EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Starved for victory, the University of Evansville baseball team staged an inspired late inning rally and employed some clutch bullpen pitching to earn its first Missouri Valley Conference win, edging Valparaiso, in a 9-8 slugfest at Braun Stadium, Saturday afternoon.

"It's just great to get back in the win column", said University of Evansville head coach Wes Carroll. "Our guys played really hard today. They played for one another. If you look, no matter what was going to happen, we were going to handle whatever adversity came our way. I'm really proud of our effort."

The Crusaders got the jump on the Purple Aces early, taking a 3-0 lead in the opening two frames on starting pitcher Alex Weigand. However, UE would respond in kind in the bottom of the third. Sophomore designated hitter Troy Beilsmith would lead off the inning getting hit by a pitch. Next, sophomore center fielder Kenton Crews would draw a walk. Senior catcher Andrew Tanous would get plunked as well, loading up the bases with two outs. That brought junior left fielder Nate Reeder, who delivered a bases-clearing double, knotting the game up at three with one swing of the stick.

However, Valparaiso would keep swinging, as a 3-run home run by Sam Shaikin in the fourth inning off junior relief pitcher Austin Allinger and a 2-run blast by Zack Leone in the fifth frame off freshman hurler Austin Ruesch put the Aces in a 4-run hole.

With Evansville bullpen on the ropes, head coach Wes Carroll turned to senior set-up man Ryan Brady, who would allow one more tally in the fifth, then shut down the potent Crusader lineup for the next 3 2/3 innings. In all, Brady struck out three while allowing just one hit.

Trailing 8-3 in the sixth, the UE bats would begin digging out of that hole. It began with Nate Reeder, continuing his big day at the dish with a one-out triple to left-center. Next, sophomore shortstop Craig Shepherd drove in Reeder with an RBI single to left, cutting the deficit to four. Senior third baseman Stewart Nelson would follow suit with a single of his own. Then, with two outs, Troy Beilsmith would come up with a clutch two-run double, driving in both Shepherd and Nelson, whittling the Valparaiso lead down to 8-6.

In the seventh, the Evansville bats would keep up the heat. After a leadoff walk to Kenton Crews and a single by Andrew Tanous, Nate Reeder capped a 4-RBI day with a sacrifice bunt he beat out, allowing Crews to score from third, making it 8-7 Crusaders. Then, off the bench, freshman pinch hitter Pete Vaccaro came through with a two-out two-run double, giving the Aces their first lead of the game, 9-8.

"Offensively, we were able to scratch and claw our way, get into scoring position", said Carroll. "And then the big pinch hit at-bat by Pete Vaccaro really gave us the lift and the energy we needed."  

From there, Brady would pitch a scoreless seventh and eighth, then turn the ball over to freshman starting pitcher Jace Burke, pressed into relief duty. Burke would deliver, closing the game out in the ninth, earning his first collegiate save. Brady would get the win, moving to 2-3 on the season. Valparaiso's Jarrett Hamel would pick up the loss.

"Hopefully we can build off this", said Carroll. "You get guys to start buying into one another. Now we need to execute some of the styles of the game a little better. If we start playing good baseball, with that overall effort, great things can happen."

The Aces improve to 7-25 on the season and 1-7 in conference play. The Crusaders are now 13-20 and 3-5 in MVC action.

The series finale is set for Sunday afternoon back at Braun Stadium. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.

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