EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Evansville baseball team used a late three-run rally to post a 6-4 victory over visiting Indiana State in the first game of the afternoon on Saturday, but the Sycamores would repay the favor with five runs in the eighth and ninth innings to rally for a 14-13 victory in the nightcap of two games at UE’s Charles H. Braun Stadium.

 

Evansville rallied to win the conclusion of Friday night’s Missouri Valley Conference series opener which was postponed due to rain after three innings with three runs in the seventh inning. UE held an early 2-0 lead before the rains game Friday night, only to have the Sycamores score one run in the fourth and three more in the fifth inning Saturday, highlighted by a three-run home run by ISU catcher Sean Osborne, to take a 4-2 lead.

 

Evansville would trim the deficit to 4-3 with an RBI single by second baseman Brian Robinson in the fifth inning, before rallying for three runs in the seventh inning to grab a 6-4 lead. Pinch-hitter Ryan Fleming would bring home the first run of the rally with a run-scoring fielder’s choice ground out, before shortstop Peter Tountas would deliver a two-out, two-run single to left field to give UE a 6-4 lead.

 

Junior John Foley (3-3) would work out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning to preserve the lead, and junior closer J.R. Carbonell would work around a lead-off walk in the ninth inning to close the victory and pick up his fourth save of the year. Robinson would go 3-for-3 with three RBI in the opener, while Tountas added two hits and two RBI.

 

In the nightcap, the offenses took center stage, as the two teams combined for 27 runs and 30 base hits, with nine errors sprinkled in between the two teams. Indiana State would grab an early 5-0 lead thanks to a five-run second inning, only to have Evansville score four unearned runs in the second and two more runs in the third on a pair of two-run base hits by Fleming to give UE a 6-5 lead.

 

Outfielder Brady Shoemaker would give Indiana State back the lead in a four-run fourth inning, thanks to a three-run home run to right-center field, his fifth of the year. The Purple Aces would tie the game at 9-9 in the fifth inning with three more unearned runs, before exploding for four runs in the seventh inning to grab a 13-9 lead. Junior first baseman Derek Melton capped the rally with a titanic three-run home run onto the Arad McCutchan Stadium soccer complex down the right-field line for his fourth home run of the year.

 

The lead would be short-lived though, as the Sycamores scored three runs in the eighth inning and two more in the ninth on a two-run double by third baseman Brian Ramirez to grab a 14-13 lead. Indiana State reliever David Gurbach (1-0) would work a perfect ninth inning, recording a pair of strikeouts, to earn the victory in his second inning of scoreless relief work.

 

Melton led Evansville in the nightcap by going 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI, while Fleming also added two hits, a double, and four RBI. Second baseman Ryan Strausborger went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI at the top of the Indiana State batting order to pace the Sycamore attack in game two.

 

Evansville (8-28 overall, 2-12 MVC) and Indiana State (11-22, 5-6 MVC) will conclude the series on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. in a game that can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.