University of Evansville baseball has championship or bust mindset for MVC tournament

Chad Lindskog, Evansville Courier & Press

May 25, 2022 at 10:55 AM·5 min read

UE baseball won 30 games during the regular season

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The goal for almost any program in a mid-major conference tournament is typically the same.

Win the championship, you’re going dancing.

Lose, you’re headed home.

That’s the scenario for the University of Evansville baseball team in this week’s Missouri Valley Conference tournament. The Aces (30-22) earned the No. 2 seed behind regular-season champion Southern Illinois. Bracketologists even have included them in NCAA projections, but the Aces know they only have one path to continue their year.

“Even if you go 2-2 or make the championship game and you’re going home, we know from an RPI standpoint, we don’t have a chance to play NCAA regionals,” coach Wes Carroll said.

“Missing out on the regular-season conference championship aligns us to go and reach our ultimate goal of dogpiling and winning a tournament championship. It’s that or bust for the short picture, but on the big picture, we’ll be proud of whatever fight we give this week.”

Baseball: 5 things to know about the Evansville Otters this season

Basically, the MVC will be a one-bid league if Dallas Baptist is the tournament champion. No one else has a strong enough resume to make the field as an at-large.

Although third-seeded DBU didn’t dominate conference play, its RPI ranks 14th nationally because it played the toughest non-conference schedule in college baseball. Southern Illinois has the next-highest RPI at 75th while UE ranks 88th.

University of Evansville Head Baseball Coach Wes Carroll talks to Mark Shallenberger (32) while on third base at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville, Ind., Tuesday night, March 29, 2022. The Aces earned a 10-5 win against Austin Peay.

“Our expectation is to win and be playing on Saturday in the championship game,” Carroll said. “This group deserves a special moment and I think we’re very capable of doing it. We’re talented enough and confident enough to win a Missouri Valley Conference championship.”

UE was projected earlier this season to play in the South Bend regional if Notre Dame were to host. The Aces haven’t made the NCAA tournament since 2006.

Evansville Purple Aces: UE needed a little help to contend for a MVC title

Nevertheless, the program has taken a significant step forward. That was reiterated when the All-MVC awards were announced Tuesday as Carroll was named the MVC Coach of the Year and Boonville graduate Nick Smith was awarded the MVC Pitcher of the Year.

Smith is one of four Aces who received All-MVC First Team honors along with Brent Widder, Mark Shallenberger and Shane Gray. Three more landed on the All-MVC Second Team: Tanner Craig, Simon Scherry and Drew Dominik.

“If you take a step back and just look at what we’ve done, (earning the No. 2 seed) is something we take a lot of pride in and we have a lot of confidence going into the conference tournament in what we’re capable of doing,” Carroll said.

When the Aces left town Monday for Springfield, Missouri, they didn’t know who they’d face opening the double-elimination tournament. They will play at 3 p.m. Wednesday against the lowest seed remaining between No. 5 Indiana State, No. 6 Missouri State, No. 7 Illinois State and No. 8 Valparaiso.

They’re hoping to buck some recent trends. UE has lost six consecutive MVC tournament games.

“It’s always interesting not knowing who you’re going to play and it’s a strange kind of bracket,” Carroll said. “But we’re fortunate to be in the top four and be in this position compared to years past.”

The door was open for UE to win the regular-season title. It entered Saturday with a chance to at least tie SIU if it could finish a weekend sweep of Valparaiso. Then UE allowed four runs in the first inning on the way to an 8-4 loss.

Smith started but threw just 11 pitches before he exited the game with forearm tightness. Then Saturday’s finale was declared a no-contest because of rain, so UE finished a game back.

“Nick has been our workhorse and our steady hand the entire year with the effort he’s given us,” Carroll said. “For him to come out in the first inning threw all of us on our heels in one of the most important games of the year and we couldn’t recover from that.”

