DATES:  February 28 - March 2
TIMES:  3:00 p.m.  |  1:00 p.m. (DH, 7 inn./9 inn.)  |  1:00 p.m.
LOCATION:  Evansville, Ind. (Braun Stadium)
MEDIA CENTER:  Live Stats  |  Live Audio (Friday Only)
NOTES:  Evansville  |  Western Illinois

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS (EVANSVILLE LISTED FIRST)
FRIDAY:  Kyle Freeland, Jr., LHP (1-1, 6.00 ERA)  vs. Aaron Michel, So., LHP (0-1, 5.79 ERA)
SATURDAY (GAME 1):  Jimmy Ward, Fr., RHP (0-0, 10.12 ERA) vs. Tyler Willman, Jr., RHP (0-1, 3.00 ERA)
SATURDAY (GAME 2):  Cole Isom, Sr., LHP (0-0, 5.23 ERA) vs. Tom Constand, Jr., LHP (0-1, 40.50 ERA)
SUNDAY:  Connor Strain, So., RHP (0-1, 7.36 ERA) vs. TBA

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville baseball team will be at home for the first time this season, when the Purple Aces welcome for UE standout Ryan Brownlee and his Western Illinois squad to Braun Stadium this weekend for a four-game series beginning Friday at 3:00 p.m.
 
Evansville (4-3) enters the series fresh off of an 8-3 win at No. 4 Vanderbilt Wednesday night in Nashville, Tenn.  The Aces scored three runs in each of the first two innings and relied on strong pitching efforts from eight different UE hurlers to complete the victory.  Junior Kevin Kaczmarski drove in three runs with a bases-clearing triple in the first as part of a 1-for-3 night and senior Jake Mahon finished 2-for-4 with a career-high three runs scored.  Josh Jyawook and Boomer Synek bolstered the Evansville offense by driving in two runs apiece.
 
On the mound, junior Matt Rodgers picked up the victory by tossing 2.0 innings of scoreless, hitless ball and striking out three Commodores.  Seven Aces' relievers combined to strand nine VU base runners over the final seven innings, including sophomore Brent Jurceka, who got UE out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh en route to 2.0 innings of scoreless relief.
 
Evansville is hitting .258 as a team with 19 extra-base hits for a .365 slugging percentage and is reaching base at a .372 clip.  On the base paths, the Aces are 16-for-19 and are fielding .960 as a squad.
 
Jyawook leads UE offensively with a .400 average and a .545 on-base percentage, which includes three doubles, seven RBI and a team-high seven walks.  Kaczmarski boasts a .333 average with a team-best .630 slugging percentage and moved into 10th place on Evansville's all-time triples list with his 10th-career three-bagger Wednesday night.  Junior Kyle Pollock has posted a .323 average on the year with six RBI and Mahon is hitting an even .300 with a team-high nine runs scored and one of the Aces' two home runs.
 
As a staff, UE's pitchers have combined for a 4.65 ERA with 49 strikeouts and 29 walks in 60.0 innings of work.  Friday starter and junior southpaw Kyle Freeland enters the series with a 1-1 record, 6.0 ERA and 11 strikeouts against just one walk in his previous 9.0 frames on the hill.  Freshman Jimmy Ward is expected to make his first collegiate start in game one of Saturday's twin bill, while senior Cole Isom, who owns a 5.23 ERA in his previous two starters, will get the ball for game two.  Sophomore Connor Strain will be Evansville's Sunday starter and is 0-1 on the year with a 7.36 ERA and three strikeouts in 7.1 innings.
 
Western Illinois (0-4) opened its season with four losses last weekend at the Nicholls State Tournament in Thibodaux, La., as the Leathernecks dropped a pair of games against Louisiana-Monroe and suffered setbacks against Nicholls State and Southern Illinois.
 
WIU is hitting just .153 as a squad with two extra-base hits for a .176 slugging percentage.  Western Illinois did draw 14 walks in its opening four games for a .236 on-base percentage, but opposing pitchers fanned Leatherneck hitters 29 times.  WIU has swiped six bases in nine chances and posted a .930 fielding percentage, after committing 12 errors.
 
Cody Williams is the lone Western Illinois batter hitting over .300, as he finished 3-for-9 last weekend for a .333 average.  Jameson Henning owns a .267 mark with a double and two walks, while Tanner Glore has driven in three of the Leathernecks' six runs this season, despite a .067 batting average.
 
WIU pitchers have posted a 4.79 ERA and have collected 25 strikeouts in 35.2 combined innings, while opponents have hit .252.  Friday starter Aaron Michel gave up four runs, three earned, on nine hits in 4.2 innings in his season debut for a 5.79 ERA and Saturday's game one starter Tyler Willman turned in Western Illinois' best starting effort on the mound, as he notched a quality start by allowing just two runs on four this in 6.0 innings of work.  Tom Constand  is slated to start game two of Saturday's doubleheader and will enter the contest with a 40.50 ERA, after giving up six runs on seven hits in just 1.1 innings in his lone start last weekend.
 
This weekend's series will mark just the second time that Evansville and Western Illinois have met for a weekend set, as the Aces own a 3-0 advantage in the all-time series, after sweeping the Leathernecks in a series back in 1997.