Wichita, Kan. – The third lead was the charm for the University of Evansville baseball team on Saturday evening as Stewart Nelson's 17
th-inning solo blast proved the difference in a wild 8-7 Purple Aces win over Wichita State at Eck Stadium.
The Aces, who led 5-2 in the ninth and 7-5 in the 16
th, had once again fallen victim to a Shocker rally in the preceding frame, but it was no matter to Nelson. The junior out of LaGrange, Ill., put a ball up into the wind, and it carried over the fence in left center to give the Aces the lead one final time.
"I just try to do whatever I can help the team win, whether on the bench or playing," Nelson said. "It doesn't really matter to me. I was just trying to get on base as the leadoff man, so I was excited to get the home run because I knew we'd have another chance to win."
With the win, UE improved to 16-33 on the year, including a 7-9 mark in Missouri Valley Conference play. It was just the second home loss in league play for the Shockers, who fell to 24-26 and 8-9, respectively. A win in Sunday's rubber game would give the Aces their first series win in Wichita since 2005, and it would also mark the first time since 2000 that UE had won three consecutive MVC road series in a single season.
The 17-inning game, which is tied for the longest game in WSU history, was made possible by a pair of exquisite pitching performances from UE's Connor Strain and Austin Allinger. Strain, a senior right-hander out of Shelburn, Ind., tossed 6.2 frames, and at one point, he sat down 10 consecutive Shocker hitters. He surrendered his first and only run of the game on a Trey Vickers solo blast in the seventh, and he went on to finish with five hits allowed and eight strikeouts.
After the Aces surrendered the lead in the ninth, Austin Allinger came out of the bullpen to toss six scoreless, giving up just two hits while picking up eight punchouts of his own. Like Strain, he'd earn the hard luck no-decision after leaving the game with a lead.
"When my name is called, I'm there to do my job," Allinger said of his performance. "I haven't had that long of an outing this year, so we just played it inning-by-inning and batter-by-batter."
"Austin was outstanding," UE head coach Wes Carroll added. "For him to not know what kind of day he was going to have, he came out and really gave us a chance. It was great to see the overall effort from all of our pitchers, and of course it all started with Connor. It was a lights-out performance from him."
After being shutout in the Friday night contest, UE scored a single run in each of the first five innings Saturday, highlighted by a Trey Hair leadoff blast in the third.
From there however, WSU homered three times over the final three frames to eliminate the UE lead. Following Vickers homer in the seventh, Alec Bohm led off the eighth with a solo shot to make it 5-2. An inning later with two outs, Bohm hit a fly ball in foul territory near the UE dugout, but the Aces weren't able to pick up the final out. One pitch later, Bohm made them pay for it with a three-run no-doubter over the fence in left field to tie up the game and force extra innings.
Bohm finished the day 2-for-9 at the plate with four runs batted in. Vickers, Noah Croft and Willie Schwanke each tied for the team lead in hits with three apiece.
WSU threatened once again in the 10
th, loading the bases with one out on Allinger, but the sophomore right-hander responded with back-to-back strikeouts. He'd also strand a runner in scoring position in the 11
th before settling in and making short work of the WSU line-up before leaving the game in the 16
th.
UE, meanwhile, began to threaten regularly as the game wore on and finally broke through in the top half of that 16
th inning. After Troy Beilsmith reached on an error and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, Hair was intentionally walked to bring Andrew Tanous to the plate with one out. Facing a new Shocker pitcher in Adam Keller, Tanous sent the first pitch he saw all the way to the wall in left center for a two-out double to put UE ahead 7-5.
"Andrew had seen Trey intentionally walked three times in front of him, but he was finally able to deliver the barrel and send it into the gap," Carroll said. "He also did an outstanding job catching for 17 innings. He was locked in and called an excellent game with our pitching staff. I think he was our player of the game."
Hair led the Aces on the day despite going just 1-for-2 at the plate. Between getting walked and getting hit by pitches, the senior second baseman safely reached base in seven of his eight plate appearances. Tanous finished 3-for-8, and Nelson was 3-for-7.
However, WSU responded with four consecutive one-out hits off UE relievers Jimmy Ward and Jack Cavanaugh to level the contest once again. Cavanaugh, who earned the win and moved to 1-1, struck out WSU's Jordan Boyer and Travis Young to end the immediate threat. He'd follow up Nelson's 17
th-inning homer to sit down three of the four hitters he faced and bring the game to an end.
The final game time was six hours and 13 minutes.
First pitch on Sunday is set for 1 p.m.
NOTES: The longest game in UE history occurred on March 7, 1999, as the Aces and Memphis Tigers battled to a tie after 21 innings … The UE pitching staff tied a school record with 21 strikeouts. The mark was set by one pitcher, former MLB No. 1 pick Andy Benes, against UNC Wilmington in 1988 … UE won two of three against Wichita State last season … UE has won each of its last two conference road series. The Aces have not won three in a row since 2000 … Since 1978, the Aces are 30-58 against WSU … Since 1987, UE is 224-195 in the month of May.
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