EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville baseball team will wrap up its regular season with a pair of non-conference midweek games, as the Purple Aces will host Western Kentucky Tuesday at 6 p.m., before traveling to SIU Edwardsville Wednesday for a 6 p.m. contest.
 
Evansville (21-31) finished its Missouri Valley Conference slate last weekend at Illinois State, as the Aces posted a 3-2 victory Friday night, before the Redbirds rebounded to top UE, 17-3, Saturday and, 14-4, Sunday in the rubber match.  Freshman Shain Showers went 4-for-9 with a double and two RBI in the series, while senior Jason Hockemeyer and redshirt sophomore Kevin Kaczmarski both finished the weekend 4-for-10.  Kaczmarski scored two runs and drove in two with a two-run homer Sunday, while Hockemeyer scored three times and delivered a solo blast of his own in the series finale.
 
Senior Josh Biggs earned the victory on the mound Friday night, as he allowed just two runs on six hits and four walks in his 6.0 innings of work, while recording a career-high nine strikeouts.  Fellow senior Jake Naumann tallied his eighth save of the season by tossing a scoreless ninth in the win.
 
UE enters its final two games of the regular season hitting .264 as a team with 57 doubles, 10 triples and 16 home runs for a .339 slugging percentage.  Evansville has posted a .357 on-base percentage and has stolen 44 bases in 65 attempts.  Defensively, the Aces are fielding .969 collectively.
 
Kaczmarski leads UE’s offense with a .349 average, .502 slugging percentage, 13 doubles, five homers and 14 stolen bases.  Hockemeyer is hitting .310 on the season ith eight doubles, a team-high three triples and 29 RBI.  Senior Chris Pearson ranks third on the team with a .299 average and leads the squad with 31 RBI.
 
UE pitchers have combined to post a 4.73 ERA, .283 opposing batting average and 379 strikeouts in 445.1 innings this season.  Senior Kyle Lloyd leads the staff with a 7-3 record, 2.74 ERA and 94 strikeouts in his 85.1 innings on the mound.  Sophomore Kyle Freeland is 3-8 on the year with a 4.59 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 84.1 innings of work.  With the win Friday night, Biggs improved his record to 1-2 and lowered his ERA to 2.89.  Biggs has fanned 31 opposing hitters in 37.1 innings.
 
Western Kentucky (24-27) enters Tuesday night’s tilt on a three-game losing streak, as the Hilltoppers were swept by Florida Atlantic in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series last weekend on their home diamond.
 
WKU is hitting .267 as a team with 95 doubles, eight triples and 28 home runs for a .378 slugging percentage.  Western Kentucky is reaching base at a .353 clip and has swiped 26 bases in 37 chances this season.  The Hilltoppers have committed 76 errors for a .962 fielding percentage.
 
Ryan Huck leads WKU offensively with a .357 average, .667 slugging percentage, 13 long balls and 46 RBI.  Huck has also drawn 35 walks for a .464 on-base percentage, which also leads the team.  Scott Wilcox boasts a .325 average with 15 doubles, a triple and 22 RBI.  Regan Flaherty leads the team with 16 doubles and is hitting .288 with 33 runs driven in, while Devin Kelly is hitting .270 with four stolen bases and four homers.
 
Western Kentucky pitchers have combined for a 4.38 ERA, .271 opposing batting average and 433 strikeouts over 460.1 innings.  Andrew Edwards has been the top regular starter for the Hilltoppers, as he is 5-3 with a 4.57 ERA and a team-high 65 strikeouts in 69.0 innings of work.  Tanner Perkins has made 11 starts for WKU and owns a 3-5 record with a 5.06 ERA and  49 strikeouts.  Ian Tompkins and Taylor Haydel have each made 22 relief appearances and have combined for nine of Western Kentucky’s 13 saves.
 
SIU Edwardsville (16-31) took two of three in a non-conference series at Southern Mississippi last weekend, as the Cougars won the first two games by a 6-5 final, before dropping the series finale, 9-1.  Joel Greatting was named the OVC Player of the Week for his efforts last week, as he went 10-for-19 at the plate with 18 total bases for a .947 slugging percentage.
 
SIUE is hitting .243 as a team and slugging .339, as it has tallied 62 doubles, five triples and 27 home runs.  SIU Edwardsville owns a .344 on-base percentage and is 34-for-54 in the stolen base department.  In the field, the Cougars have made 56 errors for a .968 fielding percentage.
 
Individually, Greatting leads SIUE with a .337 batting average, .509 slugging percentage, .452 on-base percentage and 33 RBI.  James Vazquez is hitting .310 on the year with six doubles, a pair of triples, two homers and 21 RBI.  Skyler Geissinger, who leads the team with 12 doubles, owns a .259 average with five home runs and has driven in 29 runs.  Devin Caldwell had blasted a team-high nine homers and recorded 23 RBI.
 
SIU Edwardsville’s pitching staff has compiled a 5.63 ERA, .288 opposing batting average and 267 strikeouts in 407.1 innings this spring.  Travis Felax leads the staff with a 3-6 record and 2.26 ERA with 58 strikeouts in 75.2 innings on the mound.  Tony Schaeffer, who has made 17 appearances for the Cougars, including five starts, is 2-4 on the mound with a 4.07 ERA and a team-high four saves.
 
Western Kentucky leads the all-time series with Evansville, 34-28, but the Aces own a 13-9 advantage over SIU Edwardsville.  The Hilltoppers defeated UE, 8-5, earlier this spring in Bowling Green, Ky., while Evansville posted an 11-7 victory over the Cougars last Wednesday at Braun Stadium.