Fifth-seeded UE faces off against No. 4 seed Missouri State at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the opening round of the Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament. Rain is in the forecast at Duffy Bass Field in Normal, Ill., which hosts this week’s double-elimination tournament.
ESPN3.com will broadcast the game. Refresh here or follow on Twitter (@ECP_Lintner) for more updates.
Coach Wes Carroll tabbed senior pitcher Kyle Lloyd, the Aces’ Saturday starter, to throw in game one of the MVC tournament. Photo by Jason Clark/C&P
After talking to UE baseball players and coaches last week, one thing became apparent: Everyone believes winning game one in the double-elimination Missouri Valley Conference tournament is key to taking the whole thing.
The Aces will go with their most consistent arm when they open against Missouri State on Tuesday at Duffy Bass Field, home to top seed and host Illinois State.
Senior Kyle Lloyd, UE’s Saturday starting pitcher all season behind sophomore Kyle Freeland, is 7-3 with a 2.74 earned-run average. He’ll match up with Missouri State ace Nick Petree, an amazing 8-1 with a 1.63 ERA.
The right-handed Lloyd has played second fiddle to left Freeland all season, and his top outing came against Missouri State when the teams played a series at Braun Stadium. Lloyd fanned a career-high 13 batters and threw his second complete game April 17 in a 2-1 Aces win.
The Sacramento, Calif., native and Carmel High School graduate will likely be drafted this June. He’d first like to show that his last outing — it lasted just 2 2/3 innings in a May 11 loss to Illinois State — was simply a fluke.
“It’s not really that I want to prove anything,” Lloyd said. “It’s more that I want to stay consistent and go about my business. It’s all about having confidence out there.”
Lloyd has tallied a career-high 94 strikeouts this season, second in the MVC, up from 58 a year ago when he went 6-3 with a 3.01 ERA.
Look for more on Lloyd’s first start at the No. 1 spot in Tuesday’s Courier & Press.
Other MVC tournament notes:
—UE is 21-27 all-time in the double-elimination tournament. This year marks the Aces’ 14th appearance.
—Last year, UE sandwiched a victory over Indiana State between two losses to Illinois State, which eliminated an Aces squad that finished 32-27.
—UE combined to go 4-5 against the teams in its side of the MVC tournament bracket: Missouri State (1-2), Illinois State (1-2) and Bradley (2-1).
—The Aces’ 10-10 MVC finish this year marked the first at .500 or above for coach Wes Carroll in his five seasons.
MVC tournament links:
—The tournament bracket, per mvc-sports.com
—Complete list of matchups and scores
—Story: Aces hope Jake Mahon’s return sparks offense in postseason
—I received a few voicemails this week upon announcements that UE would add another pair of guards — Christian Benzon and Tyler Ptacek — to a recruiting class that already had two point guards and a small forward. But that’s essentially what Aces coaches had to replace with both its starting guards and small forward graduating, plus 6-foot-4 Lews Jones who often started at the four spot. Also remember David Howard will also start this fall as a redshirt freshman. There’s a lingering notion that UE can’t sign size, but the Aces have all they need for now. Coach Marty Simmons needed guards.
—UE’s baseball team starts its Missouri Valley Conference tournament run at 4 p.m. Tuesday against Missouri State, which took a series 2-1 against the Aces earlier this season. Look for more in the coming days advancing UE’s draw and chances. For now, check out a tournament lowdown (and bracket) here.
—The MVC’s decision to play its 2014 baseball tournament at Indiana State raised eyebrows this week. The Sycamores have renovated their facilities recently, though what’s in Terre Haute still can’t match Wichita State. And that has the Shockers’ athletic director saying the league needs to reevaluate its standards.
—The major high school all-star events have yet to be played — mainly the Kentucky-Indiana All-Star games in June that will feature both a men’s and women’s UE signee — but four of them will compete the week before in a gym known for its role in the movie “Hoosiers.”
—Rising sophomore Egidijus Mockevicius, a fan favorite and all-MVC freshman teamer last season, will spend his summer in Evansville rather than his native Lithuania. Mockevicius is working for the Evansville Otters baseball organization, performing a number of jobs. On Friday — opening night — he served as an usher. Look for the tall guy in a white shirt out at Bosse Field.
