EVANSVILLE – The University of Evansville baseball team will close out a five-game non-conference swing this week as the team will take on Murray State on both Tuesday and Wednesday evening before returning to Missouri Valley play this weekend against Missouri State.
The two-game set marks the only midweek series for the Aces (13-25) this season, and it will begin with a trip to Brooks Stadium in Paducah, Ky., for the opener before the series will close on Wednesday at Charles H. Braun Stadium. Both contests are set to begin at 6 p.m.
The Aces will be looking to put a halt to their current three-game losing streak, which continued Sunday with a pair of tight contests against Northern Illinois at Braun Stadium. After sweeping past Illinois State earlier this month on the heels of some great pitching and clutch hitting, the bats went quiet in the two games against the Huskies as the team was outscored 6-2.
The Aces will enter the series with just one player boasting of a batting average better than .300 as Craig Shepherd leads the team with a .305 mark and 15 scores to go along with 10 RBI. Trey Hair, who saw a 14-game hitting streak snapped on Sunday, is now hitting .295 with team-best marks in doubles (15), homers (6), runs (26) and RBI (27). Andrew Tanous and Travis Tokarek have also helped carry the load in the heart of the line-up with .299 and .283 averages, respectively, to go along with a combined 43 runs and 44 RBI.
On the mound, Justin Hayden, normally a Sunday option for the Aces, will get the nod after the cancelation of game three in the NIU series. He's coming off a scoreless seven-inning performance at Illinois State. The junior right-hander is a native of Mayfield, Ky., and he currently owns a 3-5 record with a 6.20 earned run average. Alex Weigand (2-3, 5.81 ERA) is in line to start on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Murray State enters the week looking to build on a series victory over Southeast Missouri over the weekend. After winning in extras on Friday, the Racers dropped a 4-3 decision before hammering the Redhawks for an 11-1 win in the rubber game.
The Racers are 18-21 on the season.
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