TERRE HAUTE, Ind. –  The University of Evansville baseball team dropped their first MVC series of the season on Saturday afternoon, falling to Indiana State by a score of 8-5.  
 
Evansville took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second, but a 6-run fourth inning helped the Sycamores take control of the game.

Kevin Reed (Martinsville, Ind./Martinsville) was excellent in relief for Evansville, working five innings of one-run ball, limiting the Sycamores to three hits without a walk. Reagan Reeder (Ramsey, Minn./Illinois) led the Aces offensively with a home run.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Evansville started the scoring in the top of the second, starting with a leadoff home run to center field by Reeder, his eighth of the year. With two outs in the inning, Evansville put two on with a pair of walks for Reid Haire (Hudson, N.C./Charlotte). Haire drove a ball out to the warning track in right center, where it was dropped by the Sycamores right fielder to give the Aces a 3-2 lead.
 
Indiana State got a pair of runs back in the second, using a 2-run home run to make it a 1-run game. Evansville starter Tanner Graham (Rocheport, Mo./Hickman) bounced back in the third, stranding two base runners to keep the Aces in front.
 
Indiana State erupted for a huge inning in the fourth, scoring six runs on seven hits to take an 8-3 lead.
 
Reed would keep the Aces in the game in the middle innings, retiring 12 in a row to put up four consecutive scoreless frames.
 
Evansville chipped away at the deficit, with Charlie Longmeier (Seymour, Ind./Seymour) driving in a run in the seventh with a double. In the ninth inning, Evansville cut the deficit to three on an RBI base hit by Drew McConnell (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs), but the Sycamores would put an end to the rally to secure an 8-5 win.
 
UP NEXT
Evansville and Indiana State will wrap up the series tomorrow afternoon for game three. First pitch from Terre Haute is set for 12 p.m. CT.