EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The University of Evansville baseball team makes the trip to Carbondale this weekend to face arch-rival Southern Illinois, beginning Friday night with a new start time of 5 p.m. at Itchy Jones Stadium.
 

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Weekend Schedule
Friday - UE at SIU - 5 p.m. - The Valley on ESPN - Listen Live - Live Stats
Saturday - UE at SIU - 4 p.m. - Listen Live - Live Stats
Sunday - UE at SIU - 1 p.m. -  Listen Live - Live Stats
Weekend Notes

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SETTING THE SCENE:  • The Aces (21-19, 8-4) are coming off their seventh winning weekend of the season, taking two of three from Valparaiso, moving them just one game out of first place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with a record of 8-4.

The Aces' were forced to cancel there non-conference match-up with Belmont Wedneday at Evansville's Charles H.S Braun Stadium.

THE OPPOSITION:  • Southern Illinois (18-22, 1-11) halted a ten game losing streak in shocking fashion, slamming Illinois 12-3 in a midweek matchup Tuesday night at home. The Salukis went onto pound Murray State 8-3, at Itchy Jones Stadium Wednesday night. 

THE STARTING ROTATION:  •  The Aces will open the weekend with junior right-hander Adam Lukas (5-3, 4.40 ERA) taking the hill for UE. In his last start, the highly-touted ace allowed just one run on one hit, while striking out six at Valparaiso last Friday. However, Lukas didn't get the decision in Evansville's 8-1 win. Southern illinois will counter with junior RHP Mason Hiser (3-3, 5.15 ERA).

On Saturday, the Aces will send out junior left-hander Nathan Croner (5-5, 3.94 ERA) to face the Salukis. Last time out, Croner pitched four innings against Valparaiso, allowing six runs on eight hits, while striking three, as Evansville fell 6-2. SIU has not named a starter.

On Sunday, the Aces will once again turn to senior right-hander Justin Hayden (2-1, 4.33 ERA) for his sixth start of the season. Last time out, Hayden recovered from a rocky first inning to pitch 6.2 strong innings, allowing just one run on seven hits, while striking out a pair in Evansville's 4-2 victory over Valparaiso. The Salukis have not named a starter.


ALL-TIME SERIES:  • Southern Illinois holds a 107-64 lead in an all-time set that goes back to 1947. SIU took a 2-1 series last year at Evansville. 

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