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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville baseball team (7-8) holds their 2015 home opener on Wednesday, March 18 when the Purple Aces play the visiting Murray State Racers. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m. CDT at Braun Stadium in Evansville, Ind.
 
This will be the first of four consecutive home games for UE as the Aces host #18 Dallas Baptist (Baseball America) this weekend to open Missouri Valley Conference play.
 
PITCHING MATCHUP
UE RHP Ryan Billo (0-1, 2.25 ERA) vs. Murray State RHP Tanner Edge (0-1, 7.90)
 
HOW CAN I FOLLOW ALONG?
Due to the Evansville men's basketball game at the same time, the UE baseball game will not be on radio at WUEV 91.5 FM or on Aces TV
 
The contests will all have live stats provided at GoPurpleAces.com .
 
Fans can also follow the team's progress on twitter. Updates will be posted on the @UEAthletics account as well as @UEMediaMike, the twitter account for Mike Radomski, the Assistant Sports Information Director and baseball contact at UE.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The University of Evansville baseball team (7-8) dropped both games of a doubleheader at Ohio State on Sunday afternoon, losing the first contest 4-3 and falling in the second game 12-1. Infielder Boomer Synek led UE offensively in game one, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Outfielder Josh Jyawook, outfielder Jarod Perry, and infielder Shain Showers each had one run scored. In game two, UE broke the shutout in the ninth with a solo home run from designated hitter Jonathan Ramon and added another run on a Perry RBI single to right field. Showers recorded two hits in the final game.
 
WHAT TO MAKE OF MURRAY STATE?
Murray State (6-14) enters this game on a three-game losing streak following a sweep at SIUE this past weekend. The Racers have won just three of their last 12 games. Murray State's last win came on March 11 when the team split a doubleheader at the Southern Illinois Salukis.
 
THE SERIES
UE leads the all-time series with Murray State 33-13 including a 6-3 home victory in the last meeting on April 22, 2014. The Racers won the other meeting between the team's last year, a 6-1 defeat at Murray State on April 15. The Aces are 8-3 against Murray State under head coach Wes Carroll. One of the most famous games in the rivalry was a 20-17, 10 inning, UE win at Murray State on April 13, 2010. The Aces tallied 16 runs from the seventh inning on, including four in the ninth and six more in the 10^th for the victory. Outfielder Greg Wallace was 5-for-6 with five RBIs in the contest.

UE STATISTICALLY
Statistically, Evansville is led offensively by outfielder Kevin Kaczmarski who is hitting .448 this season. Infielder Jonathan Ramon has a team-best three home runs. Outfielder Josh Jyawook and outfielder Jarod Perry are tied with a team-high 16 hits each this year. Four UE relievers have an ERA under 4.00 as five pitchers have at least one win this season. The team is cumulatively hitting .250 this season with a 4.43 team ERA.
 
MURRAY STATE STATISTICALLY
Catcher Tyler Lawrence leads Murray State with a .309 batting average, 21 hits, two triples, three home runs, 15 runs batted in, 39 total bases, a .574 slugging percentage, and 12 walks. Outfielder Pokey Harris (.308 batting average) and infielder Matthew Johnson (.302) are both also hitting over .300 this season. Catcher Dalton West also has a team-best three  home runs this year. Right-handers Paul Miller (1.86 ERA) and Brandon Hicks (2.57) are the lone Racer pitchers with ERAs under 3.00 .  The team is hitting only .230 this season and has a cumulative 5.61 ERA.
 
RAKIN' RAMON
With a pair of home runs this past weekend, infielder Jonathan Ramon now leads UE with three round-trippers this season. Ramon homered in the series opener at Ohio State on Friday night and also hit a home run in the series finale in the last game of the doubleheader on Sunday.
 
HARK THE MESSAGE
Pitcher Brodie Harkness was named Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week on March 9. The UE freshman left-hander earned his team-high second win of the season with 6.0 scoreless innings of one hit baseball and a career-high eight strikeouts vs. Western Illinois on March 7. Harkness had two strikeouts in each of the first three innings on his way to a new career-high. He also retired the final 14 batters he faced in the Purple Aces 10-0 win over the Leathernecks. Harkness is the second Purple Ace to receive MVC Player/Pitcher of the Week honors this season.
 
DOUBLEHEADER DAYS
Due to pending storms and sometimes unplayable field conditions, the Aces have had to play five sets of doubleheaders this season. The Purple Aces played and won both games of a doubleheader at UALR on Feb. 14 winning the first contest 7-2 before finishing a sweep with a 16-3, seven inning victory in game two. UE also swept a doubleheader from Western Kentucky on Feb. 22 with an 11-10, 10 inning win in the opener and a 9-8 victory in the finale. The Aces then split doubleheaders with Western Illinois on March 6 (L 4-3, W 6-4) and on March 7 (W 10-0, L 3-0). Most recently, UE lost both games of a doubleheader to Ohio State 4-3 and 12-2 on Sunday, March 15.
 
THE EVANSVILLE EMERSON ACES
Due to inclement weather, the Aces played seven of their 11 games this year in Emerson, Ga. at the Perfect Games complex.
 
FIRST THINGS FIRST
The Aces hung with #1 Vanderbilt into extra before falling 9-8 in 12 innings on March 3. UE took a ninth inning lead with a three-run home run from infielder Jonathan Ramon but a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth forced extras and a wild pitch in the 12th gave Vanderbilt the win.
 
ALL GOOD THINGS MUST END
Second baseman Boomer Synek had a 32-game on-base streak snapped with an 0-for-4 performance at Belmont on March 11. He reached base safely in the first 11 games of the season and previous 21 games of the 2014 season. The prior game in which Synek did not reach base was on April 13, 2014 vs. Wichita State.
 
KORBIN CRUSHING IT
Outfielder Korbin Williams hit two home runs against Western Kentucky in the first game of a doubleheader on Feb. 22. Williams hit his first career home run in the fifth inning, a three run blast, and then hit the go-ahead home run in the 10th for an 11-10 Aces win.
 
HOLDING ON
The Aces pitchers held on to sweep both games of a doubleheader from WKU on Feb. 22. UE held a 10-3 lead in the opening contest before winning game one 11-10 in 10 innings. Evansville was also ahead 8-2 in the final game of the doubleheader before earning a narrow 9-8 win.
 
NO JOSHING AROUND
Outfielder Josh Jyawook was named MVC Player of the Week on Feb. 16 for his opening series at UALR. Jyawook hit .385 in the set at three runs scored, a grand slam home run, and eight runs batted in. His three runs scored and eight RBIs were an MVC best.
 
BRING IT ON BACK
The Purple Aces bring back 19 letterwinners from last season. On the hitting side, UE returns 73.3% of its run support from last season but lose 35% of their home run numbers from last year. The Aces also have 70% of their RBI total from last season back for another year. Pitching wise, Evansville lost 62% of their win total and 79% of their saves total due to graduation and the draft. 
 
ON DECK
The next games for the Aces will be this weekend when UE plays #18 Dallas Baptist in a three-game series beginning on Friday, March 20.