EVANSVILLE – The University of Evansville baseball team racked up plenty of chances on Friday evening, but the team couldn't come up with the big hit at the right time as Indiana State pulled away late to win 9-1 over the Purple Aces at Charles H. Braun Stadium.
Indiana State starting pitcher Jeremy McKinney had a lot to do with the Aces' inability to cash in as he enjoyed a career outing, scattering four hits over six innings and striking out a career-best 12 batters to improve to 4-1 on the season.
McKinney's cause was helped by an ISU offense that spotted him five runs over the course of the first three innings. A lead-off Tyler Friis walk and a Tony Rosselli single brought home the opening score, and the Sycamores (14-12, 1-0 Missouri Valley Conference) would add another on a groundout an inning later to double the advantage. In the third, another RBI groundout was followed up with a C.J. Huntley two-run single to put the Sycamores ahead 5-0.
Rosselli ended the day 3-for-4 with a pair of scores, and Huntley was 2-for-4. Friis touched home three times, going 1-for-3 with two walks.
A Craig Shepherd double and Travis Tokarek plated UE's lone score in the bottom half of the third, but the Aces (9-21, 0-4 MVC) would strand a pair in scoring position as the inning ended. It was the first of three frames that UE left multiple runners on base.
Tokarek and Andrew Tanous were the only Aces with multiple hits on the day. Tanous' first inning single extended the juniors consecutive on-base streak to 18 games, which is the longest such streak for a UE hitter this season.
Patrick Schnieders (2-4) picked up the loss after allowing all five scores over 2.2 innings. Meanwhile, McKinney combined with ISU relievers Triston Polley and Ethan Larrison to rack up 17 strikeouts.
In total, UE stranded 13 runners compared to ISU's seven.
UE will continue its series with the Sycamores on Saturday. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.
NOTES: The UE-ISU series is one of the oldest in school history, dating all the way back to 1946, when the Aces program was restarted … Since 1978, UE is 43-60 against the Sycamores … In Valley regular season contests, the Aces are 42-41 against ISU … UE has won 12 of 22 overall series against the Sycamores, including three of the last four … Since 1978, the Aces are 220-168 against Indiana institutions … Since 1987, the Aces are 8-11 on April 7 and 329-279 in the month of April.
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