EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Evansville baseball team was able to break out of a three-game offensive slump on Tuesday night, as the Purple Aces erupted for nine runs in the seventh inning to race past the visiting Oakland City University Mighty Oaks, 10-3, at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.

 

“It was nice to get back home and finally see our offense break through in the seventh inning tonight,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll. “Our offense has really been frustrated over the last three games, because we had scoring opportunities, but we could just not break through. Tonight, Oakland City really had us off-balance through the first six innings, but then, Greg Wallace came through with the big three-run triple in the seventh to give us the lead and take the pressure off a little bit.

 

“Really credit Oakland City, though. They competed extremely well tonight and they really played hard for Coach Fletcher. They are going to win some games down the stretch if they play like they did tonight.”

 

Evansville would put runners on base in each of the first six innings against the Mighty Oaks, but only had an RBI single by freshman catcher John Day in the second inning to show for it, as UE took an early 1-0 lead. Oakland City would answer right back though with two runs in the third inning and one more in the fifth inning on a triple to the wall in left-center field by freshman shortstop Logan Mohr and an RBI single by senior first baseman Juan Carlos Calderon to grab a 3-1 lead.

 

The score would remain 3-1 until the seventh inning, when UE’s offense finally got on track. After a walk, a single, and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases to open the inning, junior outfielder Greg Wallace cleared the bases with a three-run triple to right-center field to give UE a 4-3 lead. Junior infielder Cody Fick would then follow with an RBI double down the left-field line to push the lead to 5-3.

 

An error would put runners on the corners with no one out, before junior outfielder Nate Smith roped an RBI double just inside of the third-base line to score Fick and move the score to 6-3. Two batters later, senior first baseman Andy Pascoe came through with a two-run single through a drawn-in infield and senior designated hitter Tom Heithoff delivered an RBI triple to center to score Pascoe and give UE a 9-3 lead. An RBI single by senior outfielder Alex Acheson would then cap the scoring and the nine-run frame.

 

Smith paced Evansville offensively by going 3-for-5 with two doubles and a triple, while Acheson added three singles. Wallace also drove in three runs to move his Missouri Valley Conference-leading total to 65 RBI this spring, while Day added two hits and Pascoe two RBI. Freshman right-hander Kyle Lloyd (2-0) earned the victory on the mound by scattering a run on three hits in 6.0 innings of work, while striking out a season-best eight. He struck out the side in the ninth to cap the victory.

 

“One bright spot tonight was definitely the job that Kyle Lloyd did on the mound,” said Carroll. “Kyle really pounded the zone and worked ahead in the count and attacked the Oakland City hitters. He is throwing with a lot of confidence right now, and that is great to see.”

 

Mohr paced Oakland City by going 2-for-4 with a triple and a run scored. Outfielder Lucas Izagas also went 2-for-4 with a run scored for the Mighty Oaks.

 

With the victory, UE snaps a three-game losing streak and improves to 24-20 on the season. Oakland City, meanwhile, falls to 17-22 overall with the loss. Evansville will return to Braun Stadium on Friday night, as the Purple Aces will welcome in-state MVC rival Indiana State to town for a three-game conference series. All three games of the weekend set can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.