.
Fougerousse then added a solo home run in the sixth inning, before the Purple Aces erupted for seven runs in the seventh inning to enact the mercy rule. Taubert launched a three-run home run in the frame for UE, while Peart and graduate catcher Brendan Hord added RBI singles, and Scherry and graduate third baseman Brent Widder drove in runs on RBI ground outs.
Fougerousse led UE offensively by going 4-for-5 with a home run and four runs scored. Taubert went 2-for-5 with a home run and four RBI, while Scherry added two hits, three runs scored and three RBI. Peart and Hord also had two-hit days for UE.
Kressin (1-0) earned the victory, the first in his Purple Aces’ career, by scattering a run on a hit in 2.0-plus innings of work, while striking out three. Both Hansmann and Meyer each tossed 2.0 scoreless, hitless innings on the mound, while combining to strike out seven men out of the UE bullpen.
With the victory, Evansville improves to 15-17 overall, as the Purple Aces have now won five out of the last six contests. Butler, meanwhile, drops to 13-17 overall with the loss. Evansville will now return home to German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium to host red-hot Illinois State (17-11, 7-2 MVC) in a key Missouri Valley Conference series. All three games can be heard live in the Tri-State area on 107.1 FM-WJPS and seen live on ESPN+. Tickets are also available by calling the UE ticket office by phone at 812-488-2623.
