Life in the Valley

Top Starters for UE, ECU, Wake Forest, and VCU Have All Been Excellent

In a season where the Purple Aces found their new ace, Evansville will find 3 other aces waiting for them when they begin NCAA Regional play in Greenville, N.C., against top-seed and 14th-ranked East Carolina at noon Central on Friday.

As the Purple Aces prepare for the first-ever meeting with the Pirates, head coach Wes Carroll has the comforting feeling of knowing Kenton Deverman will open up regionals on the mound. Deverman, the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year who may well be a future Valley Pitcher of the Year, is 8-1 on the season with a 4.03 ERA. Deverman pitched Evansville to victory in the MVC Tournament championship game, giving up 3 runs in the 1st against 20th-ranked Indiana State before throwing 5 scoreless innings against the Sycamores’ powerful lineup to let Evansville build a 6-3 lead in a game they eventually won, 8-6, clinching the tournament title and UE’s first regional bid since 2006.

Deverman, a lefty from Dardenne Prairie, Mo., struggled a bit in UE’s first tournament game, a 17-6 win over Illinois State, giving up 6 runs on 9 hits in 3 innings. But his teammates picked him up in the first of 3 straight run-rule wins by Evansville in the MVC Tournament. But in his 5 other most recent starts, Deverman has allowed just 9 earned runs on 32 hits over 35 innings (2.31 ERA in that span), to go with just 4 walks and 29 strikeouts, a 7.25:1 strikeout:walk ratio. And as shown against Indiana State last time out, Deverman is built to last even if he finds early trouble. Deverman has thrown at least 100 pitches on 6 occasions this season, which could be extremely valuable to the Purple Aces in trying to save the bullpen for future games in the regional, whether Evansville wins or loses on Friday.

But for Evansville to take the next step toward Omaha and advance to Super Regionals, it has to be more than Deverman who steps up on the mound. Shane Harris, who made 6 starts and leads qualifying Aces pitchers in ERA, produced valuable innings out of the bullpen in large batches during the MVC Tournament and that will be a key factor for UE in regionals, as well. And of course, should UE need a starter in a pinch, Harris can fill that role, too. Donovan Schultz, a senior lefty from Wisconsin, won an important game against UIC on the final weekend to help Evansville finish 3rd in the Valley regular season. He then went 6 innings allowing just 1 run on 3 hits with 5 strikeouts in another win over UIC that advanced the Purple Aces in the winner’s bracket.

Jakob Meyer, Max Hansmann, and Drew Fieger will be the workhorses out of the Evansville bullpen. They combined for 74 appearances with 114 strikeouts and 7 total saves. But all also have an ERA above 6. The bullpen will need to be good in pressure situations against very good hitters for UE to advance.

Let’s take a look at the pitching for the other 3 teams at the Greenville Regional.

#1 seed and 14th-ranked East Carolina (43-15, 19-8 AAC, 1st): There are no Captain Hooks here, folks. These Pirates have hands and arms and know how to pitch with them. East Carolina posted a 3.94 team ERA this season, 5th best in the nation behind only Arkansas, Hawaii, Lamar, and Tennessee. Trey Yesavage is the ace, going 11-1 with a 2.09 ERA in 14 starts, including a complete game and 139 strikeouts in just 86 innings (more than 14.5 Ks per 9 IP). Even when batters hit the ball against Yesavage, they don’t do anything, hitting .162 with just 4 home runs. But from ECU’s game notes on the Pirates’ website, it appears ECU is saving him for a possible game against Wake Forest on Saturday, electing to start Zach Root instead vs. Evansville Friday. Root, mind you, is no weak link. He is 6-0 in 11 starts with 71 Ks in 60 1/3 innings. He also has allowed just 4 home runs and opponents are only hitting .219 against him. The other 33 starts have been spread among 8 pitchers and while there are other viable options, if ECU slips to the loser’s bracket and has to throw Yesavage Saturday to stay in the tournament, their starting depth would be well tested. ECU has 15 saves, also spread among 7 pitchers. Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman, a junior from this very writer’s hometown of Leesburg, Va., leads the Pirates with 5 saves. ECU pitchers have allowed just 60 homers and have fanned 594 batters, an average of more than 10 per game.

#2 seed and 19th-ranked Wake Forest (38-20, 15-15 ACC Atlantic Division, 5th): Well now if you thought East Carolina had a boss in Yesavage, well, have a seat and let me holler at you about Chase Burns. The Demon Deacons junior and former Tennessee Vol struck out a season-high 16 on May 10 against Clemson, one of 12 performances (you have to call his work a performance, it isn’t just merely a “start,”) where Burns fanned at least 10. And the 16 Ks aren’t an outlier. Burns struck out 15 in his last start vs. North Carolina during the ACC Tournament in only 6 innings. He also fanned 15 in 7 innings against Virginia Tech on April 5. On 3 other occasions, Burns struck out 14. He’s been next to untouchable in his previous 4 starts, throwing 26 innings with just 1 earned run allowed (0.35 ERA in that span), with only 13 hits allowed (including 0 in 6 innings vs. Western Carolina on May 4), 5 walks, and 57 (FIFTY-FREAKIN’-SEVEN!) strikeouts. It seems unlikely Wake will burn him on their first-game matchup against VCU, champions of the Atlantic-10. So many folks in Greenville are awaiting a matchup between Yesavage and Burns Saturday. We’ll see what plays out. Michael Massey made 10 starts and is 4-1 with a 3.97 ERA. He’s fanned a mere 51 in 34 innings. Josh Hartle made 15 starts to a 5.79 ERA with a 6-3 record. Opponents are hitting .291 against him, however. Both Burns and Hartle have allowed 13 homers. The Wake staff has struck out an amazing 671 batters in 506 innings (11.9 K per 9 IP as a staff), but have a team WHIP of 1.42. It may be next to impossible to get to Burns, but he can only start 1 game in this regional. Beyond Burns and Hartle, no other Wake pitcher has thrown more than 43 innings this season – reliever Will Ray (0-2, 3.77) in 32 appearances.

#3 seed VCU (37-21, 15-8 A-10, 2nd): The Rams also fit the pattern of having one really strong starter, but what VCU has also is a reliable, durable reliever who could make a difference if the Rams are in a game as early as the 5th inning on. The starter is Christian Gordon (always beware of pitchers who wear #1), who is 7-2 on the season with a 4.00 ERA in 15 starts. He’s only thrown 72 innings in those starts, but he’s fanned 89, allowed only 5 homers, and has been a part of 2 combined VCU shutouts. The reliever is Brian Curley, who pitched enough innings to qualify for ERA leadership and has the lowest on the club at 2.51, which also led the Atlantic-10 and places him 12th nationally. Curley averaged 4.4 innings per appearance, despite never making a start all season. What Shane Harris did for UE in the Valley tournament, Curley has done for the Rams all season long. He has 78 strikeouts, has only allowed 4 homers, and opponents are batting .242 against Curley. Another reliever, Owen Tappy, is 7-2 on the season with a 2.95 ERA and a team-high 5 saves in 23 appearances and 39 2/3 innings. VCU’s 4.68 team ERA ranked 32nd nationally, and the Rams have allowed just 40 homers all season. Maison Martinez (4-0, 3.05) and Cade Dressler (3-2, 3.82) have also been key out of the bullpen for a team that used its relievers heavily in 2024. Consider that Zachary Peters and Everett Vaughan combined to make 24 starts and have only thrown 75 innings between them, with 8 relief appearances. If Gordon gets in trouble early and Curley is exhausted by the 6th inning or so, it might be bullpen by committee for the Rams.