Game 1 Box Score (HTML)
Game 1 Box Score (PDF)
Game 2 Box Score (HTML)
Game 2 Box Score (PDF)
EVANSVILLE, Ind.—After losing a tough one-run decision in the ninth inning on Friday night in a Missouri Valley Conference series opener with the visiting Bradley Braves, University of Evansville baseball coach Wes Carroll wondered how his young team would respond. The answer came very quickly and decisively on Sunday.
Evansville jumped to an 11-1 lead in game one of a doubleheader and an 11-3 lead in the nightcap en route to a two-game sweep of the Braves by scores of 15-5 in eight innings and 15-13. With the doubleheader sweep, the Purple Aces earned their second MVC series victory of the year, while staying red-hot as winners of eight of the last nine games.
“This team showed a lot of character and a lot of grit today, because it is not easy to sweep a doubleheader in this league, especially given the weather conditions today,” said Carroll. “To fight through the wind and the rain and pick up two big wins showed a lot of mental toughness by this entire group, and I’m really proud of the way this team approached these games today.”
The opener turned into a home run derby between UE juniors Cody Fick and Greg Wallace, as Fick tied a UE single-game record with three home runs, while Wallace went back-to-back with Fick twice in the contest, as UE cruised to the 15-5 run-rule victory. Bradley momentarily took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a sacrifice fly by junior outfielder Brian Martin, but the Purple Aces responded by sending 11 men to the plate in the bottom half of the frame while scoring six runs, highlighted by Fick’s first home run of the opener, a two-run shot to left field.
The Purple Aces would tack on a seventh run in the second inning on an RBI double by junior outfielder Nate Smith, before Wallace and Fick hit back-to-back home runs in the third inning to help UE open up an 11-1 lead.
Bradley would get back within six runs at 11-5 thanks to an RBI single by first baseman Mike McMillan in the fourth inning and two UE errors in the fifth inning, but once again, Wallace and Fick hit back-to-back solo home runs in the fifth inning to extend the lead back out to eight runs, 13-5. UE would then pick up the run-rule victory with a pair of runs in the eighth inning to finish the opener.
“The opener was really fun to watch Cody and Greg get locked in and take advantage of the wind blowing out today,” said Carroll. “Cody put on a show with his three home runs, and not to be outdone, Greg just continued to pound the ball all around the yard in the doubleheader. When those two guys get locked in like they were today, our offense can really take off and put some runs on the scoreboard.”
In the nightcap, Bradley jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second inning, before UE would erupt for eight runs in the bottom of the frame en route to building an 11-3 lead midway through the game. Evansville sent 12 men to the plate in the eight-run second inning, which featured a two-run triple by junior designated hitter Shawn Kuester, a two-run single by Wallace, and RBI base hits by senior first baseman Tom Heithoff and freshman catcher Chris Pearson.
Wallace would add two more runs to UE’s lead in the third inning with a two-run triple to the wall in center field to push the lead to 10-3, before Heithoff delivered another RBI base hit in the fourth inning to extend the lead to 11-3. In the nightcap, though, Bradley would not go quietly, scoring six runs in the fifth inning to trim the UE lead to just 11-9. Wallace would come through with an RBI sacrifice fly to key a two-run fifth inning for UE and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch in a two-run sixth inning to push the lead to 15-9, before the Braves would battle back with two runs each in the seventh and ninth innings to produce the game’s final score of 15-13.
In the nightcap, all nine UE starters collected hits, with Wallace going 2-for-4 with a career-high six RBI. Wallace finished the doubleheader with nine RBI and currently leads the MVC in RBI with 62, as he is just five RBI shy of tying UE’s single-season school record of 67, set by Pat Schulz in 1992. Bradley’s Mike McMillan paced the Braves’ 19-hit attack in the nightcap by going a perfect 6-for-6 at the plate with a double, a home run, two runs scored and two runs driven in. Bradley DH Brad Kimball also launched his third and fourth home runs of the year for the Braves in the nightcap, while driving in three runs.
With the doubleheader sweep, Evansville improves to 23-17 overall and 5-4 in the MVC. Bradley, meanwhile, falls to 12-23 on the year and 5-10 in the Valley with the two losses. Evansville is now off until Friday night, when the Purple Aces will travel west to Omaha, Nebraska to open up a three-game Valley series with league-rival Creighton. Friday’s game will start at 6:30 p.m. and take place at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, the home of the College World Series. The series will continue on Saturday (2:00 p.m.) and Sunday (1:00 p.m.) afternoons at the CU Sports Complex on Creighton’s campus, and all three games can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.