—Former UE shortstop Eric Stamets, now playing for the Class A Inland Empire 66ers in California, earned honors as the Los Angeles Angels system’s defensive player of the month, the Angels announced this week. ”It’s an honor,” said Stamets, who recorded 83 assists in the month and a .976 fielding percentage in April. “I love it that the stuff that doesn’t normally show up in the stat sheet is getting recognized.” Stamets’ manager, Bill Haselman, said, “He might win it every month.”
The final weekend of Missouri Valley Conference baseball play did UE no favors.
Really, with the pitching around this league this year, there is no ideal No. 1 starter to face.
But UE will likely see Missouri State pitcher Nick Petree (8-1, 1.63 earned-run average) again when the fifth-seeded Aces play the fourth-seeded Bears at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the teams’ first-round tournament game hosted by Illinois State. Petree retired the final 16 batters he faced against UE earlier this season in game one of the Bears’ 2-1 series victory at Braun Stadium last month.
For UE, there’s a decision to be made: Friday night starter Kyle Freeland (3-8, 4.59 ERA) or Saturday starter Kyle Lloyd (7-3, 2.74 ERA)? As of yesterday, coach Wes Carroll hadn’t yet decided which arm will take the mound in game one of the double-elimination tournament.
—Click here for the MVC tournament bracket, led by regular-season champion and host Illinois State as the top seed. Bradley is the other “Bracket B” team on UE’s side.
—Remember each MVC tournament game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.com until MVC TV airs the championship game. That’s Fox Sports Midwest and Indiana locally.
Look for more in the coming days advancing UE’s MVC tournament run.
Finally, UE signees Blake Simmons and Jaylon Brown are set to suit up for the same team.
It’s not yet the Aces, though.
After facing off in last month’s North-South All-Star Classic in Terre Haute, Castle High School’s Simmons and Fishers High School’s Brown will both play for the “Hickory Huskers” boys team at the June 7 Hoosiers’ Reunion All-Star Classic at Knightstown High School.
That’s Knightstown, movie home to “Hoosiers.”
Simmons and Brown will be joined by UE women’s signees Dakota Weatherford (Hamilton Heights High School) and Kenzie Gustin (Pendleton Heights High School) — also teammates — who kick off the doubleheader with the girls’ game at 6 p.m. The boys follow at 8 p.m.
In all, there are eight girls playing in the game who will also tour with the Indiana All-Stars as they play their Kentucky counterparts, including Weatherford. There are 10 boys from the All-Stars participating, among them Simmons.
Both Weatherford and Simmons were junior all-stars before their bids to the senior squads.
Arad McCutchan Stadium will play host to the 2013 MVC women’s soccer tournament.
The UE women’s soccer program will host this year’s Missouri Valley Conference championship. Due to a league rule change this year, however, there’s no guarantee the Aces participate in it.
Host schools previously gained automatic entry into the six-team field, which leaves one of the MVC’s seven members out of the three-round, single-elimination tournament. Last year, for instance, Creighton went 0-6 in league play during the regular season but made the field over Missouri State because the tournament site was Omaha, Neb.
Missing the postseason altogether likely isn’t a concern for UE, which returns its top three goal scorers — Stephanie Thompson, Abby Springer and Kayla Smith — as well as goalkeeper Simone Busby from a team that won last year’s regular-season MVC title.
“Not that we need more incentive, but obviously we’ve got to play well in enough in the conference to get a spot in the tournament,” said Aces coach Krista McKendree.
The six-team MVC tournament plays its opening rounds at campus sites before the semifinals move to UE’s Arad McCutchan Stadium on Nov. 8. The championship, broadcast last year by Fox Sports Midwest, will be played Nov. 10.
Although McCutchan Stadium is an aging facility, the Aces have had no problem fielding tournaments there in the past.
UE has hosted the women’s soccer tournament three other times, most recently in 2007, as well as the men’s championship three times and last in 2008. McCutchan Stadium has also been the site of 12 NCAA tournament matches, in all making UE’s soccer stadium home to more postseason matches than any MVC school.
“The athletic department takes care of most of it,” McKendree said. “We’ve done it so often that they’re not reinventing the wheel so to speak. They have a plan and might tweak on it here or there. I don’t want to say it’s not time intensive because the behind-the-scenes work of getting hotels and (awards) banquet stuff takes the most coordination.”
