EVANSVILLE - Powered by the long ball, Evansville captured a share of Friday's non-conference doubleheader with an 8-6 win over Southern Illinois in game two after falling 16-7 in game one at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.

"Proud of our club bouncing back after the first game," said Aces head baseball coach Wes Carroll. "Shane Gray was outstanding in game one, but when you give 14 free bases in the 7th through the 9th inning we get the result we deserve. In game two, the bounce back was about our offense getting out in front enough to hang on. I love the character we revealed in the second game."

Game One: SIU 16, Evansville 7

Shane Gray took the mound to start off the weekend series for the Aces and put on a strong performance for the Aces, but the Salukis struck for a pair of runs in the third and fourth inning to take a 2-0 lead.

The Aces answered back in a big way in the bottom of the fourth as Tanner Craig launched a three-run homer to center field that pushed Evansville in front, 3-2.

The two runs the Salukis scored off of Gray would be the only two they would get off of the sophomore as Gray pitched a clean fifth inning and exited the contest, allowing five hits and striking-out three.

In the sixth, Craig continued his monstrous day, bashing another home run again to center, lifting the Aces lead to 4-2.

SIU would turn the tables on Evansville in the seventh, scoring three runs and retaking the lead on an RBI walk and a two-run single. Evansville would respond with an answer as it was again a home run that put an Aces run on the board. Troy Beilsmith lined a shot down the left field line that clanged off the foul pole, tying the game at five in the seventh.

The see-saw battle continued in the eighth with an RBI base hit by the Salukis, answered with a home run by Danny Borgstrom as the game waltzed into the ninth tied at six.

The turning point in the contest game in the top of the ninth as SIU put 10 runs on the board to take a 16-6 lead, recording four hits in the inning and receiving five free bases. Three pitchers saw the mound for Evansville in the ninth with Kenton Crews making his UE debut on the hill, allowing a hit and recording a strikeout in a third of an inning of work.

Crews continued his efforts to fuel a comeback for Evansville at the plate in the ninth, driving in a run, but the Aces could draw no closer in the 16-7 loss.

Game Two: Evansville 8, SIU 6

The Aces flipped the script on SIU in game two as it was Evansville who found an early advantage. UE scored three times in the second with Brent Widder and Crews each scoring a run on doubles and Beilsmith pushing home Max Malley on an error.

Junior Caleb Reinhardt turned-in a strong performance for the Aces on the mound, allowing just three hits through four innings. In the fourth, one of the aforementioned Saluki hits was a solo shot with one out that trimmed Evansville's advantage to 3-1.

Ever a resilient bunch, the Aces responded in the bottom half of the fourth with four runs, including the second home runs of the day for Beilsmith and Borgstromg, as Evansville saw its lead swell to 7-1.

Another run came across for UE in the sixth, but the key moments unfolded in the top of the seventh. Trailing by seven runs, the Salukis again put together a late surge. In all, four runs scored for SIU in the sixth to cut Evansville's lead to just three at 8-5.

In the top of the seventh, SIU prolonged the outing with a solo homer with one out and brought the go-ahead run to the plate, but Eric Roberts got a strikeout looking to end the contest and earn Evansville the 8-6 win.

Evansville and SIU continued their four-game series with a single game at 1 PM on Saturday at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.
 

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