EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville baseball team used a four-run fourth inning to grab a lead and never looked back on Tuesday night, as the Purple Aces rolled past the visiting Austin Peay State Governors, 13-6, at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.
"Today was a wild weather game with the wind and all, but I thought that our guys did a great job of battling tonight," said UE head coach Wes Carroll. "I thought that Kevin Reed really gave us a chance tonight on the mound, and I felt like our bullpen did a great job of getting the ball from one guy to the next.
"Top-to-bottom in our order, I thought that we had a lot of great at-bats tonight, and it was just a really good, comfortable win on a mid-week, which we just haven't had lately, as everything has been a grind. Now, we have to keep that momentum going this weekend at Belmont."
On a night with constant 20-30 mile-per-hour wind gusts blowing out to right field, the visiting Governors took advantage of the conditions early to grab a 3-0 lead. APSU designated hitter Brody Szako launched a two-run home run to right field in the first inning, and a solo shot in the third to give the Governors a 3-0 lead.
Evansville would answer back with a run of its own in the bottom of the third inning, as junior outfielder Harrison Taubert tripled off the wall in right-center field before graduate outfielder Mark Shallenberger drove him in with an RBI single to left field. Then, after a run by Austin Peay in the fourth inning, Shallenberger tied the game at 4-4 with a three-run home run to right-center field in the home-half of the inning. UE would then take a lead it would never lose later in the frame on a run-scoring wild pitch.
Evansville would tack on three in the fifth inning, keyed by a two-run single by senior first baseman Kip Fougerousse. Graduate catcher Brendan Hord would then add a solo home run to right field in the sixth inning to build a 9-4 lead.
Evansville would add a run in the seventh inning on a run-scoring passed ball, before scoring three runs in the eighth inning to cap the scoring at 13-6.
Shallenberger went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and four RBI, while Hord went 2-for-4 with a home run, three runs scored and an RBI. Outfielder Clayton Gray went 3-for-4 with an RBI to lead Austin Peay.
Reed allowed four runs on six hits in 4.0 innings of work in a no-decision. The victory went to senior reliever Nick Smith (2-4), who struck out the side in a scoreless fifth inning.
With the victory, Evansville improves to 12-16 overall. Austin Peay, meanwhile, falls to 16-12 with the loss. Evansville will now hit the road for an important three-game Missouri Valley Conference series against Belmont beginning on Friday afternoon. First-pitch for the series is set for 4 p.m. The entire three-game series can be heard live in the Tri-State area on 107.1 FM-WJPS.
