EVANSVILLE – Prior to last Friday, Stewart Nelson may have been known more for his glove than his bat, but that has started to change for the University of Evansville baseball team as the sophomore shortstop once again shined in a 13-2 demolition of SIUE at Charles H. Braun Stadium on Tuesday night.
Nelson, a middle infielder out of LaGrange, Ill., knocked in five runs in the contest, ending 3-for-5 with a pair of scores. Over the past four games, he's started at both second base and shortstop while hitting a scorching .600 at the plate.
"Coach [Jake] Mahon went over some things with me about my overall approach at the plate, and I think that's really helped me with getting my timing and rhythm in sync," Nelson said. "It's great to have a day like this where we can take some pressure off the pitchers, and I think we have a good offense that can put up a lot of runs this season."
"Stewart's had three really great offensive games for us in a row," UE head coach Wes Carroll said. "He seems like he has a disciplined approach at the plate right now, and it's great to see. We've been searching for another right-handed bat in our line-up, and maybe Stewart's our guy."
After surrendering a run in the top of the first inning, the Aces (12-11) wasted little time in getting things going, beginning with a Nelson two-out single in the bottom of the second to put UE ahead.
A Josh Jyawook sac fly an inning later would double the advantage, and that was all the cushion that Aces starting pitcher Austin Allinger would need as he started to find his groove on the mound.
Allinger, a freshman right-hander, bounced back from that early Cougar score to toss six innings, allowing six hits while striking out four to hold the visitors from Edwardsville, Ill., to just one run. With the victory, he improved to 3-1 on the season.
UE really broke the game open with a five-run frame in the bottom of the sixth. A pair of walks, a single and an error started off the scoring in the frame before Nelson doubled to left center to make it 6-1. Boomer Synek followed up with a two run double of his own, and the Aces would never look back, outscoring the Cougars 5-1 over the next two frames.
Nelson was one of four Aces hitters to record multiple hits in the contest as Jeff Christen, Korbin Williams and Trey Hair each enjoyed two hit outings. Overall, UE out-hit SIUE 12-8.
With the loss, SIUE now stands at 4-17 on the season.
The Aces will be back in action on Wednesday with a trip to Bloomington to take on Indiana. First pitch is slated for 5 p.m. Central time, and the game will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network Plus.
NOTES: Jeff Christen's two-run blast in the eighth made him the 11
th Purple Ace this season to record a home run … Overall, the Aces have slugged 24 homers this season, the most since leaving the park 26 times in 2011 … Since 1978, the Aces are 16-19 against Indiana and 275-205 versus schools that hail from the state of Indiana … UE is 17-7 against SIUE … The Aces are 221-197 overall against Illinois schools.
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