UE Game Notes

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville baseball team (18-15) is back at home this weekend to host South Alabama (24-13) in a three game series at Braun Stadium. The set begins on Friday, April 17 at 6:00 p.m. CDT, continues on Saturday, April 18 at 2:00 p.m. and completes on Sunday, April 19 at 12:00 p.m.
 
Adult tickets are $7 each as senior/youth tickets are just $5.
 
PITCHING MATCHUP
Friday, April 17 at 6:00 p.m. CDT
UE RHP Patrick Schnieders (2-4, 6.62 ERA) vs. USA RHP Kevin Hill (5-0, 2.36 ERA)
 
Saturday, April 18 at 2:00 p.m. CDT
UE LHP Brodie Harkness (4-2, 3.68 ERA) vs. USA RHP Austin Bembnowski (2-3, 3.68 ERA)
 
Sunday, April 19 at 12:00 p.m. CDT
UE RHP Connor Strain (1-4, 7.11 ERA) vs. USA LHP Jared Gates (3-1, 3.52 ERA)
 
HOW CAN I FOLLOW ALONG?
Due to WUEV 91.5FM and AcesTV covering the UE softball on Saturday and Sunday, only the Purple Aces Friday night baseball game will be broadcast on radio .
 
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
It took four hours and 33 minutes as well as 14 innings of baseball, but the University of Evansville defeated the Indiana Hoosiers 2-1 on Wednesday night at Bart Kaufman Field. Catcher Travis Tokarek delivered the game-winning, 14^th inning RBI single to center field for the one run edge. Reliever Brian Jestice then pitched around a bases loaded jam in the bottom half, striking out pinch hitter Christopher Lowe to secure the road win for the Purple Aces.
 
SCOUTING SOUTH ALABAMA
The Jaguars (24-13) enter this weekend following a mid-week cancellation against Nicholls State. Most recently, South Alabama won two of three games from Appalachian State last weekend. The Jaguars are 11-7 in the Sun Belt Conference this season.
 
THE SERIES
This is the first series between South Alabama and UE.
 
UE STATISTICALLY
Evansville is led offensively by outfielder Kevin Kaczmarski with a team-best .417 batting average, 43 hits, two triples, 63 total bases, a .612 slugging percentage and a .523 on base percentage this season. Outfielder Josh Jyawook (.325) is also batting above .300. Infielder Jonathan Ramon has a team-high five home runs and 28 runs batted in. Right-hander Conor Gilligan has a team-low 1.65 earned run average. Seven different UE pitchers have recorded at least one win including four each by Ryan Billo, Brodie Harkness and righty Matt Rodgers. The team is cumulatively hitting .258 this season with a 4.77 team ERA.
 
SOUTH ALABAMA STATISTICALLY
Cole Billingsley leads the Jaguars with a .326 batting average. Although five others are hitting in the .290s, Billingsley is the only hitter on the team above the .300 mark. Billingsley also has a team-best two home runs and 18 stolen bases. Reliever Ben Taylor holds a team-low 0.46 ERA. Right-hander Kevin Hill has won five of his six starts this season. The Jaguars hit .289 as a unit and hold a 3.48 earned run average.
 
WE'RE GOING STREAKING
Outfielder Jarod Perry has reached base in 33 straight games and has a 10 game hitting streak. Outfielder Josh Jyawook has recorded a hit in each of the last 11 games. First baseman Eric McKibban has reached base in 21 straight games.
 
IT'S MILLER TIME
Right-handed pitcher Ryan Miller will be inducted into the UE Hall of Fame on Saturday. Miller was the Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year in 2000, and is one of only two Purple Aces to earn that honor. In addition to pitching 110 innings, he was named to the ABCA All-Region Team and the First Team All-MVC Pitcher in 2000.
 
I…AM…#1 !
Outfielder Josh Jyawook received national recognition when he was selected as the #1 play on ESPN's Sportscenter. Playing at Indiana on April 15, Jyawook made a viral video catch that kept the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs and no runners on, Craig Dedelow hit a fly ball to left field that Jyawook ran down as he crashed into the waist high wall and somersaulted into the IU bullpen. Jyawook then rose to his feet on the other side of the wall and showed the ball still in his glove.

SWIPER NO SWIPING
The University of Evansville baseball team stole a season-high 11 bases on April 14 in a 13-3 win over SIUE. The total came within two of tying the single game program record for steals (13 vs. Detroit in March 1992).

BRODIE BASEBALL
Left-hander Brodie Harkness matched his career-high with 8.0 innings pitched on Sunday, April 12 against #20 Missouri State. The freshman allowed just two runs on nine hits, not walking a single batter and striking out three hitters. The left-hander yielded just a two-run home run in a 2-0 defeat. He retired 10 straight batters in the middle innings and nine of the last 10 hitters he faced.
 
STRIKEOUTS AND STRANDED RUNNERS
Despite a four run comeback on Saturday, April 12, the Aces were unable to eek out a win with #20 Missouri State. UE struck out 15 times in the 10 inning game, a new season high, including nine strikeouts with runners in scoring position.
 
GETTING JIGGY WITH IT
Outfielder Josh Jyawook had a career night on April 10 against #20 Missouri State. Even though UE totaled only seven hits, Jyawook tied a career-high with three hits and scored both of the Purple Aces runs on the night.

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
The Aces return home for a non-conference series with South Alabama this weekend. The three-game set begins on Friday, April 17 at 6:00 p.m. CDT, continues on Saturday, April 18 at 2:00 p.m. CDT and ends on Sunday, April 19 at 1:00 p.m. CDT. Adult tickets are $7 and senior/youth tickets are $5 each.