•  2010 UE Baseball Schedule (PDF)
•  2010 UE Baseball Schedule (On-Line)
•  2010 UE Baseball Ticket Brochure (PDF)

Season ticket packages are now on sale at the University of Evansville for a challenging 2010 baseball schedule which head coach Wes Carroll announced today.  The home schedule includes games against 2009 NCAA Tournament teams Louisville, Wichita State, Western Kentucky, and Indiana this spring at Charles H. Braun Stadium, the renewal of the crosstown rivalry with Southern Indiana, and the retirement of former UE and Major League standout Andy Benes’ jersey number.

In all, Evansville will play 30 of its 56 regular-season games at Braun Stadium.  Single-game prices this season are $7 for adults and $5 for youth (17 and under) and seniors (65 and over), with season ticket packages available beginning at $25 for youth, $45 for seniors, and $75 for adults.  A family pass, which provides four tickets for every home game, is also available for $175, a savings of over 75 percent off of UE’s single-game prices.

“We are very excited to have 30 home games this year for our fans,” said Carroll, who is set to begin his second season as head coach of the Purple Aces this spring.  “With the quality of opponent that we have coming into Braun Stadium this year, it should be a great year of college baseball action for our fans. 

“The month of April should be really fun, because just about every week at home, we have a great match-up for our fans.  We also purposely tried to load our schedule with home games in April to allow for the weather to hopefully warm up.  Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and we’ll be able to give our fans a great showcase of college baseball at Braun Stadium this spring.”

UE will begin the 2010 season with 13-straight road games, before opening the home schedule on March 12-14 with the annual Dunn Hospitality Diamond Classic, featuring Morehead State, Le Moyne, and Purdue.  Evansville will then return to Braun Stadium the weekend of March 19-21 to host Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, before welcoming 2009 NCAA Tournament Super Regional participant and nationally-ranked Louisville to town for a 3:00 p.m. mid-week contest on Tuesday, March 23.

After a trip to reigning Missouri Valley Conference regular-season champion Missouri State in the last weekend in March to open Valley play, the Purple Aces will return home to host 2009 MVC Tournament champion and NCAA Tournament participant Wichita State on April 2-4 for a three-game Valley set.  Independent power and preseason-ranked Dallas Baptist will then visit Braun Stadium for a three-game series on Thursday, April 8 through Saturday, April 10.

After a brief home-and-home mid-week series with Murray State, the Purple Aces will once again take the Braun Stadium diamond on April 16-18 in a special weekend series against Arkansas State.  Evansville will retire the jersey number of former UE standout and Major League ace Andy Benes prior to the Saturday, April 17 game against Arkansas State (4:00 p.m. first-pitch).  Benes excelled on the mound for UE from 1986 through 1988, earning NCAA Player of the Year honors in 1988 and helping UE to its first NCAA Tournament appearance with a school-record 16 wins, 188 strikeouts, and a 1.42 ERA.  He was selected first overall in the 1988 Major League Baseball draft by the San Diego Padres, and went on to compile a 155-139 career record and 3.97 ERA in 14 Major League seasons with the Padres, Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks, and St. Louis Cardinals.

Benes’ jersey will be just the second jersey number retired at UE, joining former Purple Aces’ head coach Jim Brownlee.  His jersey retirement will be extra-special for Benes, as his son, Drew, is a junior pitcher for the Red Wolves.

“Retiring Andy’s jersey number is something that has been long overdue,” said Carroll.  “When you look at what he means to this program as the top pick in the 1988 draft and the catalyst for our first NCAA regional appearance and victory over top-ranked Arizona State, it only is fitting that he would join Coach Brownlee as the only two men to have their uniform numbers retired.  They both really helped put UE baseball on the map.”

Following the series with Arkansas State, UE will welcome crosstown rival Southern Indiana to Braun Stadium for another installment in the “Battle At The Braun” series on Tuesday, April 20.  UE will then host Bradley in a three-game MVC series April 23-25, before closing the month on the road at Western Kentucky and at Creighton, where the Purple Aces will play at Rosenblatt Stadium on Friday night, April 30.

The month of May opens with a return-trip to Evansville by NCAA Tournament participant Western Kentucky (Wednesday, May 5) and a three-game Valley series with in-state rival Indiana State (May 7-9).  Long-time rival Austin Peay will return to Braun Stadium on Tuesday, May 11, before UE welcomes 2009 NCAA Tournament participant Indiana to the Braun for a Tuesday, May 18 showdown.  UE will conclude the 2010 home season with a three-game series against Illinois State on Thursday, May 20 through Saturday, May 22, before traveling to Wichita, Kansas to take part in the 2010 MVC Tournament.

To order tickets, please contact the UE athletic department by phone at (812) 488-ACES.  The 2010 Purple Aces will return 15 letterwinners, including six starters, from last year’s 25-30 squad, led by all-MVC selections Cody Fick (.307/9/46), Tom Heithoff (.303/1/25, 4-3, 2.87 ERA, 8 saves), and Andy Pascoe (.331/1/21).  The team will open practice on Friday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. in UE’s Armory Building.