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The sixth installment of the crosstown baseball rivalry between the University of Evansville and the University of Southern Indiana known as “The Battle At The Braun” will take place on Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m., as the Purple Aces and Screaming Eagles will do battle in a contest which can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.
Both teams will enter Tuesday’s game red hot, as UE will enter the game riding a five-game winning streak and having won seven of its last eight games and 17 of its last 24 games overall. USI, meanwhile, will enter Tuesday’s contest nationally-ranked at the Division II level and winners of 24 of its last 27 games.
Overall, Evansville will enter Tuesday’s contest with a 20-16 overall record after sweeping a three-game series from the Arkansas State University Red Wolves over the weekend at Braun Stadium. Arkansas State entered the series receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers’ Association national poll and carried a team ERA?of 3.75 which ranked 22nd nationally in Division I. The Purple Aces erupted for 21 runs over the course of the three-game series though to sweep the set and continue its hot ways offensively. In its five games last week, UE averaged 11.0 runs per game while hitting .389 as a team to win five contests against two teams in Murray State and Arkansas State which entered the week ranked in the nation’s top 100 in terms of RPI.
Leading UE’s offensive explosion last week were its three Canadians, junior outfielders Greg Wallace and Nate Smith and sophomore infielder Trentt Copeland. Wallace hit a team-best .545 in the five games last week (12-for-22)?with four doubles, a triple, and 11 RBI, while Smith was not far behind with a .526 average (10-for-19) with three doubles, a triple, a game-winning home run, and six RBI. Copeland also hit .400 in the five games with a team-best nine runs scored, as the three Canadians combined to hit .485 last week with 32 of UE’s 72 hits.
USI, meanwhile, will bring a 34-10 overall record into Tuesday’s game after winning three out of four games against conference rival the Missouri University of Science and Technology over the weekend. The Screaming Eagles were ranked as high as 15th nationally at the Division II level last week. Like UE, USI?is nationally-ranked in terms of stolen bases, as the Screaming Eagles ranked 13th nationally in stolen bases at the Division II level, and will enter Tuesday’s game with 104 thefts on the season. USI also features an offense which hits .333 as a team, led by junior catcher Dylan Mooney’s .416 average, 13 doubles, 11 home runs, and 51 RBI.
“Tomorrow’s game really will be a battle,”?said UE head coach Wes Carroll. “Tracy Archuleta has done a great job with the USI?program once again this year, and he has a very good team this season. They will really try to put pressure on our pitchers and our defense, like we like to do, and our pitchers are going to have to throw strikes and hit their spots like they did this past weekend.
“Hopefully, our offense will be able to continue to swing the bats like we did last week. I felt like up and down the order, there was really no weak link in our lineup last week, and when we have a lot of different guys stepping up and producing, it makes our offense very tough to stop. Hopefully, we can continue to play well in front of what should be a great crowd and atmosphere for college baseball tomorrow night.”
Since the series between the two schools resumed in 2004, UE has won all five meetings in the series. Overall, UE holds a 29-18 advantage in the all-time series.
Prior to Tuesday’s game, both schools will honor an Evansville legend, as former Evansville Youth Baseball coach Larry Collins will be honored in pre-game ceremonies. Collins coached youth baseball in the city for over 40 years, before losing a long-time battle with cancer this past summer. Collins was influential in the Evansville East little league program, which has produced numerous players for both programs throughout the years.
