EVANSVILLE – After wrapping up the regular season this past weekend, the University of Evansville baseball team will be aiming for postseason glory this week as the Purple Aces are set to open play at the Missouri Valley Conference Championship on Wednesday at Bob Warn Field in Terre Haute.
The Aces (27-25, 9-12 MVC) will be looking to make a return to the form that saw them grab second place in the conference standings midway through the season, but recent weeks haven't been as kind as UE has dropped four consecutive league series heading into this week's tournament.
UE, which finished fifth in the league standings, will start the tournament off at 9 a.m. Eastern against fourth-seeded Southern Illinois (30-23-1, 11-10). Regular season champion Dallas Baptist ( 37-17, 15-5) and eighth-seeded Illinois State (17-35, 7-13) round out the rest of the bracket for the Aces, and the four teams will play a double-elimination tournament to send a team to Saturday's conference championship game.
In the other bracket, Indiana State (34-19, 13-8), Bradley (27-19, 11-9), Wichita State (21-35, 9-12) and Missouri State (34-19, 7-13) earned the second, third, sixth and seventh seeds, respectively.
If the Aces are to be successful this week, chances are the line-up will play a big role. Led by the contributions of all-conference first-teamers Josh Jyawook and Boomer Synek, UE will be hoping to channel the high-scoring offense that was on full display earlier this season. Synek, who led the conference with a .383 batting average in league games, leads the team with a .343 average overall with 13 doubles and five homers. Trey Hair, an All-MVC Second Team honoree, and Jyawook own .335 and .305 averages with a combined 71 scores and 73 runs batted in, and Korbin Williams owns the team lead in round-trippers with 10.
Meanwhile, Patrick Schnieders (4-5) will get the nod in Wednesday's showdown with Southern Illinois. The junior has tossed a team-best 78 innings this season with a 4.38 earned run average. Alex Weigand (3-4), who starred earlier in conference play by helping the Aces to three straight rubber game victories, is in line to start on Thursday.
UE will also demand a lot of its bullpen, which has shined at times throughout the season. Brent Jurceka leads the way with six victories on the year, and Ryan Brady has taken over the closing role with a team-best 1.91 earned run average.
First pitch at Bob Warn Field is slated for 9 a.m. Eastern, and Thursday's contest will be played at either 9 a.m. or 4 p.m.
NOTES: UE has homered 47 times this season, which is the most since leaving the park 53 times in 2010 … Korbin Williams and Jonathan Ramon, who is out for the season with an injury, are the first Aces to record double-digit homers this season since the NCAA changed its bat standards prior to the 2011 season … The Aces are 23-33 all-time in the Missouri Valley Tournament … The last postseason win for the Aces was in 2013 … UE's lone conference tournament trophy was lifted in 2006.
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