EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville baseball team will begin a rugged stretch of seven out of eight games against Power Five competition this weekend, as the Purple Aces will travel to Starkville, Mississippi to battle perennial Southeastern Conference power Mississippi State in a three-game series. All three games are scheduled to be streamed on the SEC Network+ streaming service.
Evansville will bring a 7-5 overall record into this weekend’s series after winning three out of four games against Purdue Fort Wayne over the weekend. The UE offense has started the season on fire, as the Purple Aces rank among the NCAA’s top 15 in five major offensive categories entering the weekend: doubles (2nd-41), hits (6th-152), batting average (9th-.345), on-base percentage (13th-.454) and scoring (13th-10.4 runs per game). Graduate outfielder Mark Shallenberger currently leads the UE offense and the Missouri Valley Conference with a .447 batting average, and will ride an 11-game hitting streak into Friday’s series opener. Senior shortstop Simon Scherry (.405) and junior second baseman Cal McGinnis (.404) also both hit above .400 on the season for UE.
Mississippi State will bring a 9-4 overall record into the series after rallying past Southern Miss, 5-4, on Tuesday. The Bulldogs have won six-straight games, and Mississippi State has done it with power pitching. MSU ranks 32nd nationally in team earned run average at 3.76, and the Bulldogs rank 11th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (12.0) and fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.03), as they have racked up 153 strikeouts against just 38 walks in 13 games.
The series is scheduled to start on Friday at 6 p.m., although rain is forecast for the Starkville area all day on Friday. It will continue on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. with single contests. UE will send senior RHP Nick Smith (0-1, 8.71 ERA) to the mound in the opener. He is expected to be opposed by MSU junior RHP Nate Dohm (2-0, 1.02 ERA). This series will mark the first ever meetings between UE and Mississippi State in baseball.
