University of Evansville baseball fans can get a sneak peek at head coach Wes Carroll’s 2010 squad this Saturday, as the Purple Aces will take on the Ontario Blue Jays in an exhibition game at UE’s Charles H. Braun Stadium.  First-pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and admission is free to the public.

Evansville returns 15 letterwinners from last season’s 25-30 squad this season, including all-Missouri Valley Conference standouts Cody Fick (Freeburg, Mo./Fatima), Andy Pascoe (Traverse City, Mich./Traverse City Central) and Tom Heithoff (Carroll, Iowa/Kuemper Catholic).  The Purple Aces will also get the services of left-handed pitchers Sean McCarthy (Leawood, Kan./Blue Valley North) and Seth McCabe (Madisonville, Ky./North Hopkins County) and right-hander Matt Netherton (Wichita, Kan./Trinity) back this spring, after all three missed the 2009 season due to injury.  Those 18 players will be joined by a talented incoming recruiting class featuring six pitchers, two catchers, and four position players.

The Purple Aces began fall practice on Monday under the direction of second-year dugout boss Wes Carroll, who posted the second-highest single-season victory total by a first-year head coach in UE baseball history last spring.  Saturday’s game against the Ontario Blue Jays will be the Purple Aces’ first game action of the 2009 fall season, which will culminate in the annual Fall World Series in mid-October.

“Saturday’s game is a great way to introduce our younger players to the collegiate baseball atmosphere,” said Carroll.  “With nearly half of our roster being in their first year of Division I baseball this year, a game like Saturday’s is key to see how each player will handle game situations at this level.

“The Ontario Blue Jays will provide us with a good challenge as well, as they are a very talented traveling team.  In fact, two of our current players, Nate Smith and Trentt Copeland, were members of the Ontario Blue Jays when they were in high school, so that shows what kind of talent the Blue Jays’ program can produce.”

Both Copeland and Smith started 42 games each for the Purple Aces last season, with Copeland hitting .286 with 10 doubles and 21 RBI in his rookie season at UE, while Smith hit .242 with six doubles in 49 games in the UE outfield.