EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville baseball team will take the field at Braun Stadium just three more times in 2011, hosting Creighton University in the final home series of the season this weekend. Game one is set to start at 6:00 p.m. CT. Friday. Saturday’s game starts at 2:00 p.m. and Sunday’s Senior Day contest will begin at 1:00 p.m. with a pre-game ceremony honoring UE’s seven seniors.
EVANSVILLE: 27-17, 6-8 MVC
CREIGHTON: 33-12, 10-5 MVC
THIS WEEKEND'S SCHEDULE
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Fri. May 13
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vs. CREIGHTON
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6:00 p.m.
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Watch |
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Sat. May 14
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vs. CREIGHTON
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2:00 p.m.
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Watch |
| Sun. May 15 |
vs. CREIGHTON |
1:00 p.m. |
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Watch |
LAST TIME OUT
May 11 vs. AUSTIN PEAY 8-3, W
Leaping out to a 6-0 lead after two innings, Evansville went on to top Austin Peay State University, 8-3, Wednesday night at Braun Stadium. Seniors Greg Wallace and Cody Fick piloted the squad, as Wallace went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and two runs batted in, and Fick went 2-for-5 with four RBI, including a two-run home run to kick start Evansville’s offense for the night. On staff day for both teams, sophomore Josh Biggs (5-0) earned the win, starting and throwing three innings, allowing no runs, two hits, two walks, and struck out three.
UE’S LAST MVC OUTING
* May 6 at Indiana State, 3-6, L, 3-6-2/6-8-2 Lloyd (L 4-5)
* May 7 at Indiana State, 10-9, W (13), 10-16-1/9-18-1 Biggs (W 4-0)
* May 8 at Indiana State, 1-4, L, 1-6-1/4-5-0 Fick (L 6-3)
PITCHING PROBABLES
Fri. – RHP Kyle Lloyd (4-5, 4.60 ERA) vs. RHP Jonas Dufek (8-1, 2.46 ERA)
Sat. – LHP Cole Isom (5-4, 4.95 ERA) vs. LHP Ty Blach (8-1, 2.77 ERA)
Sun. – RHP Cody Fick (6-3, 2.57 ERA) vs. TBA
THE SERIES
Evansville and Creighton will meet for the 60th time in history as UE trails the all-time series, 22-37. The series dates back to a 1993 non-conference game between the two schools at the Pan American Tournament, a game won by Creighton by the score of 4-3. The remaining 58 games have all come since UE entered the MVC in 1995. At Braun Stadium, the series is tied, 14-14, while UE trails 20-6 in Omaha.
SCOUTING THE JAYS
Creighton (33-12, 10-5 MVC) comes off a 9-8 victory over Nebraska Tuesday night, holding off a vicious comeback by the Huskers in front of 17,588 at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha. The Bluejays jumped out to a 9-0 lead after three innings, but Nebraska battled back to get within one, scoring five runs in the sixth inning. However, relievers Reese McGraw and Kurt Spomer combined to shut out the Huskers the rest of the way, preserving the win. Creighton currently sits atop the standings with a 10-5 mark in the Valley. As a team, CU is hitting .277 with two regular starters batting above .300. Trever Adams leads the squad with a .407 average, 13 home runs, and 52 RBI. He will come into the weekend on a 10-game hitting streak. Alex Staehely is hitting .323 and has a Valley-high 19 doubles. The Jays’ pitching staff owns a collective 3.64 ERA and has held its opposition to a .248 batting average. Four CU hurlers have an ERA below 3.00, led by Jonas Dufek (8-1, 2.46 ERA) and Ty Blach (8-1, 2.77 ERA) scheduled to start Friday and Saturday, respectively.
ACE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior Cody Fick led Evansville with a .588 batting average last week, going 10-for-17 with five runs scored and five runs batted in. Fick belted three doubles, increasing his total to 18 on the season, and recorded multi-hit games in all four contests, totaling 25 multi-hit games on the year. In UE’s win over Oakland City, Fick went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored, knocking in the first of the game and scoring the winning run. Fick led the Aces with four hits, an RBI, and three runs scored, including the game-winning run, in UE’s 13-inning victory over Indiana State. Fick also pitched a complete game in the rubber match with ISU, hurling all eight innings, giving up four runs, just two earned, five hits, and struck out seven. Fick raised his batting average 19 points over the week to a conference-leading .409 and also currently leads the Valley with 65 RBI.
