EVANSVILLE, Ind.- In his return to his alma mater over the weekend, head coach Andy Pascoe and the Western Illinois baseball team (2-6) fell in extra innings 10-11 against Evansville (6-6) on Sunday (March 7) afternoon.
"It was exciting to see our hitters come out ready today," Pascoe said. "We had good approaches all day and then played well defensively, but when you walk as many guys as we did, it's tough to win ball games. This weekend we saw a lot of good things and it's good preparation for the 4 game weekends we will have in the Summit."
Alex Dorethy got the Leatherneck offense started with an RBI double for a 1-0 lead in the first. He added his second extra-base hit with another two-bagger in the eighth to push WIU ahead 10-7. The lefty knocked three total hits and collected three RBI.
Evansville chipped into the lead with runs in the second and third. Tyler Estes increased the advantage on a bases-clearing double that highlighted a five-run fifth. The Purple Aces responded with its own five-run frame and brought it back to a one-run game, 8-7.
UE tied it and forced extras with a three-run ninth. Both teams agreed to play the international tiebreaker rule, where a runner starts on second. In Western's top half, Dillon Sears moved the runner to third on a sacrifice bunt but was left stranded.
The series finale came to a close after the Purple Aces walked it off an error with the bases loaded.
Western Illinois has a quick turnaround and heads to in-state foe Illinois State on Tuesday (March 9).
