EVANSVILLE, Ind. - For five innings, the sun shined on the University of Evansville baseball team, however the weather and the game turned quickly from there, as Missouri State took a wild 10-9 decision at Charles H. Braun Stadium Saturday afternoon.
After falling behind 1-0 early, the Aces responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning. First, sophomore first baseman Tanner Craig sent a double to right, driving in senior left fielder Matthew Jones. Then freshman designated hitter A.J. Fritz came up with a clutch two-out single to left-center, giving Evansville the lead, 2-1. The Aces would continue to add to their pad in the fourth, as Fritz would drive in senior third baseman Sam Troyer on a sacrifice fly to center, making it 3-1 UE.
The fifth inning would see the Aces offense erupt for five runs, beginning with a bases-loaded passed ball, allowing senior center fielder Troy Beilsmith to race home to make it 4-1 Evansville. Later in the inning, freshman second baseman Danny Borgstrom drilled a bases-loaded bases-clearing three-run triple to the corner in right, as the Aces lead ballooned to 7-1. A.J. Fritz would cap the five-run frame with an RBI double to the gap in right-center, scoring Borgtrom, making it 8-1 Evansville.
Meanwhile, senior right-hander Justin Hayden powered through the Bears lineup in the early frames, giving up just one run while striking out five through the first five innings. However, in the sixth, Missouri State gets to Hayden, tagging him for a two-out RBI single, which would end his day.
Freshman left-hander Michael Parks would come in to put the fire out, but the Bears kept swinging, put two more on the scoreboard, cutting the UE lead to 8-4.
Evansville would get one back in the bottom of the inning, as senior right fielder Nate Reeder drilled his fifth home run of the season over the fence in right, re-building the UE lead back up to five.
However, that would be the last offensive salvo the Aces would fire, and as the drizzle turned to showers, and the winds picked up, Missouri State began to storm. Taking advantage of a pair of Evansville errors, the Bears put four runs up in the seventh, drawing to within one. Then, MSU would knot it up in the eight inning.
Finally in the top of the ninth, Brooks Zimmerman tagged Evansville freshman reliever Garrett Presko for a solo home run to right, which proved to be the game-winner.
The loss drops the Aces to 22-24 overall and 9-8 in Missouri Valley Conference play, while Missouri State improves to 16-33 overal and 7-10 in league play.
The series wraps up tomorrow with Senior Day at Braun Stadium. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
