Boxscore
Trentt Copeland kept the Purple Aces alive in the ninth with his base running, and won it in the 10th with his bat Friday night at Braun Stadium. As a result, the University of Evansville baseball team won for the fifth time in the last seven games, 3-2 in extra innings over SIU Edwardsville.
The same two teams meet Saturday in a 1:00 doubleheader. Single games were originally scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, but the forecast of rain late in the weekend resulted in the decision to finish out the three-game series Saturday.
Greg Wallace's two-out triple to the top of the wall in right center in the 10th inning set up Copeland's game-winning hit. After Cody Fick was intentionally walked, Copeland stepped up and stroked a line drive into center field to drive in the winning run off relief pitcher Brian Lorenz.
"After he walked Cody, I thought he might throw off-speed to me," Copeland said. "I was sitting on it, and I was able to get my hands out and make contact. It felt good to see it go."
Copeland created his own chance for the game-winning RBI one inning earlier. On first base with a one-out single and Evansville trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth, Copeland stole second. When Tom Heithoff fouled out to first baseman Michael Hopkins near the Aces' first base dugout, Copeland tagged and raced to third base. That brought up junior Ryan Oesterle for the first time, and the late inning replacement at designated hitter grounded a two-out, infield single past the pitcher and behind second base that tied the game 2-2.
"If the first baseman had looked back quickly, I probably would have held up," Copeland said about his aggressive baserunning. "But he had a tough catch to make, and as soon as he did, I figured I should chance it."
Evansville (8-11) prevailed despite a 12-strikeout performance from SIUE lefthander Mitchell Fairley, who was one strike away from a five-hit victory when Oesterle kept the game alive with his ninth inning RBI. Heithoff, who moved from first base to pitch in the ninth, picked up his second win of the season to even his record at 2-2.
