Box Score EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Fighting Leatherneck baseball (0-5) battled the Evansville Purple Aces in game one of the weekend series Friday (Feb. 28) but fell short in 14 innings. The two teams combined for 28 strikeouts and nine hits during the pitching duel with Evansville (5-3) coming out on top, 1-0.
“I couldn't be more proud of the way our guys competed today. It doesn't always show in the box score or the win-loss record, but we competed extremely well,” said head coach Ryan Brownlee. “The one thing that's not going to show up in the box score is how well we swung the bats. That's why you play this schedule and these types of teams because you learn a lot more and you find that at the end of the year you're in much better shape and you don't get a false sense of security. I thought we played great defense and we made a lot of big pitches when we had too. I couldn't be happier with how the guys handled everything.”
Aaron Michel started the game for the Leathernecks, throwing 7.0 innings with five strikeouts, two hits and no runs allowed. Tyler Owings followed with a strong performance of his own, throwing 4.0 innings with four strikeouts and two hits. Mason Pingel (0-1) also notched four strikeouts, but recorded the loss after the Purple Aces scored in the 14th.
Evansville starter Kyle Freeland threw 9.0 innings with nine strikeouts and two hits in the no-decision. Brent Jurceka followed with 3.0 innings and Sam Johns (1-0) notched the win after throwing the final 2.0 innings.
The Aces put a runner on in the 14th after Shain Showers doubled down the left field line, the only extra base hit of the game. After a sacrifice bunt and back-to-back intentional walks to load the bases, UE won the game on a walk-off walk. Showers crossed the plate for the lone run of the contest.
Neil DeCook singled in the seventh inning and stole second to move into scoring position, which proved to be the best scoring opportunity for WIU in the game. Evansville was able to escape the inning with a double play to keep the game scoreless.
Tanner Glore and Chris Tschida each recorded singles in the game for Western. Evansville left 12 runners stranded throughout the course of the game, while the Leathernecks had two runners left on base.
The two teams will meet again for games two and three of the series Saturday (Mar. 1). First pitch for the first game is set for 1 p.m., with game one set to go seven innings and game two scheduled for nine.
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