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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville baseball team put together a complete team effort Saturday afternoon in a 12-1 win over Eastern Kentucky at Braun Stadium.  The Purple Aces pounded out a season-high 17 hits and got a quality start from sophomore righty Connor Strain, who allowed one unearned run with a career-high seven strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work.
 
"Connor Strain did an excellent job of getting leadoff hitters out today and that was the key," head coach Wes Carroll said.  "I thought he did a great job of working ahead in the count with multiple pitches."
 
Junior Kevin Kaczmarski led Evansville (15-8) at the plate by driving in five runs, which included an eighth-inning grand slam.  Sophomore Josh Jyawook finished the night 4-for-6 with a pair of RBI and two runs scored, while senior Jake Mahon and junior Kyle Pollock each posted 3-for-4 efforts.  Pollock drove in three runs, including two with a double.
 
"Our offense starts with Josh Jyawook right now with what he is doing at the top of our lineup right now," Carroll said.  "He had another four hits today and he is such a disciplined hitter.  The at bat where he got his two RBIs was a special at bat.  We got multiple hits from our first four hitters and the way our hitters competed today was outstanding.  They had a great plan and a great approach."
 
Strain (1-2) scattered seven hits in the longest outing of his career and issued just two walks to lower his ERA to 2.40 on the season.  Fellow sophomore Conor Gilligan finished out the game by tossing two scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts.
 
The Aces took an early lead in the bottom of the third, when junior Boomer Synek drove in Mahon with a one-out single through the left side to give UE an 1-0 advantage, before Evansville pushed across three more runs in the bottom of the fourth to extend the margin to 4-0.
 
Sophomore Shain Showers, junior Jarod Perry and Jyawook started the Aces' fourth with three-consecutive singles, with Jyawook's allowing Showers to score from second.  Mahon followed by drawing a walk to load the bases, before Kaczmarski and Pollock capped the scoring with back-to-back sacrifice flies to center.
 
UE added two more runs in the fifth on an RBI ground out by Perry and a run-scoring single off the bat off Jyawook, before Eastern Kentucky (11-15) pushed across its lone run of the game in the top half of the seventh.  TJ Alas drew a two-out walk to give the Colonels a base runner and he was able to advance to second on a balk and took third on an error, before scoring on a wild pitch by Strain.
 
Evansville answered with two runs in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run double by Pollock, before Kaczmarski drove in the final four runs of the game with his towering grand slam to right in the bottom half of the eighth.
 
With their offensive effort, the Aces have now tallied 10 or more hits in five-straight games and have won eight of their last 10 outings.
 
Only four EKU hitters tallied a hit in the game, but three of them collected multiple hits, including Bryan Soloman, Doug Teegarden and Kenny Hostrander.
 
Evansville will go for the sweep of Eastern Kentucky tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m., as the Aces will send senior Cole Isom to the mound.  The Colonels are slated to start freshman Caleb Johnson.