Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

WICHITA, Kan.? The Shockers won the first game of the doubleheader in commanding fashion on Saturday, 6-1, but could not remain consistent as they fell to the Purple Aces of Evansville in the nightcap, 5-3.

Game One: WSU 6 ? EU 1

Four of the seven innings freshman Charlie Lowell (5-1) went down as 1-2-3 innings in the scorebook, as the lefty dealt a career-high eight innings on Saturday afternoon. A run in the first was all the freshman allowed, giving up four hits while striking out four.  

The Shocker bats brought plenty of power to back up their starting pitcher, raking 11 hits to the Aces' four.Grimes led the offense, just a triple away from the cycle. The freshman shortstop went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI and his third homerun of the season.

Right-hander John Foley (3-2) also gave the Purple Aces an eight-inning outing, but couldn't keep his defense from playing error-free. Three errors made just two of the Shockers' six runs earned in the contest.

The Purple Aces struck first, jumping out to an early 1-0 lead in their first at bat. Evansville's top of the order tagged Lowell for three singles in the inning, and right fielder Nate Smith's speed helped him beat out a fielder's choice to collect the RBI.

Wichita State used an unorthodox run to answer the Purple Aces in the Shockers' half of the first. Junior second baseman Will Baez forced an error by the third baseman to lead off the inning. Grimes bashed a double to left center, sending Baez to third. When junior centerfielder Ryan Jones smoked a groundball to first, Grimes took off from second base. Seeing the opportunity, the first baseman Andy Pascoe caught Grimes in a rundown for the second out. In the meantime, Baez's saw an opportunity of his own and took off from third to tie the game, 1-1.

Right fielder Mitch Caster started the afternoon hitting a commanding .417 in Missouri Valley Conference games, and stayed true to form in the bottom of the second. The sophomore belted an RBI single to left to give the Shockers the 2-1 lead. Caster went 2-for-4 in game one.

Lowell kept the Aces off the board, retiring 13 of 14 batters after the Aces scored in the first inning. By the end of the Aces' fifth, Lowell had sat Evansville in order in three of the previous four innings. In the home half of the fifth, Grimes blasted a solo shot to add a run to the lead for Lowell to work with.

Grimes lent a helping hand to his pitcher again in the seventh. After Caster singled and Baez took advantage of another Aces' error, Grimes drilled a single to left field. Unable to come up with it, the ball bounced towards the left field wall and allowed Caster and Baez time to score. A sacrifice fly from Jones scored Grimes to blow the game open in WSU's favor, 6-1.

Junior Clint McKeever relieved Lowell in the ninth, throwing a scoreless, hitless inning to seal the deal.

Game Two: Evansville 5 ? Wichita State 3

In an uncharacteristic start, freshman right-hander Jordan Cooper (5-3) allowed ten hits and five runs, two earned, as a poor defensive effort sunk the Shockers in the final game of the series, 5-3. 

Despite out hitting the Aces, 11-10, the Shockers could not overcome the five errors that led to three unearned runs. The Shocker offense was led by Grimes, who picked up his second three-hit game of the day in the nightcap. He finished the day 6-for-11. McKeever drove in two of the Shockers' three runs on a 2-for-5 effort.

Junior right-hander Dennis Keegan (1-2) grabbed the victory, despite allowing three earned runs off of seven hits in five innings of work.

Evansville got on the board first when leadoff hitter Jim Viscomi singled, advanced on a sac bunt and then stole third before Greg Wallace doubled for the RBI.

UE extended the lead to 3-0 with two unearned runs in the top of the second on three hits and two Shocker errors. The Shockers answered in the bottom of the second on a Josh Rosecrans single that scored  Chris O'Brien, who had singled to reach as the inning's leadoff hitter.

WSU held the Aces scorless in the third before scoring two runs on three hits that included a two-RBI single up the middle by Clinton McKeever.

After a scoreless fourth, UE went ahead in the fifth, 4-3, when Cody Fick singled before a throwing error on a Wallace double brought Fick around to score, all with two outs. The Aces were able to tag Cooper with one more run before the starter ended his day. Center fielder Jim Viscomi led off the seventh with a single up the middle. A stolen base and another Shocker defensive miscue brought Viscomi around to score the final run of the game.

Sophomore right-hander Justin Kemp took over in the top of the eighth. Although a pair of hit batsmen looked threatening, Kemp worked himself out of the inning unscathed. He then threw a 1-2-3 inning in the ninth to give the Shockers a window of opportunity in their last at bat.

Unfortunately for the Shockers, the opportunity wouldn't be enough. Grimes singled to deep shortstop in the bottom of the ninth, but it wasn't enough to climb out of the deficit.

The Shockers hit the road on Tuesday for the first game of a two-game series against the Kansas State Wildcats. The first pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. in Manhattan. The teams head back to Wichita for the final game of the series on Wednesday night.

-Wichita State-