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CHAMPAIGN, Ill.—The baseball gods took away an RBI from University of Evansville junior outfielder Jared Baehl in the eighth inning on Wednesday night. They more than made up for it though in the 10th inning for Baehl to help Evansville record its third victory of the year over nationally-ranked competition with a 4-3, 10-inning victory over No. 25 Illinois.
After Baehl's RBI double in the eighth inning bounced up over the wall to cost UE the potential go-ahead run, Baehl was able to reach base on a two-out error in the top of the 10th inning on which junior Tom Heithoff raced all the way home from second base to give UE the 4-3 victory.
“I am so proud of these guys for the way that they battled back today,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll. “We did not start out very well offensively, but they never quit and kept battling back, and Jared Baehl gave us a huge lift in the eighth inning with his RBI double. Then, J.R. Carbonell and Tom Heithoff did a great job on the mound to help us pick up this victory.”
Evansville drew first blood in the top of the first inning on a lead-off single by senior outfielder Jim Viscomi, a stolen base, and an RBI single by Heithoff. Illinois would quickly answer back though with a run in the bottom of the first on a one-out triple by outfielder Casey McMurray and an RBI ground out to tie the score at 1-1.
Illinois would use an RBI triple by catcher Adam Davis in the second inning and a solo home run to left field by first baseman Matt Dittman in the fourth inning to grab a 3-1 lead, before UE would battle back.
Evansville cut the lead to 3-2 in the fifth inning on a hit batter and an RBI single by Viscomi. The Purple Aces would then tie the game at 3-3 in the top of the eighth inning thanks to a pair of walks and a ground-rule RBI double Baehl. On the play, one run scored, but junior Andy Pascoe, who was rounding third base when the ball bounced over the wall, was sent back to third base with the score tied at 3-3.
The score would remain tied at 3-3 until the 10th inning, when Heithoff was able to work a one-out walk and advance to second base on a hit-and-run ground out. Baehl then sent a ball to third base which was gloved, but thrown low to first base to allow Baehl to reach base and Heithoff to score. Heithoff then worked a perfect bottom half of the frame to record his Missouri Valley Conference-leading eighth save of the year to make a winner of Carbonell (3-1).
Carbonell earned the victory by tossing two scoreless innings of no-hit relief. Viscomi led UE’s offensive attack by going 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, while third baseman Dominic Altobelli posted his 12th-straight multi-hit game with a three-hit night.
With the victory, Evansville improves to 25-23 on the season. No. 25 Illinois, meanwhile, slips to 31-14 on the year. UE will continue its current four-game road trip this weekend, beginning on Friday, as the Purple Aces will travel to Terre Haute, Indiana to battle in-state rival Indiana State (30-14 overall, 12-4 MVC). The series will begin Friday night at 5:00 p.m. in a game that can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.
