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UE GAME NOTES - MSU GAME NOTES

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville baseball team (16-13, 5-5) continues a five game homestand on Saturday with the middle game of a weekend series against #20 Missouri State (D1Baseball.com). The contest will begin at 2:00 p.m. CDT.

The series will conclude on Sunday, April 11 at 1:00 p.m. CDT.

Both contests will be held at Braun Stadium in Evansville, Ind.

Adult tickets are $7 each as seniors/youth tickets are $5.
 
PITCHING MATCHUP
Saturday, April 11 at 2:00 p.m. CDT
UE RHP Patrick Schnieders (2-4, 6.43 ERA) vs. MSU LHP Matt Hall (5-1, 2.86 ERA)
 
Sunday, April 12 at 1:00 p.m. CDT
UE LHP Brodie Harkness (4-1, 3.95 ERA) vs. MSU LHP Jordan Knutson (1-1, 2.75 ERA)

HOW CAN I FOLLOW ALONG?
The contests will be broadcast live on WUEV 91.5FM and on AcesTV. The live stats can be viewed at Evansville.StatBroadcast.com

Fans can also follow the Aces progress on twitter. Updates will be posted on the @UEAthletics account.

LAST TIME OUT
The Purple Aces dropped the series opener to #20 Missouri State 13-2 on Friday night. The Bears utilized an eight run second inning on their way to a mercy-rule shortened eight inning contest. Outfielder Josh Jyawook tied a career-high with three hits and also had two runs scored. Outfielder Jarod Perry extended his career-long on base streak to 30 games with a 2-for-4 night. He is also on a six game hitting streak. First baseman Eric McKibban has reached base in 17 straight games.
 
WHAT TO MAKE OF MISSOURI STATE
Missouri State (22-8, 5-2) enters this series following a 2-1 victory over SEMO on Tuesday night. Last weekend, the Bears won two of the three games in a series with #16 Dallas Baptist. Missouri State has won 10 of their last 11 games.
 
THE SERIES
Missouri State holds the 48-38 edge in the all-time series with the Purple Aces. Last season, the Bears won two of the three meetings at home against Evansville in the final regular season weekend series. The 1-0 UE win in the series opener secured the MVC Regular Season championship for the Aces. The Bears won two of three games in the last series at Braun Stadium (April 26-28, 2013).
 
UE STATISTICALLY
Evansville is led offensively by outfielder Kevin Kaczmarski with a team-best .425 batting average, 37 hits, seven doubles, two triples, six stolen bases, a .644 slugging percentage and a .528 on base percentage this season. Outfielder Josh Jyawook (.328) and infielder Jonathan Ramon (.308) are also both hitting over the .300 mark. Ramon also has a team-best five home runs and 26 runs batted in. Right-hander Conor Gilligan has a team-low 2.25 earned run average. Seven different UE pitchers have recorded at least one win including four each by left-hander Brodie Harkness and righty Matt Rodgers. The team is cumulatively hitting .261 this season with a 5.10 team ERA.

MSU STATISTICALLY
Entering the weekend, outfielder Blake Graham has a team-best .325 batting average. Infielder Jake Burger (.314) and outfielder Tate Matheny (.301) are both hitting above .300 as well. Burger and Matheny each have a team leading three home runs and 20 runs batted in this season. Starting pitcher Jon Harris has a team-low 1.47 ERA. Fellow starter Matt Hall leads all Bears pitchers with five wins this season. The Bears hold a .291 team batting average and a 3.06 earned run average.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING
Outfielder Jarod Perry has also reached base in 30 straight games.Outfielder Josh Jyawook has hit safely in seven straight games.
 
GETTING JIGGY WITH IT
Outfielder Josh Jyawook had a career night on April 10 against #20 Missouri State. Even thought UE totaled only seven hits, Jyawook tied a career-high with three hits and scored both of the Purple Aces runs on the night.

APRIL SHOWERS
Starting the weekend, shortstop Shain Showers is batting .400 this April with three home runs, six runs batted in and a 1.067 slugging percentage. Showers also hit .386 during the month of April in 2014 with another two home runs and 15 RBIs. Over the last two seasons, Showers is batting .389 during the month of April.

ONE HIT WONDER
With a first inning hit by pitch on April 8 against USI, outfielder Jarod Perry set the UE baseball program record with his 42^nd career HBP. The senior is just in his second season with the Purple Aces after transferring from Kaskaskia CC. He surpassed the mark previously held by outfielder Alex Acheson who played with UE from 2007-2010. 

BIRTHDAY BOY
Outfielder Jarod Perry was 1-for-4 on his birthday, April 4, at Illinois State with a go-ahead RBI single in the third inning.

DOUBLE DOWN
With two more doubles on March 31 at UT-Martin, outfielder Kevin Kaczmarski has moved into a tie with Anthony Molina (1997-2000) for 8^th most in program history (54). The Purple Ace with the most doubles is current head coach Wes Carroll (1998-2001) who hit 74 doubles in his UE career.

HIT PARADE
Evansville set a season-high with 21 hits in a 15-11 win at UT-Martin on March 31. Every UE starter had at least one RBI in the victory. Eight Aces starters scored at least one run as eight starters also recorded at least one hit each.

WEEK OF COMEBACK WINS
Evansville won three games this past week, all on the road, and all in comeback fashion. UE rallied from a two run deficit to score four runs in the ninth for a 4-2 victory at SIUE on Wednesday, March 25. The Purple Aces then surged back from a 3-1 hole on March 28 for a 7-3 victory at Indiana State. UE also overcame a 5-1 deficit on Sunday, March 29 for a 9-7 road series win at Sycamore Stadium.
 
DOUBLEHEADER DAYS
Due to pending storms and sometimes unplayable field conditions, the Aces have had to play six 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. Evansville split a doubleheader at Indiana State on March 28 (L 4-0, W 7-3).
 
NINTH INNING MAGIC
UE scored four runs in the ninth inning to turn a loss into a 4-2 road win at SIUE on March 25. The Aces drew closer with a bases loaded walk and tied the game on a wild pitch. Infielder Jonathan Ramon then hit the go-ahead two run single that created the Aces' victory.
 
BRILLIANT BILLO
Pitcher Ryan Billo threw a season-high 7.0 innings pitched at SIUE on March 25 and also set a new career-high with seven strikeouts. He received the no decision in the UE come-from-behind 4-2 win.

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.

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.
 
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
UE and #20 Missouri State will meet again on Sunday, April 12 at 1:00.