Baseball Aces look to get back on track at home against Bradley this weekend

4/12/2018 2:32:00 PM

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The University of Evansville baseball team will look to turn their fortunes around on the diamond this weekend, as they play host to their first home Missouri Valley Conference series, against Bradley, beginning Friday night.
.

The Purple Aces (6-20) are coming off a tough weekend sweep at the hands of Missouri State, which was followed by an 8-3 setback against Murray State in a non-conference midweek match-up this past Tuesday night.

Bradley (17-9) comes into Evansville on the heels of midweek out-of-conference loss to Saint Louis Wednesday night. However, the Braves have taken back-to-back MVC series wins over both Valparaiso and Indiana State to open the league schedule.

Friday night's starter, sophomore Adam Lukas, after missing last week's series against Missouri State, makes his return on Friday. The right hander has been impressive since moving from the bullpen earlier this season, making a pair of starts for the Purple Aces. Against Iowa, Lukas went five innings, striking out six, while alowing one run on four hits. In his second start, Lukas was even better, striking out seven Creighton batters, while allowing a single run on four hits across six frames. Both performances were non-decisions.

On Saturday, Alex Weigand takes the hill for the Aces. The junior left hander was impressive in his four inning start against Creighton, going four innings, allowing just one run on two hits, while striking out a pair in a non-decision. Weigand ran into trouble early and often at Missouri State last Friday, allowing four runs on six hits in 3 1/3 innings of work. This past Tuesday, Weigand had a short mid-week start against Murray State, going three frames, allowing one run on two hits.

Sunday's starter, freshman RHP Jace Burke is coming off his longest stint of his collegiate career, going 4 2/3 innings, racking up a career-high eight strikeouts. However, he did give up six runs, five earned on seven hits, while dropping to 0-3 on the season.

First pitch for game one on Friday night is at 6 p.m. at Braun Stadium. All three games are available to watch via online streaming on ESPN's newest online streaming channel, ESPN + (available for a $4.99 monthly fee). Click on "Watch Live" links above.

INFO: For all of the latest information on University of Evansville baseball, log on to the sport page on GoPurpleAces.com or follow the program on Twitter via @UEAthleticsBASE.
- DONATE: For information on giving to UE Athletics or its individual athletics programs, visit the DONATE tab on the top of GoPurpleAces.com.
- TICKETS: To purchase tickets for University of Evansville athletics events, log on to GoPurpleAces.com and click on the TICKETS tab on top of the page

Print Friendly Version