AUDIO - LIVE STATS - VIDEO (N/A)
UE Game Notes

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The University of Evansville baseball team (9-10, 1-2) begins a stretch of eight consecutive road games with a contest at SIUE on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m. at the Simmons Baseball Complex in Edwardsville, Ill.
 
PITCHING MATCHUP
UE RHP Ryan Billo (1-1, 2.05) vs. SIUE TBD
 
HOW CAN I FOLLOW ALONG?
Audio is available at SIUECougarNetwork.com .
 
The contest will all have live stats provided at SIUECougars.com .
 
Fans can also follow the Aces progress on twitter. Updates will be posted on the @UEAthletics account.

LAST TIME OUT
The Aces received a career-high 8.0 innings from freshman pitcher Brodie Harkness in a 3-1 win over #18 Dallas Baptist on Sunday afternoon. Harkness (3-1) yielded just one unearned run on four hits as the Aces earned their first victory over a ranked opponent since winning at #4 Vanderbilt on Feb. 26, 2014. Outfielder Kevin Kaczmarski broke a scoreless tie with a two-run triple in the fifth and then scored on a balk for the 3-0 edge. The triple moved Kaczmarski into sole possession of third place in program history with 15 triples.
 
STUDYING SIUE
SIUE (8-10, 8-1) began the season with eight consecutive losses but have now won eight of their last 10 games entering mid-week action on Tuesday night vs. Indiana State. The Cougars most recently won two of three at Tennessee Tech last weekend.
 
THE SERIES
Evansville holds a 12-2 lead in the all-time series with SIUE. The Aces have won five consecutive meetings dating back to an April 4, 2011 defeat 4-1 at SIUE. Last season, UE won the only matchup of the year with a 15-7 win at home on April 1. Juniors Kevin Kaczmarski and Kyle Pollock each drove in four runs apiece.
 
UE STATISTICALLY
Statistically, Evansville is led offensively by outfielder Kevin Kaczmarski who is hitting .404 this season. Outfielder Josh Jyawook is also batting at a .303 clip. Infielder Jonathan Ramon has a team-best three home runs. First baseman Eric McKibban has a team-high 22 hits and is on a 7 game hitting streak. Right-handers Ryan Brady (2.70 ERA) and Conor Gilligan (2.89) both hold ERAs under 3.00 as six Aces have combined for the team's nine wins. The team is cumulatively hitting .254 this season with a 4.66 team ERA.
 
SIUE STATISTICALLY
Infielder Keaton Wright has posted a team-best .429 batting average this spring. Outfielder Dustin Woodcock (.379) is the only other Cougar hitting over .300 this year. Catcher Parker Guinn has blased a team-high six home runs this year. Reliever Brett Thomas holds the lowest ERA for SIUE at 2.60. Five pitchers have combined for the team's eight wins, including three by righty P.J. Schuster. The Cougars have a .262 team batting average and a 5.52 ERA.
 
NEARING HISTORY
Outfielder Jarod Perry has 40 hit by pitches in his UE career, one shy of tying the program record of 41 set by outfielder Alex Acheson (2007-10). Perry is only in his second season with the Purple Aces and already set the single season record with 25 last year.

TWICE AS NICE
Left-hander Brodie Harkness was named MVC Pitcher of the Week on March 23, his second such honor this year. Harkness (3-1) had a career day in the Aces' 3-1 win over #18 Dallas Baptist on March 22. The freshman left-hander threw a career-high 8.0 innings in the victory, yielding just one unearned run on four hits. Harkness did not allow a hit outside of the infield until the eighth as he also struck out five batters in the win.
 
TOP 25 TRIUMPH
The Aces defeated #18 Dallas Baptist 3-1 on March 22, the first UE victory over a ranked opponent since winning at #4 Vanderbilt on Feb. 26, 2014. Pitcher Brodie Harkness threw 8.0 innings in the victory as outfielder Kevin Kaczmarski was 2-for-3 with a  triple and two runs batted in.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING
First baseman Eric McKibban brings a seven game hitting streak into the Tuesday night game at SIUE. Outfielder Jarod Perry has also reached base in 20 straight games.

TIK-TOK
Time was against catcher Travis Tokarek who was hitless in his last 21 at-bats entering the Dallas Baptist series. The freshman stopped the skid with a three-run ninth-inning double that helped spark a five run rally. Tokarek had just two runs batted in prior to his bases-clearing double.

MANHANDLING MURRAY
The Aces matched a season-high with 15 hits against the Murray State Racers in a 15-2 victory on March 18. Eight starters had at least one hit each for the Aces who matched their largest win total (16-3 victory at UALR on Feb. 14).
 
WELL…THAT'S A FIRST
Utilityman Tyler Sullivan recorded the first hit of his college career on March 18 against Murray State. Sullivan's eight-inning pinch-hit single sparked a six run inning.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
ON DECK
After this series, the Aces visit SIUE on Wednesday, March 25 for a 6:00 p.m. game.