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MURRAY, Ky.—Two outs and all was well for the University of Evansville baseball team on Tuesday afternoon, as the Purple Aces scored 10 of their 11 runs with two outs in an inning en route to an 11-6 victory over the home-standing Murray State Thoroughbreds at Reagan Field in Murray, Kentucky. 

“I was really pleased with the number of quality at-bats we had all day long today, especially with two outs,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll. “Up and down the lineup, guys came through and really battled with two outs today, and that was great to see.” 

Evansville would score its only non-two-out run in the second inning on a run-scoring double-play ground ball off of the bat of junior first baseman Tom Heithoff to take a 1-0 lead. UE would then explode for five two-out runs in the third inning to grab a 6-0 cushion.

Junior designated hitter Andy Pascoe brought home the inning’s first run, as he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and two out. Junior outfielder Alex Acheson would then continue his torrid hitting of late with a two-run single through the left side to move the lead to 4-0. Acheson, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with two RBI on the afternoon, has hit .560 (14-for-25) for UE during his current seven-game hitting streak. Heithoff would follow with a two-run single of his own to push the advantage to 6-0.

“Alex is really seeing the ball well right now and driving it well to all fields,” said Carroll. “His hitting is beginning to rub off on everyone else in the lineup as well, because as they always say, hitting is contagious.”

Murray State would plate single runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to trim the UE lead to 6-2, before UE would answer back with two more two-out runs in the sixth inning to recapture a six-run advantage. Sophomore outfielder Greg Wallace would launch his fourth home run of the year, a two-out, two-run shot to right field, to provide UE with an 8-2 lead.

The lead would not remain six runs for long, though, as the Thoroughbreds used home runs by shortstop Kyle Tiernan and outfielder Daniel Hill, and an RBI triple by first baseman Wes Cunningham in the seventh inning to trim the UE lead back to just two runs, 8-6. Some more two-out magic by UE though would put the game out of reach.

With two outs in the eighth inning, Wallace singled through the right side to begin the rally. Fellow sophomore outfielder Nate Smith would then follow with an RBI double to the gap in left-center field, before coming around to score on a two-out RBI single by Pascoe to give UE a 10-6 advantage. 

“Greg’s at-bat in the eighth inning was really key for us, after Murray State scored those four runs in the seventh,” said Carroll. “He did a good job of battling with two outs and was able to start a very important rally for us.”

Evansville would add another two-out run on a run-scoring wild pitch in the top of the ninth inning to provide the final margin of victory.

Acheson helped UE equal a season-high with 16 base hits with his 4-for-4 effort at the plate. Pascoe and Wallace would each add three hits and two RBI apiece, while Smith also pounded out two hits and scored two runs. Cunningham, Tiernan, and DH Jason Laws all had two-hit afternoons for Murray State.

With the victory, Evansville improves to 12-16 overall. Murray State, meanwhile, falls to 18-12 on the season. The Purple Aces will now return home to Evansville to host Austin Peay State on Wednesday 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.