EVANSVILLE, Ind.—University of Evansville sophomore infielder Trentt Copeland’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth inning snapped a 2-2 tie, and senior closer Tom Heithoff worked around a lead-off walk on Friday night to nail down his Missouri Valley Conference-leading ninth save of the year, as the Purple Aces topped the visiting Indiana State University Sycamores, 3-2, at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.

 

“What a great job of our guys to battle tonight and find a way to win,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll. “It all started on the mound. Keegan Dennis really didn’t have his best stuff tonight, but he battled and was able to keep us in the lead during his six innings of work. Then Zach Taylor and Tom Heithoff were able to come in and hold a very good Indiana State offense at bay over the final three innings.

 

“This is a great start to the weekend. Now, we have to build on this win tomorrow afternoon and keep battling.”

 

After Indiana State scored a run in the first inning on a walk and a pair of singles, UE was able to answer back with a run of its own thanks to the speed of freshman shortstop Eric Stamets. After opening the inning with a single, Stamets stole second, advanced to third on a ball in the dirt that didn’t leave the dirt circle of home plate, and eventually scored on a throwing error during a pick-off attempt at first base. The stolen base by Stamets was his 36th of the year, which ties the UE single-season record originally set by Kevin Krizan in 1991.

 

Evansville would then take a 2-1 lead in the second inning, as junior outfielder Nate Smith crushed a 1-0 fastball from Indiana State ace Jacob Petricka to dead-center field for his fourth home run of the year.

 

The score would remain 2-1 until the eighth inning, as both Dennis and Petricka worked in and out of trouble in their time on the mound. The Sycamores would eventually tie the game at 2-2 in the top of the eighth inning on a one-out single by designated hitter Jeremy Lucas, a stolen base, and a two-out single up the middle by catcher Tyler Graham.

 

UE would quickly respond though in the bottom of the eighth inning by loading the bases with only one out against reliever Kevin Mann (4-1), before Copeland came through with a sacrifice fly to center field to give the Purple Aces a 3-2 lead. Heithoff would then work around a lead-off walk and a sacrifice bunt to produce a scoreless ninth inning and record his league-best ninth save of the year.

 

Junior RHP Zach Taylor (2-1) earned the victory on the mound for UE, scattering a run on three hits in 2.2 innings of work, while Dennis allowed just a run on six hits in 5.1 innings of work in the no-decision.

 

With the victory, Evansville evens its victory total of a year ago by improving to 25-20 overall and 6-7 in the MVC. Indiana State, meanwhile, falls to 29-14 overall and 8-7 in the Valley. The two teams will continue the series on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. in a game that can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.