EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Indiana State baseball outhit Evansville 10-6 Saturday afternoon but the Aces came away with a 4-1 win at Braun Stadium to even the series.
 
The Sycamores (14-13, 1-1 MVC) will look back at the first inning and wonder what would have happened after a pair of blunders cost the squad a pair of runs as the Aces (10-21, 1-4 MVC) capitalized to pick up their first Missouri Valley Conference win of the season.
 
With a groundout to begin the inning, UE's Stewart Nelson chopped a ball back to the mound that was mishandled to allow the Aces to reach base. Stewart was able to move to second on a stolen base followed by a walk.
 
After a passed ball to move the runners to second and third, the Aces would really have ISU on their heels after a groundout to third was mishandled at the plate to allow a run to score before a chase down of Andrew Tanous allowed the second run to score on the same play.
 
That would be all the scoring that the game would produce all the way to the eighth inning. The Sycamores missed a couple opportunities in that time after grounding into two double plays. As a team ISU finished the day 3-for-17 with runners on and 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
 
The Sycamores eventually broke into the scoring column in the eighth after a fielding error at first base with the bases loaded allowed Tyler Friis to score from first. The Sycamores looked to keep the momentum going but grounded into their third double play of the afternoon.
 
Evansville would add a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the inning.
 
Tyler Ward was charged with the loss, falling to 2-2 on the year. The right-hander gave up three runs, only one of which was earned while striking out six. In 7.1 innings of work, he gave up four hits.
 
Dane Giesler, Chris Ayers and Friis each finished with two hits to lead the team.
 
The Sycamores will close out the series Sunday at 2 p.m. ET as Will Kincanon will get the start on the mound. The game can be seen live on The Valley On ESPN3 ­­and can be heard on Sycamore All-Access via GoSycamores.com.
 
For the latest information on the Sycamore Baseball team, be sure to visit GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.