EVANSVILLE, Ind. –  The University of Evansville baseball team picked up their second walk-off win in the last four games on Tuesday night, as freshman Tate Deal (Arvada, Colo./Arvada West) delivered a pinch-hit single in the 11^th inning to defeat the Indiana Hoosiers, 5-4, in front of the largest regular season crowd in German American Bank Field history.

Facing a 4-0 deficit after four innings, the Aces scored one run in the fifth before scoring three times on three doubles in the seventh to tie the game at 4. The game remained deadlocked until the 11^th, when Deal delivered the game-winning hit.

The Aces' bullpen was excellent in the win, shutting out the Hoosiers over the final seven innings to allow the offense to mount a comeback. Chris McCormack (Naperville, Ill./Iowa Central CC) picked up the win with two scoreless innings in relief, while Jackson Yarberry got the loss for Indiana.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Indiana jumped on top early, using a 2-run home run to take a lead in the first inning.

Parker MacCauley (Paducah, Ky./Tennessee Tech) provided a zero in the top of the second before Conner Vander Luitgaren (Bargersville, Ind./Center Grove) provided a scoreless frame in the third. However, Indiana added to their lead in the fourth, using an RBI single and a double to make it 4-0.
Jack Willhite (Georgetown, Ky./Scott County) took over on the mound in the fifth and kept the score at 4-0 before Evansville cut into the deficit in the home half of the inning, with Spike Magill (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) driving in a run with a two-out single.

Willhite put up another scoreless inning in the sixth before giving way to RJ James in the seventh (Toronto, Ontario/Sir John A MacDonald), who struck out two while putting up a zero.

Evansville mounted a rally in the bottom of the seventh, starting with a leadoff HBP by Magill. Following a fielder's choice, Reid Haire (Hudson, N.C./Charlotte) drilled a ground rule double to left center field to put runners on second and third. In the next at-bat, Drew McConnell (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs) delivered a ground rule double of his own to left center, driving in both runners to make it 4-3. After a strikeout, Ryan Seddon (Joliet, Ill./St. Laurence) provided an at-bat for the ages, fouling off seven pitches before lofting a double to shallow right center on the 12^th pitch of the at-bat to drive in McConnell.

With the game now tied at four, Kellen Roberts (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) emerged from the bullpen and struck out two, including a 97 MPH fastball on the outside corner to end the inning. Roberts was excellent again in the ninth, stranding a runner at second to keep the game tied.
Looking to walk it off, the Aces put two men on in the ninth, but were unable to score as the game went to extra innings.

Indiana looked like they might break through in the 10^th, loading the bases with one out. However, McCormack induced a soft line drive up the middle, where Simon Schulz (Evansville, Ind./Memorial) scooped the ball up on a hop, stepped on second base, and fired to first to beat the Hoosier baserunner by a step and complete the double play.

In the 11^th, McCormack posted another zero, striking out two, to give the Aces another chance to walk it off.

With the top of the order up for the Aces, Magill began the inning with an HBP before Haire drilled a single up the middle to put two on with one out. After a fielder's choice advanced Magill to third, Deal stepped up to the plate to pinch hit. In only his seventh plate appearance of the season, Deal ripped a ground ball up the middle and into center field to drive in Magill and win it for the Aces.

UP NEXT
Evansville hits the road this week to take on Bradley in Peoria for a three-game set.