EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Evansville fifth-year first baseman Chase Hug (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike/Olney Central) was named the Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Player of the Week on Monday by the conference office after being a driving force offensively last week to help the Purple Aces to a series victory over Eastern Michigan.
Hug hit .667 (8-for-12) while posting a 1.083 slugging percentage and .778 on-base percentage in four starts last week for UE. He produced multi-hit games in three of UE’s four contests, including opening the week by going 2-for-3 with a walk at Kentucky. Hug then exploded in the final two games of the series against Eastern Michigan to help power the Purple Aces to a pair of victories.
In Saturday’s 9-7 victory over EMU, Hug went 4-for-5 with two doubles, a two-run home run and four RBI. He hit both a two-run home run and two-run double to power Evansville’s nine-run eighth inning. In fact, Hug finished just a triple shy of the cycle, and if not for a runner in front of him during his two-run double in the eighth inning, he likely would have achieved that mark, as he had to be stopped at second with the lead runner stopping at third base on a ball down the right-field line.
On Sunday, Hug went 2-for-3 with two walks in UE’s 5-3 victory over Eastern Michigan, and he finished the series by reaching base safely in eight of his final nine plate appearances on the weekend, with six hits and two walks in nine trips to the plate.
Hug and the Purple Aces will return to action on Wednesday, when UE travels to Cape Girardeau, Missouri to take on preseason Ohio Valley Conference favorite Southeast Missouri State (2-6) in a mid-week contest. First-pitch is set for 3 p.m.
