EVANSVILLE, Ind.—Two University of Evansville baseball records fell on Saturday afternoon at UE’s Charles H. Braun Stadium. Unfortunately, so too did the Purple Aces.

 

Visiting Indiana State took advantage of an Evansville error to score four runs (one earned) in the third inning on their way to a 5-0 lead which proved to be too much to overcome for UE, which saw its single-season record for stolen bases and career record for being hit by a pitch fall on Saturday.

 

UE’s single-season stolen base record fell quickly on Saturday, as freshman shortstop Eric Stamets laid down a bunt single on the first pitch which he saw and eventually stole second base two batters later to record his 37th stolen base of the season and break Kevin Krizan’s former school record of 36 thefts, set in 1991. Stamets was stranded in scoring position though to end the frame, an ominous sign of things to come for UE.

 

Evansville would threaten again in the second inning by putting two men into scoring position with two outs, but Indiana State starter Joe Rodriguez (6-1) worked out of the jam to keep the game scoreless. The Sycamores then took advantage of an Evansville error to score four runs in the third inning to build a 4-0 lead. A two-run double by outfielder Kyle Burnam and a two-run single by third baseman Luke Fieser drove home the four runs.

 

Indiana State would tack on a fifth run in the fourth inning against UE reliever Kyle Lloyd on a two-out RBI single by second baseman Grant Grgurich, but Lloyd settled down quickly to keep Evansville in the contest, and his teammates would answer back in the bottom of the fourth.

 

Back-to-back singles by sophomore infielder Trentt Copeland and junior outfielder Nate Smith opened the fourth inning, before freshman catcher John Day would bring home Copeland with UE’s first run on an infield ground out. The Purple Aces would eventually load the bases in the fourth inning, but Rodriguez once again worked out of trouble to keep the score 5-1.

 

Evansville would then cut into the lead with two runs in the sixth inning on a solo home run by Smith and an RBI single by senior outfielder Alex Acheson to get back within two runs, 5-3. UE would once again put two more runners into scoring position in the frame, but Rodriguez left them stranded to preserve the lead.

 

UE would finally chase Rodriguez in the seventh inning, as junior infielder Cody Fick launched his Missouri Valley Conference-leading 14th home run of the year to right-center field to cut the ISU lead to 5-4. But, that would be as close as UE would come, as Evansville left runners stranded in scoring position in both the eighth and ninth innings. Overall, Evansville left 12 men on base, including nine men in scoring position.

 

Smith paced Evansville by going 3-for-4 with his second home run of the series, a run scored, and an RBI. Acheson also had two hits and broke UE’s career hit-by-pitch record by being hit by his 38th career pitch in the fourth inning. Day also had two hits for UE.

 

Burnam, Grgurich and Fieser all had two-hit efforts for ISU, with both Burnam and Fieser driving in two runs each. Rodriguez earned the victory on the mound for the Sycamores by scattering four runs (three earned) on 10 hits and two walks in six-plus innings of work. Freshman starter Sam Johns (5-4) took the loss for UE, despite allowing just one earned run (four runs total) on three hits in 3.0 innings on the mound. Lloyd tossed 4.1 innings of one-run, three-hit baseball to keep UE in the game, while senior reliever Corey Davisson tossed the final 1.2 innings of scoreless relief to keep it a 5-4 game.

 

With the victory, Indiana State improves to 30-14 overall and 9-7 in the MVC. Evansville, meanwhile, falls to 25-21 overall and 6-8 in the Valley with the loss. The two teams will conclude the weekend series on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. in a game that can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.