Evans Resets Career-High with 14 K's, Dawgs Suffer 6-5 loss in 10

Friday, April 10

Evansville, IN

7 PM

Southern Illinois University

12-20, 3-4

Evansville

12-19, 5-2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Southern Ill.	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	11	1
Evansville	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	6	9	3

Catcher Mason Schwalbach (17) awaits a pitch during SIU's 10-0 win over Utah Tech Friday, March 27, 2026, at Itchy Jones Stadium in Carbondale, Ill.

Photo by: Zuzanna Gaik

Evans Resets Career-High with 14 K's, Dawgs Suffer 6-5 loss in 10

04/10/2026 | 11:40:00 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Jordan Kruse, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Despite Andrew Evans' 14 strikeouts, Southern Illinois could not finish the job in a tough 6-5 loss at Evansville Friday night. The mark was the most by a Saluki pitcher since Brad Harrison struck out 13 on March 6, 2018.

The SIU offense strung together three straight hits and scored the game's first run on an RBI single from Tim Simay. Kaleb Hall added another on a fielder's choice, and Jackson Dibble capped the strong opening frame with a two-out RBI single.

Simay tallied his second run-scoring single in the second to put SIU up 4-0 after two.

Evans was nearly flawless on the night, save a slight hiccup in the third inning. UE's Reagan Reeder became just the second opposing player to hit a home run off of Evans, and his solo shot got the Purple Aces on the board. One of Evans' strikeouts ended up as a wild pitch, and it allowed a runner to reach base and eventually score after UE had three more hits in the inning. A third one came in to score with two away, and while SIU still led, Evans appeared mortal, and the Purple Aces came within just one run.

The SIU offense could not add on, but Evans found a different gear in his final three innings of work. Reeder singled with one out in the fourth before Evans proceeded to retire the next eight batters he faced while striking out seven of them to bring his nightly total to a career-high 14. The Olathe, Kan., native left the game with a quality start, throwing 6.0 innings on 108 pitches, striking out 14, and allowing three earned runs on six hits, and did not walk a single batter for the first time since Feb. 20.

Both offenses stayed silent into the late innings, with SIU squandering the best chance to score as runners were on second and third with nobody out in the seventh, but to no avail.

Dawson Hargrove relieved Evans and retired the first six batters he faced before being brought back out for the ninth. With a runner on first, down to their last strike and trailing 4-3, UE's Reeder continued his night as the thorn in Southern's side by lifting a ball over center fielder Jackson Dibble's head to score the tying run and eventually send the game to extra innings.

SIU quickly loaded the bases in the tenth, and Cecil Lofton's infield grounder forced an Evansville error, ending his team's seven-inning scoring drought and giving them a 5-4 lead. The Salukis could not add on, but were back in front with another chance to put the game away.

An all too familiar sight plagued SIU in the bottom of the tenth, as a hit-by-pitch, a passed ball and a walk put immediate pressure on Jack MacIntosh. After a conversation with Head Coach Lance Rhodes, MacIntosh struck out the next batter and induced a groundout, needing to make just one pitch to close the game. A hit-by-pitch forced him from the game in favor of Dylan Petrey, who came into the game with the bases loaded, two outs and a one-run lead. On a slow roller in the infield, third baseman Jaden Flores needed to make a quick play, and after bobbling the grounder, threw the ball away, allowing for two runners to come around and score, and hand Evansville the series opening win.

MacIntosh (L, 3-5) was tagged with the loss.

As a team, Southern had 19 strikeouts, the most since Feb. 27, 2021, at Mercer when they struck out 17.

UP NEXT
The Salukis will try to even up the series Saturday at 2 p.m.

FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on Twitter at @SIU_Baseball, on Facebook at Facebook.com/SalukiBaseball, and on Instagram at @SIU_Baseball. Fans can also download the Salukis Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.