The good news? The Aces have a chance to bounce back when it matters most and their MVC Pitcher of the Year is expected to be available.

Chad Lindskog is the sports editor of the Courier & Press. You can contact him by email, clindskog@gannett.com, or on Twitter: @chadlindskog.

Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament

This week in Springfield, Missouri. All games will be streamed on ESPN+

Tuesday (single-elimination)

G1: No. 6 Missouri State vs. No. 7 Illinois State, 1:30 p.m.
G2: No. 5 Indiana State vs. No. 8 Valparaiso, 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday (start of double-elimination)

G3: No. 1 Southern Illinois vs. highest Tues. seed, 1:30 p.m.
G4: No. 2 Evansville vs. lowest Tues. seed, 5 p.m.
G5: No. 3 Dallas Baptist vs. No. 4 Bradley, 8:30 p.m.

Thursday

G6: Loser of G3 vs. Loser of G6, 11 a.m.
G7: Winner of G3 vs. Loser of G5, 3 p.m.
G8: Winner of G4 vs. Winner of G5, 7 p.m.

Friday

G9: Loser of G8 vs. Winner of G6, 11 a.m.
G10: Winner of G7 vs. Winner of G8, 3 p.m.
G11: Loser of G10 vs. Winner of G9, 7 p.m.

Saturday

G12: Championship, 3 p.m.
G13 (if necessary): 7 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville baseball eyes Missouri Valley Conference tournament title

