TROY, Ala.—A furious late-inning rally came up one-run short on Sunday for the University of Evansville baseball team, as the Purple Aces dropped the series finale at Troy by an 11-10 score at Riddle-Pace Field in Troy, Alabama.
"I thought that it was a great effort fighting back from our offense today," said UE head coach Wes Carroll. "We just didn't pitch well enough at times to secure a win against a talented Troy team. We just have to bounce back Tuesday at UK."
Troy jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning on a solo home run by third baseman Caleb Bartolero. UE would respond in the third inning with a pair of runs on an RBI single by junior second baseman Kip Fougerousse and an RBI fielder's choice by senior third baseman Brent Widder to take a 2-1 lead.
The lead would not last long, though, as Troy exploded for two runs each in the third, fifth, and sixth innings, and three more in the fourth to build a 10-2 lead. UE would then take advantage of an inning-opening error in the eighth inning to claw back into the contest.
A Widder sacrifice fly opened the scoring in the eighth inning before the UE offense exploded five two-out runs. Fifth-year outfielder Danny Borgstrom scored junior shortstop Simon Scherry with a triple to left-center field to begin the onslaught. Junior catcher Brendan Hord then followed with an RBI double before fifth-year designated hitter Eric Roberts hit a long two-run home run to right field to cut the deficit to 10-7.
Sophomore outfielder Ty Rumsey would then reach on a wild pitch, advance to scoring position on another wild pitch, and score on an RBI single by Fougerousse. UE would eventually load the bases in the eighth inning, but could not score again as the Troy lead stood at 10-8. Troy then got a key solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to push the lead to 11-8.
In the ninth, Evansville would rally one final time. The first three UE batters reached base, before Roberts delivered an RBI ground out to cut the Troy lead to 11-9. Pinch-hitter Ben Stuart then delivered a sacrifice fly to center field to cut the deficit to 11-10 and put the game-tying run at third base. Troy closer Noah Manning was able to get Fougerousse to ground out to second base though to end the rally and the contest.
Fougerousse and Scherry both had three hits to lead UE offensively, with Fougerousse driving in two runs, and Scherry scoring a pair of runs. Rumsey also had a two-hit game, and Roberts drove in three.
Bartolero went 3-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored and two RBI to lead Troy. Four additional Trojan hitters had two-hit games as well.
Evansville (0-3) will continue on its season-opening four-game road trip on Tuesday, as the Purple Aces will travel to Lexington, Kentucky to take on the Kentucky Wildcats. First-pitch is set for 3 p.m. central time and Tuesday's game can be seen live on the SEC Network Plus.
