Series Notes

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- The University of Evansville baseball team opens up Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend, hosting Indiana State for a three-game series that begins Friday at 6:00 p.m. CT. The Aces take a 14-7 non-conference record, their best mark since the 2007 season, into the Valley schedule. Indiana State has also done very well in out-of-league play with an MVC-best 17-4 mark. The Sycamores enter the weekend riding a 12-game winning streak.

CATCH THE ACTION (Tickets are $7 for Adults, $5 for Youth/Seniors)

Friday	Evansville	vs. Indiana State	6:00 p.m. CT	Live Stats	Audio (91.5FM-WUEV)	Video
Saturday**	Evansville	vs. Indiana State	2:00 p.m.	Live Stats
Sunday	Evansville	vs. Indiana State	1:00 p.m.	Live Stats	Audio (91.5FM-WUEV)	Video

**The Aces will be collecting baby items for a family that lost their home in Tuesday’s large house fire on Evansville’s north side. Fans who bring baby clothes (0-3 month), newborn Huggies Swaddler diapers, formula, bottles and other baby items will receive free admission Saturday.

PITCHING PROBABLES
Fri., March 23 (6 p.m.)
UE: Cole Isom (So., LHP) (1-2, 3.94 ERA, 29.2 IP, 16 BB, 28 K)
IND: Dakota Bacus (Jr., RHP) (3-1, 2.08 ERA, 39.0 IP, 10 BB, 30 K)

Sat., March 24 (2 p.m.)
UE: Kyle Lloyd (Jr., RHP) (3-1, 2.88 ERA, 25.0 IP, 9 BB, 17 K)
IND: Sean Manaea (So., LHP) (2-1, 5.17 ERA, 31.1 IP, 9 BB, 34 K)

Sun., March 25 (1 p.m.)
UE: Kyle Freeland (Fr., LHP) (1-2, 5.56 ERA, 22.2 IP, 8 BB, 16 K)
IND: Ryan Torgerson (Jr., RHP) (3-0, 2.35 ERA, 30.2 IP, 5 BB, 18 K)

SCOUTING THE SYCAMORES (17-4, 0-0 MVC) – Indiana State brings a 12-game winning streak into the weekend, coming off a 15-1 midweek win over Missouri. At the Irish Classic in San Antonio, the Sycamore won all four of their games, overcoming Kansas (2-1), Houston Baptist (4-3) and beat Notre Dame twice, 6-4 in 10 innings, and 6-1 in the final contest. The Sycamores lead the Missouri Valley Conference in a number of offensive categories, as eight players own a batting average above .300. Casey McCurdy (.452), Jeremy Lucas (.398, 5 HR), Landon Curry (.397), Kyle Burnam (.386) and Robby Ort (.386) have been the Sycamores’ most consistent hitters, as the team owns a collective conference-leading .341 average. They also have an MVC-best .475 slugging percentage with 19 home runs, 36 doubles, and six triples. Defensively, ISU’s pitching staff has recorded a 3.03 ERA, 153 strikeouts, while walking 57.

SCOUTING THE ACES (14-7, 0-0 MVC) -- The Aces have won 10 of their last 12 games; including a 2-1 series win over Western Michigan last weekend that featured two walk-off victories in the bottom of the 10th and ninth innings. Most recently, Evansville outdid Vanderbilt University, the defending Southeastern Conference Champions and 2011 College World Series contenders, 5-3 Tuesday evening at Hawkins Field. On the season, junior Jason Hockemeyer leads the offense with a .377 batting average, .493 slugging percentage, and .494 on-base percentage. Sophomore Tim Bodine, who has hit .591 in the last six games, enters the weekend on a four-game multi-hit streak and batting .364, while centerfielder Kevin Kaczmarski rounds out UE’s top-three with a .299 average. While UE is hitting .259 as a squad, the Aces’ defense has been their key to success, ranking 10th in the nation with a .979 fielding percentage. UE’s pitching staff has also been solid with a 3.75 ERA and 142-67 strikeout to walk ratio.

AT VANDY
Sophomore Ryan Billo recorded a career-high six strikeouts on the mound, working his way through six innings and junior Josh Biggs picked up the save, tossing a scoreless ninth. Freshman Kyle Pollock reached base in all five at-bats, recording four hits. With the victory, Evansville prevented the Commodores from reaching a milestone of 2,000 program wins, and also put Head Coach Wes Carroll just one win away from a milestone himself…

100 WINS
Currently with a 99-89 record in his fourth season at the helm, Wes Carroll needs just one win to reach 100 career victories. In his first season, the UE alum posted the second-highest victory total by a first-year baseball coach at Evansville with 25 wins in 2009. Carroll has led his squad to above .500 records in each of the last two seasons, going 32-27 in 2010 and 28-25 in 2011.

