EVANSVILLE, Ind. - With their Missouri Valley Conference victory in their satchel, thanks to late inning rally against Valparaiso last Saturday, the University of Evansville baseball team will go for its first MVC series win, as they welcome Southern Illinois to Charles H. Braun Stadium this weekend.

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Evansville Game Notes   

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This past Wednesday, UE battled back from a 3-run deficit, to knot things up with their crosstown rivals from Southern Indiana, only to fall late, 5-3.

Southern Illinois, after being swept by 21st ranked Tennessee Tech over the weekend, is coming off a bounce-back win over Southeast Missouri, beating the Redhawks 2-0 Tuesday night.

Evansville, senior utility man Dalton Horstmeier has gone on a mid-season tear, going 14-40 (.350 batting average) at the plate in the last ten games. The Fulton, Mo. native currently leads the team in batting average, hitting at a .298 clip.

As for the Salukis come into Braun Stadium with a potent line-up, led by Logan Blackfan, who leads the team in batting average, hitting at a .361 clip and is also the team leader in home runs (9) and RBIs (48). Connor Kopach is right behind Blackfan with a .358 batting average, 4 HR and 32 RBIS, while leading the team in stolen bases with 23 swipes. Alex Lyon is also hitting above .300, and has 28 RBIs and 20 stolen bases.

On the hill, the Purple Aces will open the series with freshman right-hander Austin Ruesch making his first collegiate start. Ruesch has made appearances in his first season at UE, posting a an 0-1 mark, with a 5.30 ERA, striking out 20, walking six in 18.2 innings pitched. Arguably, his best performance came against Murray State on April 10, going 3.2 innings, striking out eight, while allowing one run on two hits.
On Saturday, the Aces send out junior left hander Alex Weigand. After pitching, arguably, his best game of the season against Bradley (5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 Ks), the southpaw has struggled. Against Valparaiso last Saturday, Weigand gave up 3 runs on 3 hits in one inning of works. Then Wednesday night against Southern Indiana, Weigand gave up one run on three hits in two innings of work.
Head coach Wes Carroll has yet to determine his Sunday starter.

First pitch of the series comes Friday at 6 p.m. at the Braun. All Friday's and Sunday's games will be available on ESPN 3.

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