ACE PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore Josh Biggs kept his perfect record alive last week, picking up two wins for the Aces and did not allow an earned run in the process. In UE’s, 8-1, midweek win over Oakland City, Biggs hurled the first three innings, allowing no runs, three hits, and struck out three to earn the win on UE’s staff pitching day. Biggs piloted Evansville through extra innings to a, 10-9, 13-inning Valley win over Indiana State, throwing 4.2 innings, allowing one unearned run, six hits, and struck out two. With a runner on first and the score tied, 8-8, in the bottom of the ninth, Biggs came out of the bullpen and retired his first two batters for the final outs of the frame to force extra innings. Biggs faced runners on second and third in the 12th, but bore down and got the final out. The only run the sophomore allowed was an unearned one in the 13th after the Aces had already scored two runs in the top of the inning. After the victory over APSU, Biggs is now 5-0 on the season with a 1.93 ERA.
HOME RUN DROUGHT ENDS
After not hitting a home run in seven straight games, UE’s longest drought of the season, senior Ryan Oesterle put an end to it in style Saturday versus Indiana State. Oesterle belted a grand slam in the fourth inning that gained a 4-2 lead for Evansville. Sophomore Eric Stamets also slugged a homer in the 13-inning win, a solo shot in the fifth. The dingers marked Oesterle’s sixth of the season and Stamets’ second.
LAST HOME COOKED MEALS
Evansville hosts their last Valley series Friday through Sunday, welcoming Creighton to Braun Stadium. Evansville owns a 15-6 record at home this season.
SUPER SENIORS
Prior to Sunday’s game, the Aces will honor Evansville’s seven seniors, as they will be playing in their last contest at Braun Stadium. Jared Baehl, Cody Fick, Shawn Kuester, Ty Legan, Ryan Oesterle, Nate Smith, and Greg Wallace have brought a great deal of leadership to the squad. As a group, the class of 2011 is hitting .302 this season.
BRING ‘EM IN
Senior Cody Fick leads the MVC with 65 runs batted in this season, totaling four versus Austin Peay and five last week. A transfer from Jefferson College, the senior has tallied 176 RBI in his career in less than three seasons of play. Fick ranks second in UE’s all-time list behind Pat Schulz (1990-93) who knocked in 188 in his career.
AGAINST OVC OPPONENTS
After beating Austin Peay Wednesday night, 8-3, the Aces are 7-1 against Ohio Valley Conference teams this season. Evansville earned wins over APSU (2), UT-Martin (2), Eastern Illinois, SIU Edwardsville, and Murray State. Their only loss came to EIU (7-4) in the opener of the Dunn Hospitality Diamond Classic on March 6th. UE bounced back, however, to win game two, 4-1.
STOP THIEF!
The Aces have caught 22 runners stealing this season, a league high. Sophomore catcher Chris Pearson has caught a team-high 14 runners stealing.
SHUTTIES I
In 2010, the Aces neither shut out nor were shut out by an opponent. Also, no UE pitcher threw a complete game. This season, the Aces have recorded seven shutouts, four complete game shutouts (two each for Cody Fick and Cole Isom), and six complete games.
2011 HOME RUN CLUB
Cody Fick (9)
Greg Wallace (7)
Ryan Oesterle (6)
Eric Stamets (2)
Jared Baehl (1)
Trentt Copeland (1)
TURN TWO
UE has turned a Valley-high 48 double plays this season, while grounding into a Valley-low 15. The duo of Eric Stamets at shortstop and Trentt Copeland at second has been spectacular, turning two 28 times up the middle this year. Stamets has had a hand in a team-high 33 double plays and leads the club with 158 assists. The sophomore set UE’s single-season assist record last season with 226. As a team, UE broke the program record in 2010 for defensive double plays with 69.