There won’t be much profit for UE in hosting a tournament in a non-revenue sport, but all games in the past were broadcast on the MVC’s “Valley Live” web channel. The championship is a regional TV broadcast.
In addition to the three women’s championship weekend games, McKendree said the men’s soccer program is planning a home game for the weekend too.
“The hope is we can create an environment that will be enjoyable for all teams, not just our team, as well as the local youth organizations and getting people to want to come out and watch high-level soccer for the whole weekend,” she said. “It needs to be something where the teams and players feel like people care and want to support the things that are going on.”
—The Missouri Valley Conference on Thursday announced that the 2013 women’s soccer tournament will take place at UE’s Arad McCutchan Stadium from Nov. 8-10. UE last served as host in 2007 and last hosted an MVC championship in 2010, when the league played its women’s golf tournament at Rolling Hills. The MVC also used McCutchan Stadium for its men’s soccer tournament in 2008. UE’s women’s soccer team shocked the MVC in 2012 when, after being picked last in the preseason poll, it won the regular-season title.
—All other MVC championship sites for the 2013-2014 year were announced as well Thursday morning. There were no major surprises, though Indiana State’s selection to host the baseball tournament drew some ire. Missouri State’s Hammons Field will be unavailable, and Omaha is no longer an option with Creighton off to the Big East Conference. But Wichita State, which hasn’t hosted since 2010, would have made a better option. “Decisions like that help Creighton look back on the MVC with no regret,” tweeted Shockers beat writer Paul Suellentrop. “From TD Ameritrade Park (in Omaha) in 2011 to Indiana State 3 years later.”
—UE’s baseball team closed its regular season with its widest margin of victory all season, routing SIU Edwardsville 16-0 in a road game Wednesday night. The Aces scored runs in seven innings, led by two homers and six RBIs by sophomore Kyle Pollock. On the mound, starting pitcher Josh Biggs allowed just one hit over six innings. The Aces finished 22-32.
—UE will start play at the MVC tournament in Normal, Ill., on Tuesday as the No. 5 seed against an opponent that’s yet to be determined. While the Aces are done with MVC play having gone 10-10, there are still series left this weekend that will determine the bracket in the double-elimination tournament.
—Expect UE to announce The Rock (Fla.) School guard Christian Benzon’s signing today, meaning coach Marty Simmons will speak for the first time on his new commitment. I spoke with Benzon earlier this week and posted his comments here. The Aces’ other signee, Padua Franciscan (Ohio) High School guard Tyler Ptacek, is still having paperwork processed (he originally signed with UNC Wilmington) and will be announced separately.
—Welcome to big-time college hoops, Wichita State. Off a Final Four run, the Shockers are now hosting guarantee games — they pay opponents to play at Koch Arena with no return game — to fill out the schedule. Next year’s guarantee games include contests against Western Kentucky and Oral Roberts. At least for the WKU game, Wichita State will dole out a reported $100,000 and get the game on an ESPN network.
—UE men’s golfer Quinn Vilneff, a junior from Ontario, made the MVC’s scholar-athlete team to extend quite a streak: the Aces have had representation on the team in each of the last nine years. Vilneff has a 3.941 grade-point average as a sports management major — the highest GPA of the nine MVC honorees — and he made all-conference as well after finishing sixth at the MVC championship earlier this month.
A friend of UE commit Christian Benzon tweeted this picture of the guard signing his binding letter of intent to the Aces’ coaching staff.
Christian Benzon tweeted Tuesday night, “It feels right being a future part of UE!”
The 6-foot-4 guard out of The Rock School in Gainesville, Fla. — a third-year Danish exchange student — then discussed with me how he ended up becoming one of two commitments secured by Aces men’s basketball coaches during the spring signing period.
UE wasn’t among your original list of interested schools. How did the coaching staff find you? “They saw me at an exposure event here (in Florida) a month ago. I was at this event and they called me. I looked up the University of Evansville and found it interesting. I was talking to the coaches, and it sounded really exciting.”
What exactly was exciting about it? “The thing that really caught me was that it’s such a small school, but they still compete at a high level. I thought that was really big. You can go there and get a great education. You can work with the teachers, and at the same time you can compete with big schools like Wichita State and Drake.”
