Life in the Valley

Purple Aces Swept Through Tourney, Outscoring Opponents, 54-21

Evansville’s long road to redemption took 364 days to traverse. It was that long ago that the 2023 Purple Aces baseball season ended in Terre Haute, a 6-0 loss to Indiana State in a winner-take-all game to complete the Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship.

It would only make sense that for UE to cross the finish line, it would have to be Indiana State on the other side, who were again the top seed, who were again nationally ranked. But at home in Evansville this time, there would be no need for a winner-take-all final. UE beat Indiana State at the first time of asking Saturday night, 8-6, to win the 2024 MVC Championship, the school’s first since 2006, which was also the last time UE was in the NCAA Tournament.

Evansville (35-23) will play in NCAAs for the 6th time in school history, and their victory Saturday assures the Valley will be a 2-bid league in 2024. Indiana State (42-13) will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, though whether they will host a regional now for the 2nd consecutive season is perhaps in question. Indiana State went to SuperRegionals last season before falling to TCU. UE’s 2006 Regional appearance found them in Charlottesville, where the Purple Aces eliminated the host Virginia Cavaliers before falling to South Carolina in Game 7.

All of that seemed a distant memory, however, as years went by without a return engagement. All that changed tonight but of course the Sycamores didn’t go down without a fight. Down 8-5 in the bottom of the 9th, Luis Hernandez hit a solo homer to cut the UE lead to 2. Mike Sears and Adam Pottinger then reached, putting runners on 1st and 2nd with just 1 out, and bringing the winning run to the plate.

But reliever Jakob Meyer got Grant Magill to bounce into a double play to end the game and the tournament, bringing UE’s road to redemption to its final destination – a Purple Aces dogpile near the mound, celebrating a well-earned MVC title.

UE got to the championship round with a 17-7, 7-inning win over Illinois State earlier in the day. In Evansville’s first 3 tournament games, the Purple Aces scored 46 runs and won all 3 games in 7 innings by run-rule. Indiana State reached the final with a 7-3 win over Southern Illinois Saturday afternoon, avenging its first loss of the tournament back on Wednesday night.

Kenton Deverman, the MVC Freshman of the Year, started the final for UE on 2 days’ rest after a 3-inning outing in UE’s first win over Illinois State on Wednesday. Deverman gave up 3 runs on 7 hits over 6 innings, but importantly walked none while striking out 5. He needed just 84 pitches to get 18 out (4.67 ppo) and gave coach Wes Carroll maybe even a longer outing than he could have imagined. All 3 runs came in the 1st as Indiana State jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a 2-run double by Sears and an RBI single from Pottinger.

But Deverman allowed nothing else after that, and UE immediately responded, scoring 6 runs in the top of the 2nd. Kip Fougerousse’s 3-run homer was the big blow, giving UE the lead for good, 6-3. It stayed that way until Indiana State’s Randal Diaz scored on a wild pitch in the 7th. Diaz then doubled in a run in the 8th to make it 6-5, and it looked like Indiana State was going to win another game in their trademark fashion of scoring late to down a pesky opponent.

But UE turned out not to be your everyday pesky opponent. In the top of the 9th, Brent Widder took a pitch to the head with the bases loaded to make it 7-5, then Cal McGinnis drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 8-5.

After UE got to Cam Edmonson for 5 runs in 1+ innings, Brennyn Cutts and Cole Gilley combined to throw 7 innings, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits to keep the Sycamores alive. They struck out 7. But on this night, Indiana State couldn’t come all the way back, and the MVC tournament title changed hands.

MVC Championship – Final
UE 060 000 002 – 8 9 1 (35-23)
ISU 300 000 111 – 6 11 0 (42-13)
W: Deverman (8-1)
L: Edmonson (5-2)
S: Meyer (5)
HR: Hernandez, ISU (22); Fougerousse, UE (17).