CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.--A pair of two-out errors in the fifth inning by the University of Evansville baseball team and the relief pitching of Southeast Missouri State sophomore right-hander Brad LaBruyere did in the visiting Purple Aces, 9-4, Tuesday afternoon at Capaha Field in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

With the score tied 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth inning, back-to-back two-out errors by the UE infield opened the door for a five-run frame for Southeast Missouri State.  With runners on second and third with two out, the back-to-back errors scored the first two runs of the frame to give the Redhawks a 6-4 lead.  A two-run single by second baseman Tony Spencer would follow to break things open.

The five-run lead would be more than enough for LaBruyere (3-1), who shut down the Purple Aces’ attack after UE erupted for four runs in the first three innings.  LaBruyere earned the victory after tossing 5.2 innings of three-hit, scoreless baseball, striking out three.  He allowed just one runner to advance past first base from the fourth inning on.

“We missed another opportunity today to get back to the .500 mark,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll.  “Those two errors in the fifth inning were crucial and really opened the flood gates, but to be honest, we didn’t play well enough today in any phase of the game to pick up the victory.  Hopefully, we can respond with a better effort tomorrow against Kentucky.”

Evansville jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, as sophomore outfielder Greg Wallace roped an RBI triple to right-center field and came around to score on an RBI ground ball by junior first baseman Tom Heithoff.

Southeast Missouri State would answer back with a run of its own in the bottom of the first inning, but UE would retake a two-run advantage in the second inning thanks to a lead-off double by freshman second baseman Trentt Copeland and a two-out RBI single by junior outfielder Alex Acheson.

After the Redhawks tied the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the second inning, Wallace once again gave UE the lead with a long solo home run to right field for his sixth home run of the season in the top of the third.  SEMO would answer right back though with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third inning to tie the game at 4-4, before plating five unearned runs in the fifth inning to produce the final margin of victory.

Wallace finished the day 2-for-4 with a triple, a home run, two runs scored and two RBI.  Heithoff and Acheson also had two hits each.  SEMO’s Justin Wheeler paced the Redhawk attack by going 4-for-4 with a double and two RBI at the plate.

With the victory, Southeast Missouri State improves to 23-14 on the season.  Evansville, meanwhile, slips to 18-20 overall and sees its six-game non-conference winning streak snapped.  The Purple Aces will try to rebound tomorrow night at 5:30 p.m. central time, as UE will travel east to Lexington, Kentucky to take on the University of Kentucky Wildcats (21-17 overall).  Wednesday’s game will pit brother against brother, as UE junior Wade Kapteyn (2-6, 4.25 ERA) will earn the start on the mound against his younger brother Braden Kapteyn’s Kentucky Wildcats.  Braden is currently hitting .300 for Kentucky as a true freshman.  Wednesday’s game can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.