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EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Evansville baseball team jumped to an early 6-0 lead and never looked back Wednesday night, as the Purple Aces posted a 9-1 victory over the visiting University of Tennessee at Martin Skyhawks at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.

Evansville plated a pair of runs each in the first and second innings, before adding single tallies in the fourth and fifth innings to grab a 6-0 lead. The lead would be more than enough for UE’s pitching staff, as eight Purple Aces’ pitchers combined to limit UT Martin to just an unearned run on six base hits in helping UE improve to 10-14 on the season.

“Today’s win was really a complete team effort,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll. “Our hitters did a good job of being selective early on and working the count in their favor, and our pitchers set the tone early with four hitless innings to begin the game.

“It was good to see different guys step up, both offensively and on the mound. Hopefully, we can continue to get that type of balanced production in our lineup this weekend against Creighton.”

UE took advantage of early wildness from surprise UTM starter Lin Cates (0-2) to score two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Cates, who was an emergency starter for scheduled starter Ben Vesser, walked the first two men he faced, and hit the fourth batter of the inning to load the bases with only one out. UE sophomore outfielder Nate Smith plated Evansville’s first run of the game with a sacrifice fly to right, before junior first baseman Tom Heithoff followed with a solid RBI single to left-center field to move the lead to 2-0.

Evansville would then double its lead in the second inning, as sophomore third baseman Cody Fick launched his team-leading fifth home run of the year, a two-run shot down the left-field line, to move the lead to 4-0.

Back-to-back doubles by junior outfielder Alex Acheson and sophomore second baseman Shawn Kuester would push the lead to 5-0 in the fourth inning, before senior shortstop Andy Smith added an RBI single in the fifth inning to give UE a 6-0 cushion. Andy Smith would then add another RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning to answer UTM’s unearned run in the top-half of the frame, before rookie infielder Trentt Copeland and Fick added back-to-back RBI base hits in the eighth inning to produce the 9-1 margin of victory.

Andy Smith paced UE’s 11-hit attack with a 3-for-4 effort and two RBI to extend his season-best hitting streak to five games, while Fick went 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored, and three RBI to extend his current hitting streak to nine games. Kuester also added a two-hit effort for UE. Second baseman Scott Gladstone was the lone Skyhawk player to record a multi-hit game, as he went 2-for-4 to extend his personal hitting streak to 19 games. 

Senior right-hander #J.R. Carbonell# (2-1) earned the victory on the mound for UE by tossing 2.0 scoreless innings of no-hit baseball in his first career start. 

With the victory, Evansville improves to 10-14 on the season. UT Martin, meanwhile, slips to 9-14 overall with the loss. Evansville will wrap up a seven-game homestand this weekend at Braun Stadium, as the Purple Aces will host Creighton in a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series. The series begins Friday night at 6:00 p.m. in a game that can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV and seen live on the internet on AcesTV at www.gopurpleaces.com.