EVANSVILLE, Ind. – In the program's first game across town in the spring in almost 40 years, the University of Evansville baseball team fell to the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles 7-5 on Wednesday night.

An explosive sixth inning on offense wasn't enough to give the Purple Aces a win against their crosstown rivals. UE scored all five of its runs on Wednesday in the top of the sixth on four hits. Senior center fielder Ty Rumsey (Evansville, Ind. / North HS) was the only Evansville batter with multiple hits, putting two into play in five at-bats.

The Aces picked up a hit in the first inning from Rumsey's lead-off AB. But Rumsey was picked off in the next at-bat as UE went down in order to start Wednesday's game. Southern Indiana took the lead early with a run in the first inning on a hit from their designated hitter after their second hitter was walked.

Evansville was able to take down the Eagles in order the next inning with the defenses' 31^st double play of the season. Over the next two innings the Aces added a walk each time but left the runners stranded while USI added a second run in the bottom of the third. Southern Indiana increased its lead to 4-0 after four innings and kept it there for another full inning.

But UE's offense exploded in the top of the sixth inning as ninth hole hitter Mason McCue (Bourbonnais, Ill. / Bishop McNamara HS) led off the inning with a walk. Evansville's next two hitters reached base to give third baseman Cal McGinnis (Kimberly, Wis. / Bradley) a bases loaded situation. McGinnis put a sacrifice fly out into centerfield, scoring McCue for the Aces first run of the game.

Right fielder Harrison Taubert (Casper, Wyo. / Northeast CC) had UE's second double of the inning down the right field line to make it a 4-3 game for Evansville in the next at-bat. The Aces added two more multi-base hits in the top of the sixth as third baseman Jake McGhee (Fenton, Mo. / Christian Brothers Academy) had his first triple of 2025 to tie the game. Designated hitter Matt Flaherty (Lake Zurich, Ill. / Bellarmine) then followed up the triple with his eighth double of the season to give UE a 5-4 lead.

Evansville held the lead for an inning until USI got back on top with two runs in the bottom of the seventh with a hit, an error, and four free bases. The Aces went down in order to start the eighth as it remained a 6-5 game in favor of the Eagles. The bottom of the eighth began with a hit for Southern Indiana that turned into a run on a dropped third strike to make it a 7-5 game.

The game then went into a 30-minute weather delay for lighting with one out on the board in the bottom of the eighth. UE's defense quickly went to work after the delay, getting its second double play of the night. But Evansville's offense couldn't find a spark in the final inning as back-to-back fielders choices following a hit from shortstop Drew McConnell (Blue Springs, Mo. / Blue Springs HS) gave USI a 7-5 victory.

The Aces hit the road for the final weekend this season to take on the Southern Illinois Salukis. UE will play a three-game series at Itchy Jones Stadium in Carbondale starting on Friday, May 9 at 6 p.m.