EVANSVILLE – In a battle for Evansville bragging rights, the University of Evansville rode a strong pitching outing from senior Connor Strain to pick up a 2-1 victory over visiting Southern Indiana at Charles H. Braun Stadium on Friday evening.
Strain, a native of Shelburn, Ind., was making his first home start of the year after being sidelined earlier this season with an injury. Despite being on a pitch-count, the right-hander put together a sublime performance on the mound, tossing 5.1 two-hit innings without issuing a walk. He also struck out five en route to improving to 1-1 for the season.
"It's always fun to get back on the mound and try to work my pitch count back up," Strain said. "It was big to get the run early. A first-inning lead for a pitcher is huge. It sets you at ease, and it gives you a chance to go out there and try to shut the door and get the win.
"All of our pitchers did really well tonight, and that really starts with Connor," UE head coach Wes Carroll said. "Having him back out there at 100% and healthy really set the tone for us. It feels good as coach to see him out there and doing well for us in a Friday night start."
Strain would cede control on the mound to the trio of Ryan Brady, Austin Allinger and Brent Jurceka, with the latter earning his first save of the season.
UE (9-9) drew first blood in the contest as Boomer Synek was hit by a pitch to lead off the opening stanza. He'd advance to second on an Eric McKibban single before ultimately touching home on a wild pitch from USI starter Colin Nowak.
Synek would reach base two more times in the contest, and McKibban, who extended his on-base streak out to 18 games, was the only hitter from either team with two hits, finishing 2-for-4.
It would be a quick start for UE in the third as well as Stewart Nelson was issued a five-pitch walk, and Nate Reeder doubled him home three pitches later to give the Aces the two-run cushion.
From there, the UE pitching staff picked up steam, retiring 15 of the next 16 USI hitters before a leadoff Hamilton Carr double gave the visitors from the west side hope in the top of the ninth.
Jurceka responded quickly, striking out Sam Griggs and inducing a Kyle Kempf grounder, but things would get interesting for the closer from there. McNamara failed to make contact for strike three in the ensuing at-bat, but it turned into a wild pitch, as both McNamara and Carr advanced safely to cut the Aces lead in half. That would be all the Screaming Eagles could muster though, as Ryan Bertram fouled out to first to end the game.
With the loss, USI, which is ranked No. 17 in NCAA Division II, dropped to 11-5 on the year.
The Aces will be back in action at Braun Stadium on Saturday as the Aces will square off against Quincy at noon.
NOTES: Connor Strain is just the second UE starting pitcher this season to go at least five innings without allowing a run … Patrick Schnieders tossed seven shutout innings versus. Central Connecticut State on March 11 … Brent Jurceka is just the 11
th pitcher in school history to register double-digit saves in his career … The senior is now tied with Wes Davis for the sixth-best mark in school history … Since 1978, the Aces are 16-10 against Southern Indiana and 275-205 against schools that hail from the state of Indiana … Over that same time, UE is 1-0 versus Quincy, taking home a 9-8 decision in Evansville in 1979 … Against Illinois schools, UE owns a 220-197 record, including a 3-1 mark this year after the NIU sweep.
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