EVANSVILLE – The University of Evansville baseball team scored four runs over the final three innings on Wednesday evening, but it wouldn't prove enough as the Purple Aces dropped an 8-7 decision to visiting SIUE at Charles H. Braun Stadium.
 
UE, which fell to 8-17 with the loss, led twice in the contest before a five-run SIUE (14-10) sixth inning put the Aces behind for good.
 
That five-run frame, which featured just one Cougars hit, saw both UE relievers Nathan Croner and Blake Swanger work to overcome command issues as five walks and a number of wild pitches allowed the Cougars to pull ahead. Croner was pegged with his first loss of the season, falling to 0-1.
 
"It's another one-run loss, and that's something that's been hurting us," UE head coach Wes Carroll said. "We've been in some tight ball games, but we haven't found a way to win, either offensively or defensively. Tonight we gave away a lot of free bases on the mound with a lot of walks, and that snuck up and got us. Offensively, we just couldn't get that extra hit in winning time. I felt like we had some momentum going and couldn't get the big hit. It's something that's been eluding us all year."
 
The Aces nearly overcame the sixth, however, as a Jimmy Day one-out double put UE on the comeback trail an inning later. Craig Shepherd followed up with a walk in the ensuing at-bat, and hits from Korbin Williams and Trey Hair made it 7-5.
 
Shepherd and Williams were the only Aces hitters with multiple hits as each picked up a pair. Meanwhile, the top three in the SIUE line-up combined to go 7-for-13 with five RBI. Leadoff hitter Alec Skender led the pack with a 3-for-5 day with three scores, and as a team, the Cougars out-hit the Aces 11-10.
 
Unfortunately for the Aces, a Dustin Woodcock single extended the Cougar lead in the top of the eighth. UE responded in the bottom half as Andrew Tanous led off the frame with the double. An error on a would-be Nate Reeder sacrifice fly ultimately brought home the first score, and a Shepherd RBI single plated Reeder to cut the deficit to one.
 
UE would put a runner on in the ninth, but SIUE closer Tristan Walters quelled the rally with three straight outs for his third save.
 
SIUE's Michael Shereyk, who gave up two runs (one earned) over 2.1 frames, earned his first decision of the year for the Cougars.

The Aces will return to action this weekend with the start of Missouri Valley Conference play at Southern Illinois. Friday's contest will kick off a three-game set in Carbondale.


 
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