EVANSVILLE – Korbin Williams continued his impressive sophomore campaign on Wednesday evening, hitting his fourth home run in as many games to lead the University of Evansville baseball team to a 6-2 victory over visiting Western Kentucky at Charles H. Braun Stadium.
The sixth inning solo shot solidified UE's lead in the contest and it was a fitting cap for the Castle High School product's performance over the course of the four-game Aces home stand. Williams left the park in three of the four contests, hitting .357 while knocking in six scores.
"Korbin is playing with a lot of confidence right now," UE head coach Wes Carroll said. "It was great to see him run into another one tonight. He's an explosive bat in the line-up for us, and we're going to need him this weekend and down the stretch."
The homer was the 38
th of the season for the Aces (21-14), a total that ranks as the highest single-season mark for a UE squad since 2010.
UE drew first blood in the contest with singles from Jeff Christen, Stewart Nelson and Eric McKibban scratching across a score in the third inning, and the Aces would go on to add two more an inning later as back-to-back extra-base hits from Boomer Synek and Williams doubled the advantage. Matt Jones tacked on another with a two-out single up the middle.
However, the Hilltoppers (19-18) answered back in the ensuing frame, pushing two runs across on Harrison Scanlon and Leiff Clarkson singles to make it 3-2.
Austin Allinger, who was given the starting nod in the contest, tossed just 2.2 innings before ceding the mound to the bullpen, and Blake Swanger was ultimately credited with his first career victory after allowing two hits over 1.1 frames. Brian Jestice was allowed both WKU scores, ending a streak of 26.2 consecutive innings for UE relievers without giving up an earned run.
"We were ready to play from the first pitch tonight, and our pitching staff did an outstanding job again for us," Carroll said. "We wanted to short start Austin tonight so that we would have every option available going into this weekend. Our bullpen been throwing great, and we knew they'd give us a chance today."
WKU's Logan Weins picked up the loss to drop to 2-3 on the year.
Following Williams' sixth inning blast, Trey Hair tripled home a run in the seventh and later scored on a throwing error to account for the game's final score.
The Aces will return to action this weekend as the team sets out for the first road Missouri Valley Conference series of the season when they pay a visit to Missouri State.
NOTES: Forrest Herrmann was the last UE reliever to surrender an earned run prior to Wednesday … He gave up a pair of scores to Florida Gulf Coast on April 2 … Brandon Gomer was the last reliever to allow a run overall, allowing an unearned score at WKU on April 5 … With 16 career saves, Brent Jurceka is now just one away from moving up to third all-time in the Aces history books ... If it weren't for teammate Jonathan Ramon's nine homers, Korbin Williams' total of eight would be the most for a UE player since current Aces assistant Cody Fick hit nine in 2011 … Wednesday marked the 46
th meeting between UE and WKU since 1978 … The Aces are 21-23-1 versus the Hilltoppers over that timespan … Last season, UE took home two victories in a three-game set that was played in Emerson, Ga. … UE and WKU have played in four of the last five seasons … Since 1978, the Aces are 114-86-2 against teams that hail from the state of Kentucky.
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