EVANSVILLE – Seniors accounted for four of UE's five hits on Sunday as the University of Evansville ended a six-game skid with a 4-3 victory over visiting Southern Illinois at Charles H. Braun Stadium.
"This was a big win for us, and we really needed this one too," said Shain Showers, who was one of eight seniors honored prior to the contest. "It's a great feeling, and hopefully it will ignite something in the team. Maybe we can get some momentum going as we head into Indiana State next week and the conference tournament the following week."
The win, which saw UE move to 26-23 on the season and 8-10 in Missouri Valley play, was the first for UE since a 5-1 decision over Murray State on May 3. Meanwhile, the Salukis dropped to 30-20-1 overall with an 11-7 league mark.
After each team was held scoreless over the opening two frames, the Aces got on the board with a pair of scores in the third. Nate Reeder started things off with a leadoff walk, and after stealing second, a Showers single and SIU error allowed him to touch home to draw first blood. Boomer Synek followed up with a single in the ensuing at-bat to double the advantage.
Reeder also led off the fifth with his first career home run to make it 3-0. The freshman out of Shawnee, Kan., is the 13
th different Ace this season to leave the park, which matches the total of the 2001 UE squad. Every Aces hitter this season has now registered at least one home run.
Eric McKibban capped a 14-pitch at-bat with a single an inning later, and he would later score on a wild pitch as UE extended its lead to 4-0.
Singles from Will Farmer and Dyllin Mucha cut the deficit in half for SIU in the seventh, and they would score another unearned run in the eighth before Ryan Brady ended the game with a strikeout in the ninth to record his third save of the season.
Austin Allinger tossed four scoreless frames to open the game for the Aces, and Brent Jurceka became the first UE pitcher to pick up six victories this season after giving up two runs (one earned) over 2.1 innings.
UE will return to action on Thursday as Aces are set to close out the regular season with a three-game set at Indiana State.
NOTES: UE has homered 47 times this season, which is the most since leaving the park 53 times in 2010 … This weekend marked the 123
rd, 124
th and 125
th meetings between SIU and UE since the Aces started playing at the Division I level in 1978 … In those games, UE is 59-66 … The Aces have taken home 2-1 series victories over the Salukis in each of the past three seasons … The first meeting between the two sides came with a 7-4 SIU win back in 1947, and UE wouldn't log its first win in the series until a 9-3 decision in 1956 … Since 1978, UE is 247-219 against Illinois schools, which includes a 8-6 mark this season.
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