TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The University of Evansville baseball team took the series finale at Indiana State in dramatic fashion on Sunday afternoon, taking the lead in the top of the ninth inning before holding on in the bottom half to take a 4-3 win.
Kenton Deverman (Dardenne Prairie, Mo./Fort Zumwalt West) got the start on the mound and was excellent, limiting the Sycamores to two runs across six innings of work. Owen Byberg (Barrie, Ontario/Frontier CC) got the win in relief working two scoreless frames, while Chris McCormack (Naperville, Ill./Iowa Central CC) got the save by stranding runners on first and third with two outs in the ninth inning.
Spike Magill (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) had two hits to lead the Aces offensively, while Drew McConnell (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs) and Benji Kautto (Toronto, Ontario/W. Technical Commercial) picked up RBIs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Indiana State scored first in the bottom of the third, using a home run to take a 1-0 lead. Evansville responded in the top of the fourth, taking advantage of an error and a wild pitch to plate two and take the lead.
Deverman kept the Aces in the lead in the middle innings, striking out two in a 1-2-3 fourth inning before stranding a runner in the fifth. Indiana State used a 2-out double to tie things up at two in the sixth, but Deverman stranded runners at second and third ot get out of the inning.
Byberg took over in the seventh and stranded a pair before stranding the bases loaded in the eighth to keep the game tied.
In the top of the ninth, the Aces took advantage of two Sycamore errors to take the lead before Kautto delivered a clutch hit with two outs to give the Aces a 2-run advantage.
Indiana State came storming back in the bottom of the ninth, plating a run on an RBI double and putting runners on first and third with nobody out. However, McCormack came up big, striking out two before getting a lineout to second base to end the game and clinch a 4-3 win.
UP NEXT
Evansville returns home next week, taking on SIUE on Tuesday before hosting UIC for a crucial MVC series. First pitch for Tuesday's midweek contest is set for 6 p.m.
