EVANSVILLE, Ind. –  The University of Evansville baseball team won in dramatic fashion once again on Friday night, walking off Southern Illinois 6-5 in the 10^th inning to begin the weekend. The walk-off was Evansville's third walk-off win in their last six games at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium.

The Aces were down to their final strike twice, the first time coming in the ninth inning. With the Aces trailing 4-3 with two outs, Reagan Reeder (Ramsey, Minn./Illinois) took a full count pitch and hammered it to center field, driving in the tying run to force extra innings. In the 10^th inning, the Aces once again were down to their final strike, trailing 5-4. Ryan Seddon (Joliet, Ill./St. Laurence) stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and hit a ground ball to third base, where it was bobbled and thrown up the line, allowing Reid Haire (Hudson, N.C./Charlotte) to score the winning run from second base.

Evansville starter Max Hansmann (Elmhurst, Ill./York) allowed four runs in his first two innings of work but settled in, getting through six innings with a gusty 118-pitch effort while matching a career-high with seven strikeouts. After three and a third innings from Owen Byberg (Barrie, Ontario/Frontier CC), Kellen Roberts (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) induced a double play with the bases loaded in the 10^th to escape the jam and earn the win.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Southern Illinois came out of the gates swinging, tallying four runs on seven hits over the first two innings of play to take a 4-0 lead.

Reeder got the Aces on the board in the third, launching a solo home run to left field. The home run marked his third consecutive game leaving the yard.

The Aces were not done in the inning, however, as Spike Magill (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) reached on a dropped third strike and Haire singled before a double steal put runners on second and third. Longmeier cashed in with an infield single, driving in Magill, before Drew McConnell (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs) dropped a single into the left field to make it a 4-3 game and extend his hitting streak to nine games.

Hansmann settled into a groove in the fourth, using a double play to face the minimum before capping a 1-2-3 fifth inning with a strikeout. The right-hander completed his day in the sixth, stranding a pair of base runners with a strikeout to keep it a one-run game.

Byberg took over in the seventh and found himself in a jam, with Salukis at second and third with nobody out. However, he found a way to escape, keeping the score at 4-3.

After two more scoreless innings from Byberg, the Aces went to the bottom of the ninth looking to extend the game. McConnell started the inning with a single up the middle, but a fielder's choice and a flyout brought the Aces to their final out. Reeder stepped in and worked the count full before taking a slider to center field at 107 mph, tying the game at four.

SIU scored their first run since the second inning in the top of the 10^th, taking advantage of two walks, an HBP, and an error to plate a run. However, Roberts entered with the bases loaded and escaped the jam, as a lineout to second caught the Saluki baserunner too far off the bag for a double play.

Looking for another rally in the bottom of the 10th, Magill did what he does best and found a way on base, wearing his 16^th HBP of the season to put the leadoff runner on. Haire walked in the next at-bat to put two on with nobody out, but a strikeout and a groundout to the catcher put runners on second and third with two outs. In stepped Seddon, who grounded a two-strike pitch to third. With Seddon hustling down the line, the Saluki third baseman bobbled the ball and threw the ball up the line and past the first baseman, allowing Haire to score from second as the Aces took a 6-5 win.

UP NEXT
Evansville and Southern Illinois meet again tomorrow for game two of the series. First pitch is set for 2 PM.