EVANSVILLE, Ind. – After a monster weekend at the plate to help power the University of Evansville baseball team to a series victory at #26 Oral Roberts, UE junior second baseman Cal McGinnis (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly HS/Bradley Univ.) has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week. McGinnis and the Purple Aces will be back in action on Tuesday by hosting Bellarmine at 3 p.m. at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium for the 2024 home opener.
McGinnis posted a .462/1.000/.533 slash line for the Purple Aces in his first weekend at UE. He had hits in all three games of the series, and opened his UE career just a double shy of the cycle, going 3-for-5 with a triple, a home run, three runs scored and four RBI in Friday’s season-opener. He also knocked two doubles and drove in a run in UE’s 14-3 victory on Saturday, and had a hit and a run scored in UE’s 7-6 victory at #26 Oral Roberts on Sunday. For the weekend, McGinnis led UE in hits (six), runs scored (five), RBI (five), extra-base hits (four) and total bases (13) in the three-game series against the 2023 College World Series participant.
Evansville will bring a 2-1 record into Tuesday’s home opener against Bellarmine. Offensively, UE totaled 31 runs in the three-game series victory at Oral Roberts, while hitting .306 combined as a team.
Bellarmine, meanwhile, will bring a 1-2 overall record into Tuesday’s game after dropping the final two games a three-game set at Tennessee Tech over the weekend. Junior designated hitter/catcher Matt Flaherty, a transfer from Abilene Christian, hit home runs in his first two at-bats as a Knight at Tennessee Tech and drove in four to lead Bellarmine to an 11-3 victory in the season-opener. Flaherty leads Bellarmine with a .333 average, and the Knights boast three players hitting above .300 so far this year.
Sophomore right-hander Elias Hachem will get the start for UE on the mound on Tuesday.
