WICHITA, Kan.—The University of Evansville baseball team fought top-seeded Wichita State tooth and nail for nine innings on Thursday night and early Friday morning, but in the end, the Purple Aces fell just a single run short, as the Shockers posted a 6-5 victory over UE in the Bracket B championship game of the 2010 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Eck Stadium in Wichita, Kansas.

 

In a game which started at 10:35 p.m. on Thursday and ended after 1:30 a.m. on Friday morning, the Shockers and Purple Aces played an epic three-hour battle which started with Wichita State jumping to a 3-0 lead and ended with UE threatening to tie the game in the top of the ninth inning, with the potential tying-run in scoring position with two outs.

 

“For the people who stuck around tonight, they got to see a great college baseball game,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll. “All season long, our guys have battled and competed and have shown great heart. But, tonight, they took things to another level which I have not seen before this season, and I can not be more proud of how hard they battled and how well they represented both our university and the city of Evansville tonight.”

 

The Shockers took a 1-0 lead against UE senior Tom Heithoff (3-5), making just his second start of the season, in the second inning on an opposite-field double by outfielder Travis Bennett. Wichita State would plate a pair of unearned runs on a UE throwing error in the third inning, but UE would quickly answer back.

 

A pair of Wichita State errors in the fifth and sixth innings would help UE to single runs in the fifth and sixth innings and trim the WSU lead to 3-2. WSU would push the lead to 5-2 with a pair of runs in the sixth inning, but again, UE would respond, as junior outfielder Greg Wallace roped an RBI double to the gap in right-center field in the seventh inning to trim the deficit to 5-3.

 

The Shockers would finally chase Heithoff in the seventh inning on an RBI single by catcher Cody Lassley, but not before Heithoff had scattered six runs (four earned) in 6.2 innings of work while striking out five in his longest outing as a Purple Ace. Heithoff, typically UE’s closer, threw a career-high 119 pitches in his final game as a Purple Ace.

 

“I could not be more proud of the job that Tom Heithoff did tonight,” said Carroll. “We always talk about earning the respect of your teammates and the players you play against, and Heithoff definitely did that tonight. He was outstanding tonight. His pitching line was not indicative of how well he really pitched.”

 

“I just wanted to do everything I could to keep us in the game,” said Heithoff. “I had not pitched yet this week, so I was pretty fresh, and I was just going to give everything that I had to try and help us stay in this tournament.”

 

Trailing 6-3 going to the eighth inning, Evansville would rally for two more runs on a run-scoring wild-pitch and throwing error by Wichita State to get within 6-5. UE would work a lead-off hit-by-pitch in the ninth inning, but WSU closer Logan Hoch (save) would induce a double-play ball to record the first two outs of the ninth inning. UE would then work a walk and another hit-by-pitch, until Hoch outdueled Heithoff in a long at-bat which ended in a ground out to second base to end the contest and propel the Shockers into Saturday’s State Farm MVC Tournament title game against second-seeded Illinois State.

 

Wallace knocked two doubles for UE, while freshman shortstop Eric Stamets also went 2-for-3 with two walks for UE, as the Purple Aces out-hit Wichita State, 8-7. 

 

With the victory, Wichita State improves to 41-18 overall and will battle Illinois State in the MVC Tournament title game on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. UE, meanwhile, concludes its season at 32-27 overall.