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•  Saturday Game Two Live Stats

The University of Evansville baseball team will kick off the 2010 season this weekend, as the Purple Aces will travel south to Nashville, Tennessee to battle the Belmont Bruins in a three-game series.  First-pitch for the 2010 season is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon, and the series will continue on Saturday with a noon doubleheader.

For Evansville, this weekend’s series will mark the first time the Purple Aces have been able to venture outside due to the unseasonably cold and wintery weather in the Tri-State area this year.  The 2010 version of the Purple Aces will feature six returning position starters and four main-line pitchers returning from last year’s 25-30 squad. 

“We are excited to be able to finally get outside this weekend and begin competing,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll.  “Our guys have put in a lot of work indoors this year already, and they are just jumping at the chance to finally get outside and compete against another team.

“We’ll learn a lot about our team these first few weekends.  I’ll be very interested to see how some of our younger players compete in game situations, especially on the mound.  Overall, we have a fairly veteran lineup, but we are still young in a few key positions, especially on the mound.  We’ll need some younger guys to step up and be leaders for us this spring to be successful, and we’ll begin to see who will step up this weekend at Belmont.” 

Headlining UE’s returning cast are 2009 all-Missouri Valley Conference selections Cody Fick, Andy Pascoe, and Tom Heithoff.  Fick earned second team all-MVC honors at third base last year and was chosen to the Valley’s preseason all-conference team this spring after ranking among the MVC’s leaders in six different offensive categories in 2009.  Fick ranked among the Valley’s best in hits (9th-70), runs (9th-44), RBI (7th-46), doubles (2nd-19), home runs (7th-9) and slugging percentage (8th-.526), while hitting .307 in his first year as a Purple Ace.  Pascoe, meanwhile, earned second team all-Valley honors at designated hitter last year after leading the Purple Aces in hitting with a .331 batting average.

Heithoff garnered second team all-Valley honors on the mound as UE’s closer last spring, while ranking second in the MVC with eight saves.  He earned preseason all-MVC honors as a utility player this spring, as he also hit .303 with five doubles, four triples, a home run and 25 RBI in 132 at-bats spanning 33 starts at first base in 2009.  Heithoff will make the move from the closer’s role to the starting rotation this spring, as he is expected to start Friday’s season-opener on the mound.  Junior Zach Taylor and senior Keegan Dennis are also expected to earn starts in Saturday’s doubleheader.

Belmont, meanwhile, returns 19 players including five position starters and 11 pitchers from last year’s 29-29 team which finished sixth in the Atlantic Sun Conference.  Sophomore outfielder Dyan Craig leads Belmont’s returning cast after having a stellar rookie season for the Bruins last year.  Craig earned the Atlantic Sun Conference’s Freshman of the Year honor and was a Freshman All-America selection after setting a school-record with 92 hits, ranking second in the nation with nine triples, and hitting a team-best .397 overall.