CHICAGO, Ill. –  In one of the top individual games in school history, University of Evansville graduate outfielder Eric Roberts hit for the cycle on Thursday night, including launching a grand slam to tie UE’s single-season home run record, to power the Purple Aces past the UIC Flames, 9-8, at Curtis Granderson Stadium in Chicago, Illinois.
“What an amazing night tonight by Eric,†said UE head coach Wes Carroll.  “Cycles are extremely rare, and to be able to do it with a grand slam included, and have that be the home run that ties the school record is really special.  I couldn’t be happier for Eric right now.
“And, up and down our lineup, I thought that we had a lot of guys step up tonight.  It was good to see Simon Scherry barrel up a few balls, and we could definitely use him getting hot over the next week or so in the conference tournament.  But, we had other guys step up and produce a lot of quality at-bats, and hopefully, we can keep that going the rest of the weekend and beyond.â€
Scherry got Evansville on the scoreboard first with a solo home run in the second inning to answer a first-inning run by the Flames.  Roberts then began his historic night in the third inning with a one-out triple and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by fifth-year first baseman Chase Hug.
After the Flames tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the third inning, Evansville exploded for six runs in the fourth inning to take a lead it would never lose.  Scherry would lead off with a double, and after a walk and an error loaded the bases, sophomore catcher Evan Waggoner and sophomore outfielder Ty Rumsey delivered back-to-back RBI singles to give UE a 4-2 lead.  Roberts then launched an opposite-field grand slam down the left field line to give UE an 8-2 cushion, while tying Ed Kothera’s 1987 single-season home run record with his 20th home run of the year.
UIC would not back down though, scoring two runs each in the fourth and fifth innings to claw back within two runs at 8-6.  Roberts then manufactured a run in the seventh inning to give UE back a three-run lead, as he led off with an opposite-field double, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and came around to score on an RBI single by senior outfielder Mark Shallenberger to give UE a 9-6 lead.
Roberts would clinch the cycle in the top of the ninth inning with a solid single to right-center field.  It is the second cycle in three seasons for Evansville, as former Purple Ace Kenton Crews had UE’s last cycle against Butler during the 2021 season.  Unfortunately, Roberts was stranded at third base, as UE not only scored nine runs, but left 13 men on base.  But, junior closer Nate Hardman worked a six-out save for his ninth save of the season to make a winner of graduate reliever Michael Parks (5-2) and help UE win the series opener.
Overall, Roberts went 4-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBI to lead Evansville.  Scherry also went 3-for-5 and finished a triple shy of the cycle, while senior third baseman Brent Widder and fifth-year outfielder Danny Borgstrom had two hits each.  Eight of the nine UE starters came through with hits.
With the victory, Evansville improves to 32-21 overall and 14-11 in the Missouri Valley Conference.  The Purple Aces moved into a tie with Southern Illinois for third place in the Valley standings thanks to the win and a Southern Illinois loss at Murray State on Thursday.  UIC, meanwhile, saw its seven-game winning streak come to a close with the loss, and dropped to 26-22 overall and 12-13 in the MVC.  The two teams will continue the series on Friday night at 6 p.m. in a game that can be seen live on ESPN+ and heard live on 107.1 FM-WJPS and the Old National Bank/Purple Aces Sports Network from Learfield.  If Evansville wins on Friday night, the Purple Aces will clinch a top-four seed in next week’s MVC Tournament and earn a first-day bye in the eight-team tournament.
