BOX SCORE

PEORIA, Ill. – The University of Evansville baseball team broke a 1-1 tie by scoring seven runs in the top of the fifth inning on its way to a 9-1 victory over Bradley Saturday afternoon at Peoria Chiefs Stadium in Peoria, Ill. 
 
“It was great to see us have a repeat performance and show consistency with our overall approach in the box, defensively and certainly on the mound,” head coach Wes Carroll said.  “You have to be pretty happy and pleased as a coach to get back-to-back pitching performances like we did yesterday and today.”
 
Junior David Patton and redshirt sophomore Kevin Kaczmarski each drove in a pair of runs to lead Evansville (11-5, 3-2 MVC) offensively and junior Jake Mahon finished the day 3-for-5 at the plate with a run scored.
 
UE starter Kyle Lloyd improved to 4-2 on the year, allowing just one run and striking out seven in his 7.2 innings on the mound.  The senior righty issued just one walk and scattered six hits in his outing.
 
After the two teams combined for just one hit through the first three innings, the Aces got on the board first by scoring a run in the top of the fourth.  Senior Jason Hockemeyer drew a one-out walk to give Evansville a baserunner and advanced into scoring position on a ground out by senior Chris Pearson.  Redshirt sophomore Kyle Pollock drove in Hockemeyer with a two-out single to right to put the Aces in front 1-0.
 
Mike Tauchman and Greg Partyka tied the score at 1-1 with back-to-back doubles to start the bottom of the inning, before Max Murphy walked and Austin Jarvis put down a sacrifice bunt to put runners on second and third with just one out.  Lloyd got out of the jam, after Mahon made a spectacular diving catch at third, snaring a line drive off the bat of Tyler Leffler and then doubled off Partyka by tagging the bag while he was still laid out from the catch.
 
The Aces used the momentum from Mahon’s play to open up the game by mounting a seven-run rally in their half of the fifth.  Patton sparked the big inning with a bunt single, before Kaczmarski sent an 0-2 pitch from David Koll over the right field wall to make the score 3-1. Later in the frame, redshirt junior Johnny Day was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in Evansville’s third run of the inning, before Pollock scored on a wild pitch to put the Aces in front 5-1.  Freshman Shain Showers drove in another Evansville run with an RBI single to right, before Patton capped the inning with a two-run double that slipped just inside the bag at third and rolled into the left field corner, extending the UE lead to 8-1.
 
“In our seven-run fifth inning, we were able to carry our momentum over from the bottom of the fourth, where we had a big time player make a big time play at third base,” Carroll said.  “Jake laid out and got a big double play to stop their momentum and it carried over into our dugout.  Then, in the bottom of the fifth, Kyle (Lloyd) went out there and gave us a shutdown inning and really competed.”
 
Mahon led off the top of the sixth with a single to left for the second of his three hits on the afternoon and later scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Pearson to make the final score 9-1.
 
Freshman Phillip Diehl tossed the final 1.1 innings for Evansville, giving up just one hit to close out the victory.
 
The Aces will be looking to sweep the series Sunday afternoon, as they have outscored the Braves, 19-1, in the first two games of the series.  The first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.