BOX SCORE

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville baseball team was swept by visiting Xavier Sunday afternoon at Braun Stadium, as the Musketeers captured the series finale, 4-3.  Daniel Rod provided the game-winning hit for XU with a three-run homer in the seventh.
 
“We got a great start today from Josh Biggs,” head coach Wes Carroll said.  “We have been struggling on Sunday, but he grabbed the ball as a senior and really gave us a chance.  He gave us a great effort that we kind of squandered away.  He earned that for us and we let him down by letting a good, quality ball club hang around.”
 
Four Evansville (14-23) players tallied multiple hits in the ballgame, as senior Jason Hockemeyer led the Aces’ offensive effort by going 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI.  Senior Chris Pearson and sophomore Kyle Pollock each finished 2-for-4 with a walk, while redshirt sophomore Kevin Kaczmarski went 2-for-5 with a run scored.
 
UE starter Josh Biggs (0-1) threw 6.1 solid innings, but suffered the loss as a pair of runners he was responsible for scored when Cole Isom gave up the decisive three-run homer to Rod in the seventh.  Biggs allowed three runs, all earned, on seven hits and struck out five.  Tyler Koors (4-3) earned the victory for Xavier (18-15), allowing three runs, two earned, on 10 hits and recorded four strikeouts in 7.0 innings.
 
“We left a lot of runners on base early and throughout the game and all it took was one swing of the bat to swing momentum and put the win in their dugout,” Carroll said.
 
Evansville grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on an RBI ground out from Hockemeyer and doubled its advantage in the third, when redshirst junior Johnny Day doubled to left center to score Hockemeyer from first. 
 
The Aces looked like they would opened up their lead in the bottom of the fourth, as they loaded the bases with two outs, but XU left fielder Vinny Nittoli made a diving grab on a hard liner to take away extra bases from Hockemeyer and end the inning.
 
The Musketeers got a run back in their half of the fifth to cut the Aces’ lead to 2-1.  Joe Forney singled through the right side to start the inning and advanced to third on a pair of ground outs, before scoring on Stephen Schoettmer’s two-out, RBI single back up the middle.
 
In the top of the seventh, Biggs retired the leadoff hitter with his fifth strikeout of the afternoon, but issued a one-out walk to Daniel Rizzie and surrendered a single to Schoettmer to bring Isom out of the bullpen.  On the second pitch from Isom, Rod emptied the bases by clearing the fence in left to put Xavier in front, 4-2.
 
UE got a run back in the bottom of the inning, when Hockemeyer dumped a one-out single into right, before advancing to third on a wild pitch and a throwing error.  The senior outfielder was able to cross the plate, when Koors delivered yet another wild pitch, making the score 4-3.
 
Reliever Jake Naumann tossed a pair of scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth to keep Evansville within a run.
 
In the bottom of the ninth, Pearson led off the inning with a double to shallow right, but was gunned down at the plate for the first out of the frame, when he tried to score the tying run on Hockemeyer’s single to right.  Hockemeyer advanced into scoring position on the throw to the plate to retire Pearson, but he was remain there, as Xavier closer Alex Vice struck out Day and got Pollock to fly out to right to end the ballgame.
 
The two teams combined to strand 18 runners on the base paths, as the Aces left 11 runners aboard and the Musketeers seven.
 
UE will look to get back in the win column Tuesday night, when it hosts Austin Peay for a 6 p.m. game at Braun Stadium.