EVANSVILLE – Wednesday begins a busy road stretch for the University of Evansville baseball team as the Purple Aces will kick off a run of eight consecutive away contests with a trip to Nashville to take on Belmont at E.S. Rose Park.
UE at Belmont (Wednesday, 5 p.m.): Live Stats |
OVC Digital Network |
BU Website
The Aces (13-29) will be looking to put the brakes on a seven-game skid after nearly getting back on track over the weekend against Missouri Valley Conference-leading Missouri State. Despite the record, the Aces have pitched remarkably well at times over the rough stretch, and on Wednesday, the team will turn again to a steadying force in right-hander Justin Hayden.
Hayden, a junior out of Mayfield, Ky., is normally a weekend starter, but due to some weather complications in each of the past two weekends, he will find himself toeing the rubber for a midweek game for the second consecutive start. Last time out, Hayden threw five scoreless innings against Murray State in Paducah, Ky. In all, he's currently riding a 12-inning scoreless streak and enters Wednesday's game with a 3-5 record and a 5.63 earned run average.
At the plate, the UE will be likely hoping for some continued production out of Korbin Williams. The junior power-hitter has not enjoyed the home run numbers that he had a year ago, but he s started to heat up over the past week, leaving the park once against Murray State before closing out play this weekend with a pair of solo blasts in the finale against Missouri State. The Newburgh, Ind., native is hitting .293 with 24 scores and 13 runs batted in on the season.
Trey Hair leads the team with a .294 mark at the plate to go along with team-best totals in runs (28) and RBI (30). Travis Tokarek and his .289 average ranks third, and the Zionsville, Ind., native also owns the team lead in homers with seven on the year.
Meanwhile, the Bruins have picked up four wins in their last six games to take their record 21-21. The team will be looking to avenge last season's loss to the Aces at Rose Park, which saw them take a 6-0 lead in the first only to lose 13-7. It marked the first time UE had beaten the Bruins in Nashville.
First pitch is slated for 5 p.m.
NOTES: Since 1978, UE is 2-9 against Belmont, which includes a 1-7 mark in Nashville … In that timespan, the Aces are 35-48 against Nashville institutions, which includes a 1-3 mark this season … UE is 106-95-3 against Tennessee schools … Since 1987, the Aces are 10-6 on May 3 and 221-191 in the month of May.
=== #AcesAces ===
INFO: For all the latest information on University of Evansville Baseball, visit the sport page at GoPurpleAces.com or follow the program on Twitter via @UEAthleticsBASE.
DONATE: For information on giving to UE Athletics or its individual athletics programs, visit the Donate tab at the top of GoPurpleAces.com
TICKETS: To purchase tickets for UE Athletics events, visit GoPurpleAces.com and click on the Tickets tab at the top of the page.
