EVANSVILLE, Ind.—After a slow start, the University of Evansville baseball team exploded for eight runs from the fourth inning on on Tuesday night to power past the visiting Oakland City University Mighty Oaks, 10-4, at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.

 

UE jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by sophomore shortstop Cody Fick and an infield ground out by sophomore outfielder Nate Smith. Oakland City would quickly respond though in the second inning, taking advantage of a UE error to score three unearned runs and grab a 3-2 lead.

 

The score would remain at 3-2 in favor of Oakland City until the fourth inning, when the Purple Aces’ offense finally awoke. UE batted around in the fourth inning, scoring three runs to grab a 5-3 lead. The inning was triggered by a two-run double by junior catcher Matt Major and an RBI double by senior outfielder Jim Viscomi.

 

UE would add a single run in the fifth inning on an RBI fielder’s choice ground ball off of the bat of Major to grab a 6-3 lead. The Purple Aces would then score three more runs in the sixth inning, highlighted by a two-run double by junior designated hitter Andy Pascoe, before Viscomi capped UE’s scoring in the seventh inning with a solo home run to left field for his fourth home run of the year.

 

“This is a tough game to play because it is right before finals, and a lot of the players have papers and projects due, but the players were able to battle through tonight and pick up the win,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll. “Jim Viscomi did a nice job of setting the tone at the top of the order, and we were able to get good production from many different guys in the line-up which was key.

 

“Now, it is time to take care of business in the classroom during finals and be ready to get back at it on Friday night against SIU-Edwardsville.”

 

Viscomi paced the UE offense by going 3-for-6 with two doubles, a home run, two runs scored, and two RBI at the top of the Purple Aces’ batting order. Pascoe also added three hits, including a pair of doubles, three runs scored and two RBI, while Major drove in a team-best three men. Catcher John Feltner accounted for three of Oakland City’s five base hits on the evening, as he went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBI.

 

With the victory, Evansville improves to 21-22 on the season. Oakland City, meanwhile, falls to 10-24 overall. Evansville will return to the diamond next on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. as UE will welcome Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville to town for a four-game non-conference series. The series will continue Saturday with a 3:00 p.m. doubleheader, before concluding on Sunday afternoon with a single, nine-inning game scheduled for 1:00 p.m.