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EVANSVILLE, Ind.—Sophomore catcher Andy Pascoe began Evansville’s first home game of 2008 with a bang, but an offensive explosion by the visiting Indiana-Southeast Grenadiers spoiled UE’s home opener, as the Purple Aces fell by a score of 10-5 Tuesday evening at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.
Pascoe blasted a 400-foot-plus home run to center field in the bottom of the first inning to give UE a 1-0 lead. The home run was Pascoe’s first as a Purple Ace, and easily cleared the eight-foot-high fence just left of the 400-foot mark in center field. Three innings later, though, the Grenadiers would use a long bomb of their own to change the complexion of the game.
After Evansville starter Ryan Kussmaul (0-1) worked a perfect first three innings while not allowing the ball to leave the infield, Indiana-Southeast was able to get to the junior right-hander for four runs in the fourth inning, highlighted by a three-run home run by first baseman Mark Abell down the left-field line to jump to a 4-1 cushion. IUS would tack on a fifth run in the fifth inning on an RBI double by center fielder Ben Wyatt, before UE would respond.
Down 5-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning, No. 8 and 9 hitters Brian Robinson and Peter Tountas opened the frame with back-to-back singles. After a walk to lead-off man Alex Acheson loaded the bases, freshman outfielder Greg Wallace laced a two-run double just inside the left-field line to cut the deficit to 5-3. Another run would come home on an RBI fielder’s choice by Pascoe, but IUS starter Adam Lipke (2-1) would retire the next two batters to get out of the jam.
Indiana-Southeast would then tack on two more runs against the UE bullpen in the sixth inning, and three more in the ninth inning to take a 10-4 lead. Evansville would score another run on a run-scoring fielder’s choice by Pascoe in the ninth inning, but it would not be enough.
Lipke tossed a complete-game victory for IUS, scattering five runs on 10 base hits while striking out six. Kussmaul suffered the loss by giving up five runs on six hits in 4.1 innings with six strikeouts. Pascoe paced the Evansville offense by going 2-for-5 with a run scored and three RBI, while Robinson and Tountas also had two-hit efforts. Wyatt and third baseman Beau Manning had three-hit efforts at the top of the IUS lineup, while Abell drove in a team-best four men.
With the victory, Indiana-Southeast improves to 6-9 on the season. Evansville, meanwhile, drops to 1-11. The Purple Aces will return to Braun Stadium on Wednesday night, as UE will host Lipscomb at 5:00 p.m.