SHUTTIES II
Cole Isom and Cody Fick’s back-to-back complete game shutouts versus Bradley marked Evansville’s sixth and seventh shutouts of the season. The last time UE recorded back-to-back shutties was in the 2006 season when the Aces topped Nothern Iowa, 7-0, on Apr. 15 and then beat Murray State, 10-0, on Apr. 19. The last time Evansville pitchers threw back-to-back complete game shutouts was in the 1997 season when Jeremy Brown and Ryan Miller topped Bradley 1-0 (5/9/97) and 6-0 (5/10/97), respectively.
CIRCLING THE CYCLE
No one in the history of UE baseball has hit for the cycle, but the Aces have been very close this season. For a total of eight times, a UE player has been one away. Eric Stamets was a triple away in UE’s 10-9 win over Indiana State last Saturday. Jared Baehl was a home run shy at Saint Louis (3/30) and Cody Fick was a home run shy at Jacksonville (3/9) and a triple shy both vs. UT-Martin (3/23) and Wichita State (4/15). Against Murray State (4/19) senior Greg Wallace finished a triple shy of the cycle, hitting a double, home run, and single in his first three at-bats, and was a triple away at Arkansas State (2/25) and a home run away vs. IPFW (4/3).
FICK NAMED TO OLERUD WATCH LIST
The College Baseball Hall of Fame announced May 5th the names of 25 players from across the country featured on the watch list for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award. Senior Cody Fick is a part of that list. The Olerud Award, which recognizes a player who makes an impact both on the mound and at the plate, will be presented in Lubbock, Texas, on July 3 as part of the College Baseball Hall of Fame’s Night of Champions. Fick leads Evansville in a number of offensive categories, including batting average (.409), slugging percentage (.669), hits (74), RBI (65), doubles (18), home runs (9), and total bases (121) through 44 games. He tops the Missouri Valley Conference in batting average and runs batted in, and also ranks third nationally in RBI per game. In less than three seasons, Fick has recorded 223 hits in his career, 176 RBI, and 37 home runs. Fick has also developed into Evansville’s ace, starting the year with a perfect 5-0 record on the mound, including a complete game shutout with nine strikeouts over Jacksonville. The Freeburg, Mo. native led UE to its first Valley series win of the season, hurling a complete game shutout with seven strikeouts at Bradley on April 24th. At this time, Fick owns a 6-3 mark with a 2.57 ERA, and has limited his opponents to a .238 average.
NCAA NATIONAL RANKINGS (As of May 8)
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Double Plays/Game
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Team
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1.12 |
14th
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Stolen Bases/Game
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Team
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1.81
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19th
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Fielding Percentage
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Team
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0.976
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19th
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Doubles/Game
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Team
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2.23
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21st
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RBI/Game
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1.42
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3rd
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Runs Batted In
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61
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8th
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Triples
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6
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13th
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Triples/Game
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0.14
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18th
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Stolen Bases/Game
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.56
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19th
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| Stolen Bases |
Eric Stamets |
24 |
22nd |
| Sacrafice Flies |
Cody Fick |
6 |
23rd |
UE SHORT HOPS
- The Aces are 16-1 when leading after the second inning.
- The Aces are 21-4 when they score first.
- The Aces are 7-1 when they hit two or more home runs in a game.
- The Aces are 23-3 when they hold the opposition to five or less runs.
- The Aces are 7-0 in two-run games.
- The Aces are 7-0 when they score 10 or more runs in a game.
- The Aces have shut out their opponents seven times this season.
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE
Sophomore Eric Stamets and seniors Greg Wallace and Cody Fick were chosen to the MVC’s Preseason All-Conference Team.
Cody Fick - Third baseman and power hitter Fick garnered first-team all-conference honors last season after slugging a Valley-leading 19 home runs which also ranked 36th nationally.
Greg Wallace - 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.
Eric Stamets - Sophomore shortstop Eric 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.
RECORD BREAKING YEAR
In the 2010 season, the Aces broke or tied 19 different single-game, single-season and career records, including one MVC mark as the Aces finished the year 32-27 overall and 10-11 in conference play.
