BOX SCORE

WICHITA, Kan. – The University of Evansville baseball team combined to hit three home runs in Sunday afternoon’s game at Wichita State, but one was all the Shockers needed, as Tyler Baker hit an eighth-inning solo blast to give WSU a 6-5 win in the rubber match at Eck Stadium.
 
“Today we saw a great, competitive college baseball game,” head coach Wes Carroll said.  “I thought our guys gave a real gritty performance and really competed.  They played their tails off for nine innings today.”
 
Redshirt sophomore Kevin Kaczmarski continued to swing a hot bat for Evansville (15-25, 6-6 MVC), as he finished the game 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and two runs scored.  Kaczmarski finished the three-game series 8-for-12 at the plate to extend his hitting streak to 17 games.  Redshirt sophomore Kyle Pollock and freshman Jonathan Ramon combined to hit the Aces’ other two long balls and both finished 1-for-4 with solo blasts. 
 
UE went in order in the first two innings, but grabbed a 3-0 lead in the top of the third on two of its three home runs.  Pollock led off the inning by sending the third pitch he saw from Wichita State (23-18, 9-3 MVC) starter Drew Palmer over the right field wall, before redshirt junior David Patton singled to left and scored on Kaczmarski’s two-run blast down the left field line.
 
Evansville starter Josh Biggs was able to work out of trouble in the first four innings, but the Shockers finally broke through by scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth to trim the Aces’ advantage to 3-2.  Taylor Doggett led off with a single to shallow center and advanced into scoring position when Tanner Dearman was hit in the back by a Biggs breaking ball.  Garrett Bayliff plated WSU’s first run with a single to right and Erik Harbutz followed with an RBI groundout to bring Dearman in from third.
 
“Josh Biggs did an excellent job of going out there and competing and giving us a chance to win, and that’s all you can ask for,” Carroll said.  “He set us up for the winning innings and gave us an opportunity.”
 
Ramon gave UE an insurance run with a two-out homer to left center in the top half of the sixth, but Wichita State countered by scoring three runs in the bottom of the inning to take its first lead of the ballgame.
 
Casey Gillaspie started the rally with a hard single through the left side and Johnny Coy lined a double down the line in left to bring junior Tyler Miller out of the Evansville bullpen.  Gillaspie was able to scamper home following a wild pitch from Miller on his first offering out of the pen and Coy tied the game on a sacrifice fly to the warning track off the bat of Baker.  With two outs in the inning, Dearman delivered an RBI single into the gap in right center to score Mikel Mucha from first and give the Shockers a 5-4 lead.
 
In the eighth, Kaczmarski singled to right center for his third hit of the contest and moved up 90 feet when a balk was called against WSU reliever TJ McGreevy.  Later in the frame, senior Jason Hockemeyer tied the game at 5-5 with a one-out single to shallow center.
 
Freshman Brent Jurceka tossed a scoreless seventh for Evansville, but he surrendered a leadoff homer to Baker in the bottom of the eighth that proved to be the game-winner.
 
Jurceka fell to 1-4 on the year, as he took the loss, allowing one run, the homer to Baker, in his 2.0 innings, while recording three strikeouts without a walk.  Brandon Peterson earned the win for Wichita State, as he tossed 1.2 perfect innings to improve to 2-0 on the season.
 
Biggs allowed four runs, all earned, on seven hits in his 5.0 innings of work and struck out two, while issuing a pair of walks.  Miller allowed a run on two hits in his inning of relief.
 
“All I can ask for going forward is the type of effort we put out there today,” Carroll said.  “We strive to play baseball the correct way by executing, having our minds right on every pitch and playing with effort.  We had our opportunity today to take a series on the road in the conference, but we just let it slip away.”
 
The Aces will step out of Missouri Valley Conference play for a 4 p.m. doubleheader with Austin Peay Wednesday, April 23, in Clarksville, Tenn., before hosting Missouri State next week for a three-game Valley series at Braun Stadium.