GAME ONE BOX SCORE
GAME TWO BOX SCORE

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville baseball team posted a 4-1 win over visiting Creighton in the opener of Saturday afternoon’s doubleheader at Braun Stadium, but the Bluejays won the nightcap, 6-2, to take two of three games in the Missouri Valley Conference series.
 
“This was a hard-fought Valley series,” head coach Wes Carroll said.  “We were able to create multiple opportunities and just couldn’t get a hit with runners in scoring position.  We came out in the first game and got the win to put ourselves in position to win the series, we just didn’t capitalize on any of the many opportunities we had in the second game.”
 
Senior Chris Pearson went 3-for-5 with two RBI and a pair of walks on the day to lead Evansville (9-14, 1-2 MVC) offensively and redshirt junior Johnny Day drove in two other UE runs, going 2-for-6.
 
Senior righty Kyle Lloyd (3-2) earned the win on the mound for the Aces, allowing just one run on five hits in 7.0 innings, while striking out seven and walking two.  Junior southpaw Cole Isom (1-4) suffered the loss in the nightcap, allowing four runs on nine hits in 4.2 innings of work.
 
GAME 1 RECAP: UE 4, CU 1
 
Evansville scored a run in each of the first two innings to jump out to an early 2-0 lead.  Junior David Patton led off the bottom of the first with a double down the left field line and later scored on a squeeze bunt by Day.  In the second, redshirt junior Nick Hathcoat led off the frame with a walk and came around to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Patton.
 
The Aces added an insurance run in their half of the fifth, as Pearson drove in senior Jason Hockemeyer by beating an out inside single to third to extend UE’s lead to 3-0.
 
Creighton (12-5, 2-1 MVC) scored its lone run of the contest in the sixth, when Reagan Fowler plated Jake Peter with a two-out single through the right side.
 
After Lloyd pitched around a leadoff walk to strand the runner at third in the top of the seventh, Evansville was able to manufacture a run in the bottom of the inning to take a 4-1 advantage.  Hockemeyer singled up the middle to start the inning and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by redshirt sophomore Kevin Kaczmarski.  Pearson followed with his second hit of the game, an RBI single to center that allowed Hockemeyer to score.
 
Senior Josh Biggs took over for Lloyd in the eighth and was able to pitch out of a jam to preserve the lead, before senior Jake Naumann tallied his fifth save of the year by pitching around a hit in the ninth.
 
Hockemeyer finished the game 3-for-4 with three singles for UE, while Pearson drove in a pair of runs in a 2-for-3 effort.
 
Peter and Fowler each went 2-for-4 to lead Creighton and Nick Musec (0-3) suffered the loss on the mound for the Bluejays, allowing three runs, all earned, on six hits in 5.2 innings of work.
 
GAME 2 RECAP: CU 6, UE 2
 
Creighton wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in the nightcap, scoring a run in the top of the first to grab a 1-0 lead.  Brad McKewon led off the game with an infield single and moved up 90 feet on a sacrifice bunt by Federico Castagnini.  Peter followed with an RBI single up the middle to score McKewon.  Mike Gerber also recorded an infield single and Fowler drew a two-out walk to load the bases, but Isom was able to limit the damage by getting Brennan Murphy to pop up to end the threat.
 
Freshman Shain Showers tied the game with a two-out, RBI single in the bottom of the second, but the Bluejays regained their lead by scoring a pair of runs on a two-run double by Fowler in the top of the third.
 
The Aces got a run back in their half of the third to trim CU’s advantage to 3-2.  With one out, Kaczmarski was hit by an 0-2 pitch and advanced to third on a single by Pearson.  After Pearson stole second, Day delivered a single up the middle that scored Kaczmarski, but Creighton was able to limit UE to just one run when Pearson was thrown out at home, after he tried to tag and score on a fly ball to shallow center off the bad of sophomore Kyle Pollock.
 
Creighton added a run in the fifth on a two-out single from Murphy and freshman Brent Jurceka took over for Isom on the mound, after Isom issued a walk to pinch hitter Michael Blatchford to load the bases.  Jurceka was able to end the inning by getting Jerry Mitchell to pop out on the first pitch of the at bat.
 
Jurceka was able to hold the Bluejays scoreless over the next three innings, but CU got to him in the ninth, putting a pair of runners on with back-to-back one out singles and Biggs was called out of the pen.  Biggs was lifted after facing just two hitters, as he gave up a single to Fowler to load the bases and issued to bases-loaded walk to Murphy to make the score 5-2.  Naumann got the final two outs of the inning, but Creighton scored another run a sacrifice fly from Ryan Fitzgerald.
 
Evansville managed just two baserunners over the final five innings, as Bluejay relievers Matt Warren, Mark Winkelman and Bryan Sova combined to allow just three hits and issued just one walk in 6.2 innings out of the bullpen.
 
Warren (1-0) picked up the win for CU, tossing 3.2 innings of relief, scattering three hits and striking out a batter without a walk.
 
The Aces will return to the diamond Tuesday night at 6 p.m., when they travel to Bowling Green, Ky., for a non-conference tilt with Western Kentucky.