CBS News
15 injured after Brightline train collides with Delray Beach fire engine
Delray Beach Police, Brightline and NTSB officials are investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.
CBS News
Brazil police probe deadly, arsenic-laced Christmas cake that killed 3
The woman who baked the cake, along with a 10-year-old child who also ate the cake, remain in the hospital and are receiving treatment for poisoning.
CNN
More than 170 killed after South Korean jet crash-lands at airport. Here’s what we know
Scores of people were killed on Sunday when a passenger jet crash-landed at an airport in southwestern South Korea, with the aircraft careening down the runway on its belly before bursting into flames.
CBS News
2 Oregon men in died from exposure after going to search for Sasquatch
Two men from Portland died in a forest in Washington state after going missing on a hunt for Sasquatch around Christmas.
CNN
Man accused of attacking TV reporter, saying ‘This is Trump’s America now’
A Colorado man is facing possible bias-motivated charges for allegedly attacking a television news reporter after demanding to know whether he was a citizen, saying “This is Trump’s America now,” according to court documents.
Reuters
Finland finds drag marks on Baltic seabed after cable damage
Finnish police said on Sunday they had found tracks that drag on for dozens of kilometres along the bottom of the Baltic Sea where a tanker carrying Russian oil is suspected of breaking a power line and four telecoms cables with its anchor. The Cook Islands-registered Eagle S was boarded by Finnish police and coast guard officials on Thursday and sailed into Finnish waters where the crew of the impounded tanker is being questioned. Baltic Sea nations have been on high alert after a string of outages of power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
CNN
At least 3 people have died as severe weather threat moves east after tornado-spawning storms pummeled Texas and Mississippi
At least three people have died as severe thunderstorms batter the Southeast and East Coast on Sunday after deadly tornado-spawning storms tore through Texas and Mississippi, ripping off roofs and flattening homes.
CNN
Passengers report flames as Air Canada flight suffers ‘suspected landing gear issue’ after landing
An Air Canada Express flight “experienced a suspected landing gear issue” after arriving at Halifax Stanfield International Airport in Nova Scotia on Saturday night, though no injuries were reported, according to the airline.
AFP
Sudan government rejects UN-backed famine declaration
The Sudanese government strongly rejected on Sunday a report backed by the United Nations which determined that famine had spread to five areas of the war-torn country.The army-aligned government "categorically rejects the IPC's description of the situation in Sudan as a famine", the foreign ministry said in a statement.
NBC News
Death toll rises to 127 after plane crashes at South Korean airport
At least 124 people died when a commercial airplane crashed Sunday at South Korea's Muan International Airport, officials said.
Reuters
Slovakia rejects Ukraine accusations of opening up second energy front
Slovakia has rejected Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's accusation that Prime Minister Robert Fico had opened a "second energy front" against Kyiv on the orders of Russia as a gas transit dispute deepened between the countries. Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar said on Sunday Slovakia was closely monitoring communications from Ukraine regarding Fico's statements and said Zelenskiy's suggestion of an alliance with Russian President Vladimir Putin was "fabricated".
USA TODAY
'Playing with fire': GOP lawmaker urges Republicans to back Mike Johnson ahead of pivotal House speaker vote
Rep. Mike Lawler argued on Sunday that Republicans considering voting against House Speaker Mike Johnson for another term are “playing with fire.”
AFP
Croatia's president wins election, exit poll shows
Croatia's outspoken President Zoran Milanovic won Sunday's election in the first round as he scooped up more than 50 percent of the vote, according to an exit poll.Milanovic, backed by the opposition left-wing Social Democrats, won 51.48 percent of the vote while Dragan Primorac, the candidate of the ruling conservative HDZ party, came second with 19.29 percent, showed the exit poll released by the state-run HRT television immediately after polling stations closed.
AFP
Azerbaijan demands Russia admit to shooting at plane before crash
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Sunday demanded that Russia admit that it fired at an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet before it crashed, accusing Moscow of initially trying to cover up the cause of the fatal disaster.Aliyev said that while "our plane was hit by accident", Baku was angry that Moscow had apparently tried to hide the cause of the crash and demanded its ally admit responsibility.
NBC News
Looking back on the biggest political news stories of 2024
From legal cases to attempted assassinations, 2024 proved to be a roller coaster in U.S. politics.
Associated Press
Tornadoes in Texas and Mississippi kill 2 as storm system moves across southern U.S.
Officials were beginning to assess the damage on Sunday after a strong storm system moved across the southeastern U.S. over the weekend, killing at least two people when tornadoes touched down in Texas and Mississippi. The line of severe weather led to about 40 tornado reports from southeastern Texas to Alabama, National Weather Service meteorologist Frank Pereira said, but those reports remain unconfirmed until damage surveys are completed.
AccuWeather
Much colder, potentially snowier days ahead for 1st half of January in Midwest, East
The clock is ticking on extensive mild, Pacific air that has infiltrated much of the United States in the past week. AccuWeather meteorologists advise that much colder air from the Arctic will invade the Central and Eastern regions and could set up a stormy pattern with areas of substantial snow for much of the first half of January. The upcoming pattern could be a costly one in terms of those struggling to pay energy bills and travelers heading home from the holidays or beginning business trips
CNN
Are you stretching correctly? Fitness experts break down what to do pre- and post-workout
How you start and end your workout can make a difference in how you feel. Here’s when to use dynamic and static stretches to improve your fitness routine.
Reuters
Father of woman killed in South Korea air crash says the tragedy is unbelievable
"When I saw the accident video, the plane seemed out of control," said 71-year-old Jeon. "She is much nicer than my son, sometimes asking me to go out for a meal," Jeon recalled, showing his last exchanges with his daughter on his mobile phone. The deadliest air accident ever in South Korea killed 179 people on Sunday, when an airliner belly-landed and skidded off the end of the runway, erupting in a fireball at the Muan International Airport.
AFP
Glitzy Calabar Carnival wraps up tough year in Nigeria
Revellers dressed in glitzy, colourful costumes danced down the streets of Calabar, southern Nigeria, this weekend as giant speakers blasted out Afrobeats for one of west Africa's most prestigious carnivals.Calabar carnival, known as "Africa's Biggest Street Party", is the highpoint of a month of festivities that began with the switching on of the lights on a 12-metre (40-foot) Christmas tree.

Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament

Latest Stories