A strong start by graduate starting pitcher Jarrett Blunt opened the door for the University of Evansville baseball team, as the Aces sent their departing players off on a high note, beating Bradley 7-2 on Senior Day at German American Bank Field at Braun Stadium Sunday afternoon.
Blunt, making his third start of the year, set the tone for the day for UE by striking out a pair in a perfect first inning. The Braves would get to Blunt for a two-out run in the second inning, but the lead would be short-lived, as UE would answer back in the bottom-half of the frame to grab a lead it would never lose.
At the plate, the Purple Aces were led by home runs from sophomore outfielder Ty Rumsey and fifth-year first baseman Chase Hug.
Junior shortstop Simon Scherry led off the second inning with a single, and quickly stole second. After a wild pitch advanced him to third base, fifth-year outfielder Danny Borgstrom drove Scherry home with a single to right field to tie the game at 1-1. Rumsey would then untie the game with a two-run home run to right field – his eighth home run of the year – to give UE a 3-1 lead.
Blunt would strike out four men over the third, fourth and fifth innings, allowing just a single run in the fifth inning, as Bradley creeped back within a run at 3-2. Junior Nate Hardman relieved Blunt (5-0) in the sixth inning and retired the next six batters, finishing with five strikeouts in three no-hit innings on the mound to keep Bradley at bay. Hug then made Bradley pay for intentionally walking Roberts in front of him with two outs in the eighth inning, as he crushed a towering three-run home run to right field to cap the scoring at 7-2. Roberts then worked a scoreless ninth inning to seal the victory.
Evansville honored Blunt, Roberts, Borgstrom, catcher Max Malley, and pitchers John MacCauley, Michael Parks and Tyler Denu in pre-game festivities prior to Sunday’s game on “Senior Day.”
With the victory, Evansville improves to 31-20 overall and 13-11 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while Bradley falls to 15-30 and 6-18 in the MVC. The Purple Aces remain in fourth place in the league standings, and will travel to Chicago, Illinois next weekend for a crucial Valley series with league-newcomer UIC, who is one game back of UE in the Valley standings. But, prior to that, Evansville will travel to Bloomington, Indiana on Tuesday night to take on Indiana in a non-conference contest.
