EVANSVILLE, Ind.—Freshman Zach Taylor and junior J.R. Carbonell combined on a seven-hit shutout Wednesday night, as the University of Evansville baseball team cruised past the visiting Oakland City University Mighty Oaks, 5-0, at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.

 

Taylor (2-3) equaled his career-high with eight strikeouts in eight solid innings of work to pick up the victory, while Carbonell struck out the side in the ninth inning around a one-out single to help the Purple Aces pick up the victory. The UE offense would back the pair of right-handers with five runs on nine base hits, including the third home run of the year by junior first baseman Derek Melton.

 

“Tonight was another good step in the growing process for Zach Taylor on the mound,” said UE head coach David Seifert. “He ran into some trouble in the first inning, but was able to battle through it and get out of the inning. He then settled in quite nicely on the mound.

 

“Zach is a guy who is getting more and more confidence on the mound each and every time he steps onto the field. He is really developing into a very dependable part of our pitching staff, which is great to see out of a true freshman.”

 

Evansville gave Taylor and Carbonell all of the run support they would need in the second inning, as sophomore outfielder Alex Acheson delivered a two-out RBI single through the hole on the left side of the Oakland City infield to plate Brian Robinson with the first run of the game.

 

UE would add another run in the fourth inning on an RBI single up the middle by sophomore outfielder Jared Baehl to push the lead to 2-0. Evansville would tack on two more runs on a two-run single up the middle by freshman second baseman Shawn Kuester in the seventh inning, before Melton capped UE’s scoring with a towering solo home run to dead center field to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning.

 

Melton paced Evansville offensively by going 2-for-4 with a double, a home run, two runs scored, and an RBI to extend his hitting streak to six games. Freshman outfielder Greg Wallace also had two hits for UE, while outfielder Dallas Williams had a two-hit night for Oakland City (5-22).

 

Evansville (7-28 overall) will return to Braun Stadium this weekend, as the Purple Aces will welcome in-state rival Indiana State to town for a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series. The series will begin Friday night at 6:00 p.m. in a game that can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV. Live video streaming for the game will also be available on-line at www.gopurpleaces.com through the Aces All-Access subscription service.