EVANSVILLE, Ind.—So far this spring, University of Evansville freshman shortstop Eric Stamets has made a name for himself with his speed. On Thursday night at UE’s Charles H. Braun Stadium, Stamets flexed his muscle to help UE rally for a 6-5 victory over visiting Dallas Baptist on a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.

 

Stamets drove a 1-2 slider from Dallas Baptist reliever Ryan Behmanesh (1-3) deep to left field and into the Evansville night to cap a five-run late-inning rally for the Purple Aces. It was the freshman’s second career home run at UE and capped a 4-for-5 effort for Stamets, who finished a triple shy of the cycle while scoring three runs and driving in two more.

 

“That is actually my first career walk-off home run,” said Stamets, who upped his batting average to .359 on the season with the 4-for-5 night. “It was the same pitch the pitcher had thrown two pitches earlier for a ball, but this time it just backed up and I was just trying to hit the ball hard somewhere to try and tie up this game. I’ll take the walk-off home run though.”

 

The night began as a pitcher’s duel between UE senior Keegan Dennis and Dallas Baptist junior Brandon Williamson. Stamets helped UE score the first run of the game in the first inning, as he led off the inning with a solid single to center field, stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error, and scored on a double-play ball off of the bat of junior infielder Cody Fick.

 

The score would remain 1-0 in favor of UE until the fourth inning, when DBU shortstop Austin Elkins came through with a two-out, two-run single to right field to give the Patriots a 2-1 lead.

 

Dennis and Williamson would then baffle the opposition through the middle innings, before the Patriots would rally again in the eighth inning to grow the lead to 5-1. Behmanesh, Elkins and outfielder Travis Meiners all delivered run-scoring singles in the frame against Dennis and reliever Corey Davisson (3-1) to build the 5-1 cushion, before Evansville would finally solve Williamson in the eighth inning.

 

Senior outfielder Alex Acheson opened the eighth inning with a double to the wall in left-center field. After a bunt base hit by Stamets moved runners to the corners, Williamson struck out UE junior outfielder Greg Wallace for the first out of the frame. It would be the final out he would record, though, as Fick hammered a Williamson offering deep to center field for a three-run home run and his team-leading eighth home run of the year to cut the lead to 5-4.

 

Behmanesh would relieve and work out of a two-on, one-out jam to preserve the lead. Pinch-hitter John Day would greet him in the ninth inning with a solid single to left field on a two-strike pitch, and after a sacrifice bunt, Stamets ended the evening for everyone with the walk-off home run.

 

“What a great win for our ballclub,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll. “To battle back like we did against a very good team in Dallas Baptist is a great credit to our guys. I felt like we really struggled early in the game against Williamson, but we kept battling, and then Cody Fick, John Day, and Eric Stamets came through in some big spots to help us pick up this win.”

 

Stamets was the lone Purple Ace with a multi-hit game, as he accounted for four of UE’s 10 base hits on the evening. Fick also drove in a team-leading three runs. Elkins paced Dallas Baptist by going 2-for-4 with three RBI, while senior outfielder Ryan Enos also had two hits.

 

With the win, Evansville improves to 14-15 overall, while Dallas Baptist falls to 17-13 on the season. The two teams will continue the series on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. at Braun Stadium in a game that can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.