What kind of player are you? “I would say I feel comfortable playing anywhere from one through three on the court.”
Did you get to meet your future teammates on your campus visit over the weekend? “I got to meet most of them. I didn’t meet the freshmen, but I met the other guys. They seem like good guys with great character — a bunch of sweet, good guys.”
How did you end up in the United States? “I was playing at a tournament with my Danish high school over here, and I got to talk to a head coach in Gainesville. Basically, from that point on we worked on me trying to get over here and play.”
How often do you get to go home? “The last time I was home was in July. I get home at least once a year, hopefully.”
How out of the ordinary is that for Danish players? “It’s a commitment, and I know lots of people who are doing it too. If you want to pursue what you really want to do, you’ve got to make some sacrifices. That’s one of them.”
Do you know when you’ll be on campus, and what do you want to work on this summer? “I don’t know yet, but this summer I’m hopefully going to work on my ball handling, my shooting and my physicality, I’d think.”
—Recruiting is a funny thing. Forty-eight hours ago, UE’s men’s basketball team had two scholarships open with the NCAA’s signing period running down. The Aces’ staff needed guards — one a shooter and one a slasher — but a number of options had committed elsewhere. All those problems solved themselves when The Rock (Fla.) School’s Christian Benzon and Padua Franciscan (Ohio) High School’s Tyler Ptacek both committed on Tuesday.
—The signing period does end today. Benzon confirmed with me that he’ll sign and send his binding letter of intent to UE (look for an interview with him here later). No word yet from Ptacek, but you can assume the same. After all paperwork is processed, coach Marty Simmons can announce the new recruits and discuss them with the media. That may happen today or later this week.
—The two additions give Simmons a full 13 scholarship players heading into a season for the second year in a row, assuming there will be no transfers. He accomplished it for the first time in his tenure at UE when the Aces added Egidijus Mockevicius in August 2012, and the team stayed in place until forward Jordan Jahr transferred midseason. There is only one walk-on back from last year’s team — rising sophomore Mike Leazer — so the Aces could add there as well.
—UE’s baseball team dropped its home finale and second game this season to Western Kentucky by a 7-6 score Tuesday night at Braun Stadium. The Aces led by five runs before the Hilltoppers rallied in their half of the sixth inning, which started with four straight singles and a sacrifice bunt before UE coach Wes Carroll lifted starting pitcher Cole Isom. The bullpen was good from there, allowing just one more run after the sixth, but the Aces’ offense couldn’t put together a comeback of its own.
—UE wraps up the regular season at 6 p.m. today with a road game against SIU Edwardsville. The Aces are done with Missouri Valley Conference play, and at 10-10 in the league, won’t be affected by the last round of weekend series left before they go into next week’s double-elimination tournament as the No. 5 seed.
—The Indianapolis Star’s Mark Ambrogi published another intriguing story — this one the enterprise look — at what area seventh grader Katlyn Gilbert’s commitment to the UE women’s basketball team means. Essentially, Gilbert doesn’t have to fret over finding another scholarship offer. She’s committed to UE’s staff — coach Oties Epps in particular — and should Epps leave UE before Gilbert heads to college, she would follow with her commitment to the next stop.
Tyler Ptacek
Back on Oct. 29, 2012, UE’s men’s basketball staff landed two verbal commitments in one day from high school seniors.
Aces coaches did it again Tuesday when Tyler Ptacek, a 6-foot-2 guard at Padua Franciscan (Ohio) High School and former UNC Wilmington signee, added his pledge following one earlier in the day from The Rock (Fla.) School guard Christian Benzon.
Ptacek tweeted the news just after 9 p.m. to round out what will be a five-player incoming recruiting class for UE once he and Benzon sign binding letters of intent. Both players made their decision with the NCAA’s signing period, which ends Wednesday, winding down.
Ptacek received a release from UNC Wilmington a week ago and immediately showed interest in UE as well as NCAA tournament Cinderella Florida Gulf Coast. He’s from the Cleveland suburbs not far from UE signee Duane Gibson out of Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School.
Other Aces signees include Fishers High School guard Jaylon Brown and Castle High School forward Blake Simmons, son of coach Marty Simmons.
