NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Travis Tokarek couldn't figure out why the fans were cheering on Sunday afternoon.
With the University of Evansville baseball team in need of an offensive spark after a pair of tight losses at Lipscomb, the junior catcher hit the ball hard to left field in the second inning and took off running. When he looked up, he realized he hit a home run, and the cheers were actually coming from a strong Aces contingent near the UE dugout. It was the first of three hits for Tokarek on the day as the Aces picked up a 10-5 victory over Lipscomb at Ken Dugan Field.
"Honestly, I thought the cheers in the stands were for the guy making a great catch in left field," Tokarek revealed. "I was happy to win the at-bat and hit the ball hard on an 0-2 pitch, but I guess the wind took it because I thought he would catch it. I was pretty excited when I saw it had cleared the fence."
The Aces (8-15) had been held to six or fewer runs in nine consecutive games, but on Sunday, the team would follow up that Tokarek homer with two more scores in the fourth and a seven-run fifth.
"Oh yeah, that fifth inning was a long time coming," Tokarek added. "We've been winning at-bats and putting in work in practice with [assistant] coach [Jake] Mahon. He's been working with a lot of guys to try and get us ready for Valley play. Hopefully we can find a way to have innings like that against every team."
"Travis is a leader for us and a glue guy for us," UE head coach Wes Carroll said. "When he has a good day, man, it really helps our overall offense. He's been a rock behind the dish for us, and it's been great to see him lead both vocally and by example."
Tokarek, who hit two home runs this weekend in Nashville, was one of five UE hitters to finish with multiple hits, ending 3-for-5 with a pair of scores. Korbin Williams went 3-for-4. Kenton Crews, Trey Hair and Nate Reeder each finished 2-for-5 as the Aces out-hit the Bisons (14-9) in 14-11 fashion.
Following Tokarek's home run, the Bisons responded with a pair of scores in the bottom of the third, but the lead was short-lived as back-to-back Craig Shepherd and Williams doubles put the Aces ahead once more at 3-2 in the ensuing half-inning.
LU's Jeffrey Crisan would double home another in the bottom half of the frame before the Aces started rolling offensively in the fifth. Crisan, as well as Blake Thomas, finished the game 3-for-4 to lead the Bisons.
In the fifth, Crews led off with a double, and an Andrew Tanous hit-by-pitch and Tokarek single loaded the bases to chase LU starter Dayton Tripp from the mound. Stewart Nelson gave the Aces the lead with a sacrifice fly, and Dalton Horstmeier followed up with a walk to reload the bases and bring about another pitching change. Following a wild pitch that brought home a run, Reeder opened up the game even further with a two-run double. An error and another Williams single extended the frame for Trey Hair, who would respond with his 12th double of the season to make it 10-3.
The 10 runs are the second-most runs conceded by Lipscomb this season and the most since Feb. 19.
Justin Hayden was credited with the win in the contest, out-performing a former Rend Lake College teammate in LU's Tripp to finish with four earned runs over 5.2 innings of work. With the victory, the junior right-hander improved to 2-3 on the season.
Tripp, who had not seen the Bisons lose in any of his previous four starts this season, dropped to 2-1 after giving up 10 hits for six earned runs over four-plus innings.
UE will return to action later this week with a trip to Indiana on Tuesday before returning to Charles H. Braun Stadium on Wednesday for a showdown with SIUE. Missouri Valley Conference play will begin next weekend at Southern Illinois.
=== #AcesAces ===
