EVANSVILLE – Forrest Herrmann enjoyed a career outing for the University of Evansville baseball team on Tuesday night as the senior hurler pitched the Aces to a 5-1 victory over visiting Murray State at Charles H. Braun Stadium.
"It was all about Forrest Herrmann tonight," UE head coach Wes Carroll said. "I'm really proud of the effort he gave. As a team, we can play better than we did tonight, but Forrest came in and he was absolutely outstanding. That's one of the best outings that we've had from a reliever all season. He stepped up when we needed it and put on a magnificent performance."
Herrmann, who came on in relief for starter Austin Allinger, allowed just one hit over the final 5.1 frames, striking out five in the process. Both totals were career highs for the southpaw out of Ballwin, Mo., as he picked up his first decision of the season.
"I was feeling pretty good out there and I was locked in every pitch and trying to give it everything I had," Herrmann said. "I've been working on my breaking ball a lot, and I think it was working well for me tonight. As a team and a pitching staff, we try to feed off each other, and hopefully we were able to set the tone for the rest of the week."
The Aces (25-17) pushed across four runs in the opening three innings, beginning with an errant throw from MSU catcher Kipp Moore in the first. The error resulted in a score for Stewart Nelson, but Racers starter Jack Hranec (3-4) was able to work out of the jam, stranding runners on the corners to hold the deficit to one.
A Ramsey Scott single tied up the game in the top of the third for MSU (22-24), but the deadlock was short-lived as the Aces responded with three more in the bottom half of the frame. Boomer Synek and Jonathan Ramon combined to plate three runs as the duo punctuated a streak of five consecutive singles to open the frame and chase Hranec from the mound.
Josh Jyawook, who also singled in that decisive third inning, led UE on the night with a 3-for-4 showing at the plate, and both Nelson and Korbin Williams enjoyed two-hit outings as the Aces out-hit MSU 12-6.
Allinger, who struck out six hitters on the night, would step off the mound in the top of the fourth, and that would represent the last scoring chance for the visitors from Kentucky as Herrmann allowed just two baserunners to close out the game.
Shain Showers singled home a run on the other side of the seventh inning stretch to account for the game's final score.
UE will be back in action on Wednesday evening as the Aces are set to welcome Belmont to Braun Stadium. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m.
NOTES: Tuesday marked the 40
th meeting between Murray State and UE … Austin Allinger started both games against MSU this season … In the eight seasons under Wes Carroll, the Aces are 12-3 against the Racers … MSU is one of UE's oldest rivals, with the first meeting taking place during the 1925 season … Since 1978, the Aces are 2-8 against Belmont and 29-10 versus Murray State … In games against Tennessee and Kentucky schools, UE is 104-89-3 and 114-86-2, respectively … UE is 7-2 this season against Ohio Valley Conference schools.
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