EVANSVILLE – There were two outs in the ninth and Patrick Schnieders couldn't have been closer to history on Saturday afternoon, but a Cole Heili single spoiled the senior's hopes for a first career no-hitter. Ultimately, the day still proved successful for the right-hander and his Purple Aces teammates as the University of Evansville enjoyed a doubleheader sweep of Milwaukee at Charles H. Braun Stadium.
 
UE, which fell in 13 innings on Friday night, bounced back for a 2-0 victory in the first game before coming from behind to win 6-4 in the second. With the wins, the Aces improve to 3-7 on the year while the visiting Panthers dropped to 5-5. The two teams will square off once again at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
 
Schnieders thoroughly impressed in the opening game Saturday, striking out 10 batters before that Heili single. It was the second time this season that the Westphalia, Mo., proved difficult for opposing hitters to handle. In the opening series at Central Arkansas, he left the mound after fanning 11 and not allowing a hit through five innings.
 
"Patrick got out of the gates early with seven or eight strikeouts in the first four innings or so, and then he was able to draw soft contact later on in the game," UE head coach Wes Carroll explained. "He was one strike away, and I'm sure that memory will always be with him, but most importantly, he delivered and helped us win a ball game today."
 
"We've been scuffling a little bit early this season, and it's just great for us to get a dominant pitching performance like that," Carroll continued. "It really sets the tone for the entire day. After going to extra innings yesterday, it gave us a fresh bullpen, and it really carried over into the performances we had from our pitchers in the second game too."
 
"Today I had a good two-pitch mix going," Schnieders said. "There were some great defensive plays behind me. When you can get that and command the strike zone, it usually works out. I was trying to keep putting zeroes on the board, and with the way we've scored all year, I knew the offense was going to come through eventually."
 
The Aces would get on the board in the sixth with Trey Hair's second home run this season, and a seventh-inning Korbin Williams leadoff single would turn into another as a groundout, wild pitch and error brought him home to double the UE advantage heading into the final two frames.
 
Hair and Andrew Tanous led the Aces at the plate as each enjoyed a 2-for-4 outing.
 
In the ninth, Schnieders picked up the first two outs with relative ease before Ben Chally was hit by a 3-2 pitch. In the ensuing at-bat, Heili came up with the single to ruin the no-hit bid. Brandon Gomer jogged in from the pen to strikeout Devin Rybacki on three pitches to end the game and pick up the save.
 
In the day's second game, Milwaukee pushed across a run in four of the first five frames before a sixth-inning rally handed UE its first and only lead of the contest. It would stand, putting the Aces a win away from their first series victory of the season.
 
Daulton Varsho hit a two-out homer in that opening stanza, but Williams would touch home an inning later to even the affair. Another Varsho homer coupled with a Mike Johrdahl fielder's choice made it 3-1, but once again the advantage proved short-lived. In the bottom of the fourth, Stewart Nelson singled home a pair of runs to tie things back up.
 
Varsho was 3-for-5 at the plate for the Panthers, and Chally ended 2-for-3.
 
The Panthers pulled ahead once more with a Rybacki sac fly in the fifth, but back-to-back Hair and Tanous doubles brought three runs home in the sixth, and the Aces bullpen picked it up from there, not allowing a hit or walk over the final three innings.
 
"I'm really proud of how our pitching coach, Cody Fick, has stayed positive with this staff," Carroll said. "Early on, our staff wasn't pitching up to their capability, and we knew we were a lot better than we were showing. Hopefully, today is a sign of what the future holds."
 
Tanous once again impressed with a 3-for-4 showing, and Hair got on base three times, going 1-for-2 with a pair of walks.
 
Alex Weigand (1-1) earned his first win, and Gomer picked up his second save of the day and of the season with a perfect ninth.
 
 
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