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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Tim Bodine and
Eric Stamets lined back-to-back RBI singles in the bottom of the ninth to give the University of Evansville baseball team their fourth walk-off win of the season, overcoming Indiana State, 3-2, Saturday afternoon at Braun Stadium. The win improves UE’s record to 15-8 on the season and 1-1 in Missouri Valley Conference play, while snapping Indiana State’s 13-game winning streak and dropping the Sycamores’ record to 18-5 overall and 1-1 in the MVC.
Reliever
Jake Naumann (2-0) earned the win, tossing a scoreless ninth inning. Junior
Kyle Lloyd put the Aces in a good position for the victory, hurling 8.0 innings, allowing just two runs, five scattered hits, no walks, and struck out a career-high nine batters.
Indiana State scored early with one run in the top of the first on Robby Ort’s RBI double, plating leadoff hitter Landon Curry. However, Lloyd settled down to strikeout the side in the second inning, tossed a perfect third, and didn’t surrender a hit until Ryan Walterhouse doubled to left to leadoff the fifth frame. Walterhouse scored on Casey McCurdy’s groundout to give the Sycamores a 2-0 lead.
That would be Indiana State’s last run, though, as Lloyd sat down seven consecutive batters across the sixth, seventh, and start of the eighth frames, recording four more strikeouts. Lloyd and Naumann did not allow any more Sycamores past first base the rest of the way.
After Indiana State starter Sean Manaea limited the Aces to three hits through the first six innings, Evansville got the bats going in the seventh, sparked by
Kevin Kaczmarski’s leadoff single through the right side.
Chris Pearson followed with a single to centerfield off reliever Kurt Kudrecki and
Andy Lasher’s sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position for Bodine’s RBI groundout to short.
Evansville trailed 2-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth, but Kudrecki (1-1) issued a walk to Kaczmarski and hit Pearson to put the tying and go-ahead runs on base with no outs. Pinch hitter Michael Eckstein’s sac bunt off new hurler Brandon Dorsett moved the runners up, and Bodine and Stamets lined back-to-back singles through the left side of the infield to bring home the win for the Aces.
Evansville’s last four wins at Braun Stadium have all been in walk-off fashion.
Offensively, Stamets’ 2-for-5 performance, including the game-winning RBI led UE, while Bodine went 1-for-2 with two runs batted in.
Jake Mahon,
Jason Hockemeyer, Kaczmarski, and Peason eached recorded one hit in the victory.
The Aces take on Indiana State in the series rubber match Sunday at 1:00 p.m. CT.