Known for his shooting abilities, Ptacek averaged 19.2 points per game as a senior at Padua while becoming the school’s career scoring leader. Rivals.com and ESPN both rank him as a two-star prospect.
Officially committed to the University of Evansville.
— ▲†▲†▲ (@Mister_1017) May 15, 2013
Me & Boo gun make sum noise as the backcourt, putting on for the Cleveland area!
— ▲†▲†▲ (@Mister_1017) May 15, 2013
Christian Benzon
Following an official visit to UE over the weekend, combo guard Christian Benzon committed to Aces coaches this morning and will sign a binding letter of intent upon his return to The Rock School in Gainesville, Fla.
Benzon’s high school coach, Justin Harden, confirmed news that his third-year Danish exchange student will attend UE.
“He’s a really hard worker,” Harden said. “Not a great shooter, but he works extremely hard at it and all the things he needs to do to become a better player. He has a good basketball IQ — has grown a lot since he’s gotten here and become a lot tougher adapting to the American brand of basketball.”
Harden said that at 6-foot-4 and 195 pounds, Benzon is a slasher-type guard who excels in the open floor using techniques such as the Euro step, where a player picks up his dribble and moves in two different directions before taking a shot.
Benzon led The Rock in scoring as a junior but accepted a more defensive-minded role as a senior, averaging about 10 points per game on a team that played a nine-man rotation.
Schools such as South Alabama, Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast offered the two-star prospect by ESPN.com scholarships early in his recruitment. As the NCAA’s signing period wound down (it ends Wednesday), interest waned.
“Not many people were jumping at the opportunity to do it,” Harden said. “He’s been under-recruited, I guess. I don’t know how else to say it. I think he could have gone to a high-major school and had a lot of success. He’ll have immediate success at a place like Evansville. A lot of schools passed up on the opportunity to get him, and he’s going to make them pay for that.”
Benzon has a 3.7 grade-point average, lists his favorite school subject as math and served as team captain at The Rock, a private Christian school, during his junior and senior seasons.
Upon receipt of Benzon’s letter of intent, UE will have a four-player incoming recruiting class. Fishers (Ind.) High School guard Jaylon Brown, Villa Angela-St. Joseph’s (Ohio) guard Duane Gibson and Castle High School forward Blake Simmons, son of coach Marty Simmons, each signed in November.
Benzon in the news:
Dec. 15, 2011: A to Z with Christian Benzon (Gainesville.com)
Sept. 30, 2012: Dodge Florida Shootout report (sourcehoops.com)
Nov. 21, 2012: Sports Xpress recruiting Xclusive (ihigh.com)
May 1, 2013: Florida Independent all-state teams (FloridaHoops.com)
—UE’s baseball team closes the regular season this week, first with a 6 p.m. meeting today against Western Kentucky at Braun Stadium before a 6 p.m. Wednesday road game at SIU Edwardsville. The Aces are 21-31 overall and 10-10 in Missouri Valley Conference play. They’re locked into next week’s double-elimination MVC tournament as the No. 5 seed.
—The NCAA’s current signing period ends Wednesday, and though the men’s basketball staff has a pair of scholarships open, there have been no reports of commitments from available players this spring. Look for an update today or tomorrow from coach Marty Simmons on whether the Aces plan to fill either of those spots.
—UE athletic director John Stanley reflected last week on his teams’ performances during the 2012-2013 academic year and explained what comes next for the Aces this summer in a Q&A with the Courier & Press.
—There are still four days left to take the athletic department’s survey regarding men’s basketball game day experiences. After attendance at the Ford Center dipped significantly from year one to year two, I wrote last weekend how UE plans to use those results.
—The newest trend in social media is Vine, a mobile-based app that allows users to upload quick video clips — for instance, UE signee Jaylon Brown throwing down some one-handed dunks or the Aces women’s basketball team during summer workouts that started last week.
—UE softball players and coaches preached all season that they had the type of team that could make some noise in the postseason. The Aces (23-30) did in their run to the Missouri Valley Conference tournament title game last weekend, where they led Northern Iowa 1-0 on Saturday before the Panthers rallied with two runs in the sixth inning to take the MVC’s automatic NCAA bid. UE’s three MVC tournament victories this year were the first under coach Mark Redburn as well as the program’s first since 2004.
