EVANSVILLE, Ind.—On a day when the University of Evansville offense ran into problems scoring runs, the Purple Aces’ pitching staff rose to the occasion on Saturday and helped power Evansville to its third-straight victory with a 4-3 win over the visiting Le Moyne Dolphins in the second round of the 2010 Dunn Hospitality Diamond Classic at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville.

 

With the Purple Aces held to just four runs offensively while stranding 11 men on base, UE pitchers Sam Johns, Zach Taylor, Corey Davisson (1-1) and Tom Heithoff combined to strike out eight while scattering three runs on seven base hits. Johns set the tone for the game with five innings of two-run, four-hit baseball while striking out six, and Davisson and Heithoff followed with four perfect innings of relief work to shut down the Dolphins’ attack.

 

“Our pitchers really stepped up today to help us to this win, especially Sam Johns,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll. “He went out and gave us a quality start on a day when we needed it, because Le Moyne’s starter really had us off-balance all day long. Sam was able to go out and match their starter pitch for pitch, and did a great job of keeping us in the ballgame in the early going.

 

“Corey and Tom then came in and really pitched lights out. That’s the second day in a row where our pitchers have really stepped up, and hopefully, we can continue to get a consistent effort from them the rest of the year.”

 

Evansville struck first for an unearned run in the third inning, before Le Moyne’s Chris Edmonson quickly tied the game at 1-1 with a solo home run to right-center field leading off the fourth inning. 

 

The game would remain tied at 1-1 until the sixth inning, when a lead-off walk to infielder Zach Wiley ended Johns’ afternoon after he struck out four of the final six men he faced. Le Moyne shortstop Matt Marra would greet Taylor with a run-scoring double, and Edmonson and outfielder Sean Paino would follow with back-to-back hits to give the Dolphins a 3-1 lead. Davisson would quickly induce a 3-6-3 double-play ball and a pop up to center field to keep the damage at just two runs.

 

Evansville would respond with two runs of its own in the bottom half of the sixth inning to tie the game at 3-3. Freshman catcher Chris Pearson would lead off the frame with a double down the left-field line. Senior outfielder Alex Acheson and freshman shortstop Eric Stamets would follow with a hit-by-pitch and bunt single to load the bases. Heithoff would then bounce a ball to the left-side of the infield which was gloved by the third baseman, but thrown away on a force attempt at second base to allow both Pearson and Acheson to score to tie the game at 3-3.

 

Davisson would toss back-to-back perfect innings of relief for UE to keep the score tied at 3-3 heading into the bottom of the eighth, where junior outfielder Nate Smith’s hustle started a rally. On a slowly-hit ball to the hole at short, Smith hustled down the line and beat out an infield single, and quickly advanced to second on a throwing error. A sacrifice bunt would move him to third and Stamets would drive him home with a sacrifice fly to the warning track in left field to give UE a 4-3 lead. Heithoff would then work a perfect ninth inning to record his third save of the year.

 

“The at-bat of the game belonged to Nate Smith in the eighth inning,” said Carroll. “Nate had been struggling in his first three at-bats, but he really battled and was able to put the ball in play, and then he ran the fastest 90 he has run probably in his UE career to beat out the infield single and pressure the wild throw. That really allowed us to use our small ball to drive him in and turn things over to Tom, who I think is one of the top closers in the country.”

Davisson earned the victory with his three perfect innings of relief work. Pearson led Evansville offensively by going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, while Stamets and junior outfielder Greg Wallace added a pair of hits as well.

 

With the victory, Evansville improves to 6-9 overall and 2-0 in the Dunn Hospitality Diamond Classic. Le Moyne, meanwhile, falls to 5-9 overall and 0-2 in the Diamond Classic. The Classic will conclude on Sunday, with Le Moyne playing Morehead State, a 9-8 winner in today’s first game, at 11:00 a.m. Evansville will then host Purdue at 3:00 p.m. in a game that can be heard live in the Tri-State on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV and seen live-on-line on AcesTV on GoPurpleAces.com. Freshman RHP Scott Scheumann (0-2, 3.86 ERA) is expected to get the start for UE.