NORMAL, Ill. – Craig Shepherd sent the fourth pitch of the game over the wall in left field, and it proved a harbinger of good things for the Aces offense as the University of Evansville baseball team touched home 20 times over the course of a doubleheader sweep of Illinois State at Duffy Bass Field.
The two victories gave the Aces their second series win of the season, and their first in Missouri Valley Conference. UE moved to 12-22 on the year, which includes a 3-5 mark in league play. Meanwhile, ISU dropped to 10-23 and 0-5, respectively.
Despite the run support, Saturday's opener was decided in extra innings after the Aces leveled the game with a ninth inning score. Perhaps that was to be expected in this series as three of the four meetings between UE and ISU a year ago were resolved in extras.
After each team scored five runs in the opening stanza, the Aces took the lead for the second time in the fourth. A failed pickoff from ISU starter Jeffrey Barton allowed Nate Reeder to move from first to third base, and he'd score moments later on a Craig Shepherd sacrifice fly. The lead would prove short-lived, however, as a Bryce Grimm double leveled things once again an inning later.
Shepherd finished the game 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of runs batted in, and the Redbirds were led by the duo of Zach Barnhart and Derek Parola, which combined to go 6-for-10 at the plate with four scores and three RBI. Grimm was 2-for-5.
ISU took its first and only lead of the day on an infield single against UE reliever Austin Allinger in the bottom of the seventh. From there, however, the Aces right-hander was lights out, stranding the bases loaded in the seventh before tossing scoreless frames in the eighth, ninth and 10
th.
In the ninth, Dalton Horstmeier laced an 0-2 pitch off the third base bag, and it caromed into left field foul territory to give him a leadoff double and his second hit of the day. A sacrifice bunt moved him to third base before ISU pitcher Mitch Vogrin (3-3) threw a wild pitch that allowed Horstmeier to score.
"That's what we love about baseball; you can never predict how a game will go," UE head coach Wes Carroll said. "We score five in the first, and they come back and tie it up right after. I'm really proud of the way this team fought back today. We scratched across a run to send it to extras, and then we were able to put up another five-spot to bookend the game."
It would all come apart for the hosts in the 11
th. Reeder, who laid down the bunt in the ninth, was the receiving end of a sac bunt after his leadoff single to move into scoring position. Walks from Korbin Williams and Trey Hair loaded the bases, and a Travis Tokarek single put the Aces back ahead. Andrew Tanous plated tow more with a single, and Kenton Crews added to ISU's misery with a two-run blast to left to make it 12-7.
Tokarek and Tanous each finished the game with three hits.
ISU grabbed a pair of consolation runs in the bottom half, but Allinger picked up the final three outs to move to 3-1 on the year. The West Chester, Ohio, native ended the game with two earned on four hits over 4.1 innings. He struck out six.
"I think Austin is kind of the glue of our pitching staff," Carroll explained. "He's a high pitch count guy for us. He can come in and really stretch out for us when we need it. He's like having another starter back there, and he's so valuable with what he brings to the table for us. For him to put up goose eggs and keep giving our offense a chance, he deserves the win."
Tanous and starting pitcher Connor Strain led the Aces in the second game, as UE took an early lead and didn't look back on the way to 8-1 victory over the Redbirds.
Strain, a senior out of Shelburn, Ind., extended his scoreless streak to 14 innings after he tossed another seven impressive frames Saturday. The right-hander ended his outing with aplomb, striking out the side in the bottom of the seventh. He'd finish his day with five punchouts on the day while surrendering just five hits.
"Connor has dominating stuff," Carroll said. "We had been waiting for it all season, and here we are with him in a stretch of 14 scoreless. We knew he could rattle this off. He has such a heavy sinker, and on a windy day like today, it's kind of a perfect set up for him and our defense because he was going to be able to keep the ball on the ground a lot. I'm really proud of his effort. As a senior, he stepped up big time to get us this series win."
Tanous, meanwhile, left the ballpark twice to finish 4-for-5 with four RBI and three runs scored. He's the first Ace to enjoy a two home run game since Korbin Williams accomplished the feat on April 15 of last season against Bradley.
UE opened the scoring on Nate Reeder second-inning single, and a Tanous one-run shot made it 2-0 in the fifth. ISU would cede two more scores in the inning as Crews struck out but reached first on a wild pitch. A double-error on the ensuing at-bat allowed him to score, and Stewart Nelson, who reached on the error, touched home moments later on a wild pitch.
A Hair sac fly added another in the sixth, and Tanous followed up with a three-run blast to make it 8-0.
ISU went on to score a consolation run off Jack Cavanaugh in the eighth.
UE will return to Duffy Bass Field on Sunday. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
NOTES: This weekend represents UE's first conference series win since taking home two out of three at Missouri State in April of 2016 … Craig Shepherd became the 10
th different Ace to hit a homer this season with his leadoff blast on Saturday. Last season, 13 different Aces, every player who registered at least one official at-bat, logged at least one home run … Saturday's first game was also the first this season where the Aces hit three homers … Since 1978, the Aces are 54-59 against the Redbirds, which includes a 38-36 mark in MVC regular season contests … UE has now won 10 of 22 Valley series between UE and ISU … The Aces have registered only one sweep of the Redbirds, which came in 2014 … The Aces will be involved in their 26
th Easter Sunday game since 1987. UE is 14-11 on Easter, which includes a 2-2 mark against the Redbirds in Normal … UE is now 15-9 on April 15 since 1987 and 332-280 in the month of April … Since 1978, UE is 251-225 against schools from the state of Illinois, which includes a 2-5 mark this season.
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