EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville baseball team will try to slow down one of the nation's hottest teams this weekend at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium, as the Purple Aces will welcome nationally-ranked Indiana State to Evansville for a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series beginning on Friday night at 6 p.m.
Indiana State will enter this weekend's series riding the nation's longest active winning streak at 14 games. The Sycamores are 26-12 overall and 14-1 in the MVC and rank as high as #14 in the various collegiate baseball polls, as they are ranked No. 14 in the Collegiate Baseball poll. It will mark the first time in which UE has hosted a nationally-ranked team since 2015, when UE hosted both nationally-ranked Dallas Baptist and Missouri State. Playing a nationally-ranked team is nothing new to UE though, as Evansville narrowly lost a 2-1 decision in 17 innings at nationally-ranked Vanderbilt earlier this year, and the Purple Aces have played a nationally-ranked team every year since 2012.
Evansville will bring a 24-16 overall record and 8-7 MVC mark into this weekend's series after knocking off Lipscomb, 9-3, on Tuesday night. The Purple Aces have won four out of five games overall, and junior second baseman Kip Fougerousse has helped lead the charge of late, as he will bring a season-best nine-game hitting streak into the weekend series. Fougerousse has hit .467 (14-for-30) with three home runs and 13 RBI during his nine-game hitting streak, as he has raised his batting average to .291 overall. Graduate outfielder/RHP Eric Roberts also launched his 15th home run of the year on Tuesday night, and continues to lead the MVC in both home runs and RBI (43).
Redshirt senior outfielder Seth Gergely leads a potent Indiana State attack this year with a .346 average. Gergely is the current MVC Player of the Week after hitting .727 in three ISU wins last week, including a 10-2 triumph at Vanderbilt. Fellow redshirt senior pitcher Connor Fenlong is the Valley's Pitcher of the Week this week after tossing a complete-game, one-hit shutout over Southern Illinois on Sunday.
The Evansville-Indiana State rivalry is one of the oldest active series in UE baseball history, as it dates back to 1911 when Evansville was still known as Moores Hill College. Since UE entered the MVC in 1995, ISU holds a slim 52-50 edge in the all-time series over UE. The Purple Aces won three out of four meetings with Indiana State last year, including a convincing 9-1 win in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
