EVANSVILLE – The dominance of Connor Strain was once again on full display on Friday night as the senior right-hander tossed a scoreless seven innings to lead the University of Evansville baseball team to a 1-0 win over visiting Florida Gulf Coast at Charles H. Braun Stadium.
"Connor was just electric tonight," UE head coach Wes Carroll said. "When we play good defense behind him, we're going to be a tough team to beat on Friday. I think Connor is a big-time pitcher, and he went out there and took the game on his back tonight."
Strain, a native of Shelburn, Ind., has allowed just two earned runs this season, and he has not surrendered a single run since Feb. 19, a streak of 23.2 innings. On Friday, he allowed just four hits and struck out five before stepping off the mound in the top of the eighth.
"Connor's fastball was very impressive. He has a lot of movement on it, and he changes speeds very well," explained UE catcher Boomer Synek. "Honestly, he didn't even have his best stuff today, so it was special to see him put it on such a good hitting team. He's dialed in every time he steps on to the mound right now, and it's fun for me to catch."
After the Aces (13-11) stranded four runners through the first two frames, Trey Hair did all the work himself in the third, blasting a solo shot over the wall in right for his fourth home run of the season. The Firth, Neb., native ended the day 2-for-3 at the plate with a walk to lead all hitters.
"Trey crushed that ball," Carroll said. "It's great to see him have that balance back at the plate. He's such an advanced hitter, and it's nice to have him back healthy. He gave us exactly what we needed tonight."
That run proved enough as the Eagles (13-13) wouldn't mount a serious threat until the sixth inning, which saw FGCU lead off with a single and a walk to put the go-ahead run on first. Strain, however, was up to the test, inducing back-to-back grounders that resulted in three outs to strand the tying score 90 feet from home.
The Eagles would go quietly over the final three innings as Strain and Aces reliever Brent Jurceka sat the last nine FGCU hitters down in order.
With the win, Strain improved to 3-1 on the mound, and Jurceka was credited with his third save of the season.
UE will return to action on Saturday with a doubleheader at Braun Stadium, which will begin at noon.
NOTES: This weekend marks the first-ever series between Florida Gulf Coast and Evansville … Eleven different Aces players have hit home runs this season, which is the most since 2001, when 13 players left the park … Trey Hair has actually hit five home runs this season, but his two-run blast at Indiana was wiped out due to the game being called in the bottom of the fifth … Friday marked the first 1-0 win for the Aces since a showdown with Missouri State on May 15, 2014 … UE has now logged three shutouts this year, tying the season total from last season … All three shutouts in 2015 were shortened due to the run rule … With 12 career saves, Brent Jurceka is just one shy of tying Jake Naumann for eighth in the Aces record books … UE is 2-0 against the Atlantic Sun this season … Since 1978, UE is 10-30 against teams that hail from the Sunshine State.
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