Zach Taylor is expected to get the start in Friday's series opener.
Baseball To Entertain Nationally-Ranked Wichita State This Weekend
5/8/2008 4:00:04 PM
Series Notes (PDF)
Live Game Video Streaming (Courtesy of Aces' All-Access)
Live Game Audio (Courtesy of WUEV)
Live Game Statistics
The University of Evansville baseball team will try to keep its Missouri Valley Conference Tournament hopes alive this weekend while facing its biggest test of the year, as the Purple Aces will welcome the nationally-ranked Wichita State Shockers to town for a three-game MVC series. The series will begin Friday night at 6:07 p.m. and continue on both Saturday (2:07 p.m.) and Sunday (1:00 p.m.) afternoon, with all three games being available on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.
Evansville will enter this weekend’s series with a 13-36 overall record and 3-15 MVC mark. The Purple Aces are currently in ninth place in the league standings, 4.0 games back of sixth-place Southern Illinois with six conference games remaining. Due to the fact that the three teams directly ahead of Evansville play each other in the final two weeks of the regular-season, the Purple Aces will likely need to win all six remaining conference games in order to advance on to the six-team State Farm MVC Tournament in late May.
Wichita State, meanwhile, sits atop the Valley with a 36-13 overall record and 14-4 conference mark. The Shockers currently hold a 1.5 game lead on second-place Missouri State in the conference standings, and with three wins this weekend, Wichita State can clinch a first-round bye in the upcoming State Farm MVC Tournament.
Evansville will be trying to bounce back from Wednesday night’s 10-4 loss at Austin Peay, which snapped a three-game winning streak for UE. Freshman outfielder Greg Wallace continues to pace the Purple Aces’ attack this year with a .316 batting average, while also ranking third in the Valley in doubles with 16. Wallace, who currently ranks second among MVC freshmen in hitting, is trying to become the first rookie to lead UE in hitting just Ryan Brownlee did so in 1994.
Junior infielder Derek Melton currently supplies the power to the UE lineup, as he launched his team-leading fifth home run of the year Wednesday night at Austin Peay. Melton (.306/5/23) will ride a seven-game hitting streak into this weekend’s series, his third streak of six games or more so far this year.
Wichita State, ranked as high as 10th nationally in the various college baseball polls, will turn to junior third baseman Conor Gillaspie, senior outfielder Andy Dirks, and a veteran pitching staff to try and snap a current two-game losing streak. Gillaspie, who has missed four of the last five games due to back problems, currently paces the Shockers’ offensive attack with a .396 average, six home runs, 11 doubles, and 55 RBI. Dirks is not far behind with a .378 batting average and eight home runs, while also swiping 22 stolen bases on the year.
Pitching has once again powered the Shockers this year, as Wichita State entered the week ranked in the nation’s Top 10 in team earned run average (6th--3.40), strikeouts per nine innings (9th--9.0), hits allowed per nine innings (7th--8.04), and walks allowed per nine innings (2nd--2.48). All three weekend starters--Rob Musgrave (7-1, 2.49 ERA), Anthony Capra (7-0, 2.53 ERA), and Aaron Shafer (8-2, 2.63 ERA)--ranked in the nation’s Top 50 in both earned run average and victories as of Monday.
Wichita State leads the all-time series over UE, 37-18. The Shockers took three of four games from Evansville last year, including a season-ending 12-1 victory over UE at the MVC Tournament last May