Live Stats

It may only be mid-February, but it’s officially spring for the University of Evansville baseball team. The Aces take the field for the first time Friday, opening the 2011 season at the University of Memphis. UE will play a three-game series with the Tigers, playing at 4:00 p.m. Friday, 2:00 p.m. Saturday, and 1:00 p.m. Sunday at Memphis’ FedExPark.

Unlike prior years when weather has forced Evansville to indoor workouts until game day, this year the past week’s sunny and near seventy degree weather has given the Aces the opportunity to field live bounces and see the ball with a blue sky background.

“We’ve been able to get a lot of stuff done this past week and it’s been great to be outside,” said third-year Head Coach Wes Carroll.  “We are more prepared than ever going into our first series.”

Evansville has 18 letterman returning, including seven starting position players from the 2010 team that finished 32-27 overall and 10-11 in conference play. In addition, the Aces have 14 newcomers on the roster with many of them ready to make an immediate impact.

In the Missouri Valley Conference’s Preseason Coaches’ Poll, UE was picked third while senior Cody Fick, senior Greg Wallace, and sophomore Eric Stamets were named to the preseason all-conference team.

Third baseman and power hitter Fick garnered first-team all-conference honors after slugging a Valley-leading 19 home runs which also ranked 36th nationally, while centerfielder Wallace tied former Major League great Joe Carter’s single-season MVC record for triples with a school-record 13, the fourth-highest single-season total in NCAA Division I history and also broke UE single-season records for both hits (91) and RBI (75), while hitting a team-best .371. 

Shortstop Stamets was a consensus Freshman All-America selection after earning MVC Freshman of the Year laurels, ranking as the nation’s top freshman stolen base thief with a school-record 43 steals.  Overall, Stamets hit .321 in his rookie campaign with 15 doubles, four home runs and 27 RBI.

Sophomore Sam Johns (5-4, 5.71 ERA, 54 Ks in 58.1 innings in 2010) will get the start on Friday, followed by senior Zach Taylor (3-1, 4.89 ERA, 35 Ks, in 49.2 innings in 2010), and sophomore Kyle Lloyd (2-3, 7.93 ERA in 36.1 innings in 2010) in the weekend’s rotation.

“This weekend we’re hoping to get into a rhythm with our pitching staff and our newcomers,” said Carroll. “This is the time for us to figure out our style of play, and we hope to get off to an above .500 start early on.”

With a 28-20 overall record, Memphis finished third in its conference in 2010, their highest since the formation of Conference USA. They return 17 letterman, including six starters in the lineup, led by all-conference outfielder Drew Martinez and shortstop Chad Zurcher.

“Memphis is a solid team,” said Carroll. “They play in a strong conference and they’ll be a good test for us.”

The Aces will play seven games on the road before their home-opener versus Eastern Illinois in the Dunn Hospitality Tournament that runs March 4-6.