Aces aim to get back on track against Indiana State

4/6/2017 12:44:00 PM

EVANSVILLE – After falling victim to a sweep at the hands of Southern Illinois in last weekend's conference-opening series in Carbondale, the University of Evansville baseball team will be hoping to get things turned around with in-state foe Indiana State as the team kicks off the Missouri Valley home slate at Charles H. Braun Stadium.

It was difficult weekend for the Aces (9-20, 0-3 MVC) beginning with Friday's narrow 3-2 setback against the Salukis. That was followed up on Saturday with three-run walk-off homer in the ninth, and then on Sunday, nearly every SIU run was scored with two outs.

UE scored two runs in all three contests at SIU, and the team will hope to be getting back to the high-scoring totals the team put together in first month of the season. That effort got off to a good start on Wednesday night as homers from Travis Tokarek and Trey Hair propelled the UE line-up to a 5-1 rain-shortened victory over crosstown rival Southern Indiana.

Tokarek, who hit just one home run over his first two seasons with the Aces, leads the team this season with five dingers. Hair, who hit 10 a season ago, picked up his fourth of the campaign and first since March 10, a streak of 15 games.

Hair is one of four UE players with an average better than .300. His .302 mark is supplemented by team-leading totals in runs batted in (20), runs scored (19) and doubles (14). The freshman duo of Kenton Crews and Craig Shepherd own .319 and .311 marks at the plate, and Andrew Tanous is nearly up there as well as the junior out of Katy, Texas, has seen his average improve to .298 thanks in large part to his 17-game on-base streak, which is the longest by a UE player this season.

On the mound, Patrick Schnieders will get the nod on Friday night. The senior out of Westphalia, Mo., has experienced a fantastic final season to this point. A two-time MVC Pitcher of the Week, Schnieders is coming off a career-best performance of 12 strikeouts over 6.1 innings at SIU. He enters the weekend with a 2-3 record to go along with a 2.54 earned run average and 52 punchouts over 39 frames.

Connor Strain, who is in search of his first win, will make his eighth start of the season on Saturday with a 4.56 ERA, and Justin Hayden (2-4, 7.23 ERA) is scheduled to go on Sunday.

Relief ace Austin Allinger may also be called upon this weekend after allowing just six earned runs over 23 innings. He owns a 2.35 ERA with 20 strikeouts. Jack Cavanaugh has given up runs in just two of his 10 appearances, posting a 3.00 ERA, and Brandon Gomer is the team leader in appearances (17) and saves (2). He's 1-1 on the year with a 5.85 ERA.

Meanwhile, Indiana State (13-12) will be playing in its first conference series. Last weekend, the Sycamores fell in a trio of tight contests at Illinois, but the team bounced back earlier this week with a 5-2 victory at Purdue.

First pitch on Friday is slated for 6 p.m. All three games this weekend will be carried live on The Valley on ESPN3.

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