2006 FLASHBACK
The last time Evansville played Indiana State in MVC opening weekend was in 2006. The Aces won the series 2-1, falling in the first game, 4-3 in 12 innings, but bounced back to win the second two games by scores of 4-3 and 10-7 at Braun Stadium. That season, UE went on to win the MVC title and earned three victories in the NCAA Tournament.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Indiana State leads the all-time series, 76-55-1. However, Evansville has won the last three series played at Braun Stadium.
Last 5 series: 2011 (IND 2-1 A), 2010 (UE 2-1 H), 2009 (IND 3-0 A), 2008 (UE 2-1 H)

WALK IT OUT
Evansville ranks second in the MVC, walking 100 times as a team. Six UE players have recorded double-digit walks this season, led by Chris Pearson’s 14.

SMALL BALL
While UE has hit just one home run this season and every other team in the Valley has belted at least nine, Evansville scores runs playing small ball. The Aces lead the MVC with 24 sacrifice bunts and also ranks first for steal attempts (50). As a team UE is 37-for-50 on the base paths.

ACE PLAYER OF THE WEEK - TIM BODINE
Leading Evansville to a four-win week, sophomore Tim Bodine was both consistent and clutch last week, batting .579, including a game-changing double and a game-winning walk-off single that gave UE a series victory over Western Michigan. Going 11-for-19 at the plate, Bodine raised his season batting average 134 points on the week, while also contributing five RBI and five runs. Bodine recorded multiple hits in 4-of-5 games, including three 3-for-4 performances in three bottom of the ninth comeback wins over UT Martin and Western Michigan. In UE’s first game against WMU, Bodine headed a five-run ninth inning rally with his first career double down the left field line and scored the tying run that set up the 10-inning victory.  In Sunday’s rubber match, Bodine came through in the clutch with a two-out walk-off single to centerfield that capped UE’s four-run bottom of the ninth rally. Bodine has also recorded a perfect fielding percentage in right field this season.

COMEBACK KIDS
Evansville won all three of their home victories last week in walk-off style. Against UT Martin, the Aces came back from a five-run deficit, winning on Trentt Copeland’s one-out gapper. UE came back from another five-run deficit in game one with Western Michigan, scoring five runs in the bottom of the ninth and won on a walk-off walk in the 10th. Trailing, 7-4, in the rubber match with WMU, UE scored four runs in the ninth, winning on Tim Bodine’s walk-off single.  In all three of those games, the Aces never led until they scored the final walk-off run.

DOUBLE-T TRENTT
Trentt Copeland’s two-run double that tied the game, 7-7, in the bottom of the ninth in the rubber match with Western Michigan not only set up UE’s 13th win of the season, but also marked his 50th career two-bagger. Copeland moved into UE’s all-time career top-10, tying Pat Tumilty (2004-07) in 10th place.

BALL MAGNET
Leading the Valley, sophomore Jake Mahon has been plunked 12 times this year, already matching his season total in 2011 that marked a team-high last year. He was hit four times this last week. Mahon ranks second on the team with a .449 on-base percentage.

TOUGH COMPETITION AHEAD
Opening up the Missouri Valley Conference schedule this weekend versus Indiana State, the Aces will be up against some great competition this spring in conference. Currently, every team in the MVC is succeeding in non-conference play, all with an above .500 mark and at least 10 wins. The Sycamores have the best record, 17-4, while UE has the third-best at 14-7.

IT’S OUTTA HERE
In game 17 of the season at Austin Peay (3/14), freshman Kyle Pollock recorded both his first home run of this career and the first/only long ball hit by an Ace this year. Eric Stamets leads the active players with six home runs in his career.

STEALTH STAMETS
Eric Stamets continues to climb up the career steals ladder, currently ranking third in program history with 87 steals (87-106) in just his third season of play. Stamets needs seven more to tie Ryan Brownlee (1994-97) in second place. Aaron Pembroke (1995-98) holds UE’s record with 106 career steals.

PITCHERS GALORE
Evansville returns 12-of-13 pitchers from last season and also adds three newcomers to the staff, including Kyle Freeland, a 35th round pick by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2011 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE
For the second consecutive year, shortstop Eric Stamets was named to the Missouri Valley Conference preseason all-conference team, voted on by the league’s eight head coaches. Stamets, a junior from Dublin, Ohio, projects to be one of the best shortstops in the nation this year. Last season, Stamets hit .292 with a team-high 51 runs scored and 27 stolen bases. Defensively, he led the Aces with 181 assists and helped the squad to a program-best .977 fielding percentage with a record-low 48 errors as a team. In addition, Stamets turned heads in the summer, playing for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks and was named a Cape Cod League All-Star. Stamets was a consensus Freshman All-American and the MVC Freshman of the Year in 2010.