Wikipedia

Evansville Purple Aces baseball

The Evansville Purple Aces baseball team represents the University of Evansville in NCAA Division I college baseball. The Purple Aces have competed in the Missouri Valley Conference since 1995. The Purple Aces play all home games on German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium. The team competed in two NCAA Division II baseball tournaments before they started competing in Division I in 1995. Since then they have competed in four NCAA Division I baseball tournaments and have won one regional championship.

Evansville Purple Aces
2024 Evansville Purple Aces baseball team
Founded1924
Overall record1,565–1,509–12
UniversityUniversity of Evansville
Head coachWes Carroll (17th season)
ConferenceMissouri Valley
LocationEvansville, Indiana
Home stadiumCharles H. Braun Stadium
(Capacity: 1,200)
NicknamePurple Aces
ColorsPurple, white, and orange[1]
     
NCAA regional champions
2024
NCAA Tournament appearances
1975, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2006, 2024
Conference tournament champions
1988, 1990, 2006, 2024
Regular season conference champions
1951, 1975, 1976, 1988, 1990, 1991, 2006, 2014
Conference division champions
1988, 1989, 1990

History

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Conference history

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1924–26: Harmon era

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The first officially sanctioned Evansville College baseball team was formed in 1924. John Harmon was hired as the first head coach of the then-Evansville College Pioneers. Their first game was against Bethel College, which led to a 5–4 Pioneers victory, marking their first in school history. The Pioneers would finish their inaugural season with a 3–6 record. Harmon would lead the Pioneers to a 5–2 record the following season, their first winning season in school history. In 1926, the "Pioneers" nickname was switched to the "Aces" with popular support. During the same year, the team regressed to 4–10. This was also the last season before the college discontinued the program.

1946: Henke era

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In 1946, Emerson Henke was hired as the head coach to reconstruct the Purple Aces baseball program. In their return season, Henke led the team to a 0–5 record before being fired at the end of the year. Henke is the only Evansville coach to be fired after not winning a game and owns the title for shortest-tenured coach in school history.

1947–66: Ping era

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Before the 1947 season, Evansville football coach Don Ping was hired as the Purple Aces baseball coach. In his first season with the team, the Aces went 3–4 before improving to 7–4–1 in 1948. After finishing 5–6–1 in 1949 and 6–5 in 1950, Evansville joined the Indiana Collegiate Conference (ICC) before the start of the 1951 season. Evansville finished their first ICC season with a 7–4–1 winning their first regular season conference championship. Ping would coach the Aces baseball team for another 15 seasons without any postseason success. He compiled a 93–119–5 record and became the first Aces head coach to reach the 90-win mark.

1967–69: Daviess era

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In 1967, Dave Daviess was hired as the new baseball coach to replace Ping. In his first season, the Aces compiled a 3–8 record while playing some low-level non-conference opponents. The following season, Daviess' group regressed to 4–9 but played slightly better than the previous years. In 1969, the Aces finished with a 9–7–1 which was their best finish since they went 12–3–1 in 1956. Daviess stepped down from being the baseball coach before the 1970 season. He compiled a 16–24–1 record in three seasons with the team.

1970–74: Boultinghouse era

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Wayne Boultinghouse was hired as the head baseball coach before the 1970 season. He would help the Aces to a 7–7 record in his first year but the team would regress to 3–12 the next year. In 1972, the Aces would finally play their first full schedule of games as they finished with a 14–15–2 record while playing 12 series against high-ranking opponents. In 1974, the Aces would finish with a program-best 35–21 record. After the season, Boultinghouse would step down from his position after compiling an 80–66–2 record in five years.

1975–76: Hodges era

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In 1975, Bob Hodges was hired as the head baseball coach. His first season would prove to be more than successful. He led the team to a 17–12 regular season record, helping the Aces win their first ICC regular season championship in 24 years. For this, the Aces got an automatic berth to the 1975 NCAA Division II Mideast Regional. After losing to SIU Edwardsville and Wright State, the Aces were eliminated with a 17–14 record. The Aces would continue to be successful the next year, earning another ICC regular season championship while earning a spot in the 1976 NCAA Division II Mideast Regional. The Aces would go 0–2 in the tournament losing to Wright State again and Eastern Illinois. The Aces ended the year with a 21–16 record. After two years with the team and a 38–30 record, Hodges stepped down from his coaching position.

1977–78: Platt era

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In 1977, Mike Platt was hired to be the newest baseball coach for the Purple Aces. In his first season, he helped the Aces to a 22–18 record before going 13–29 the following season. Platt was fired following the 1978 season. In two years he went 35–47 as the head coach.

1979: Crum era

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Gary Crum was hired as the next head coach of the Purple Aces in 1979. After going 4–27, Crum was fired.

1980–02: Brownlee era

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In 1980, Evansville made a risky decision by hiring former Illinois State baseball player Jim Brownlee as their next head coach. Brownlee had previously been the head baseball coach of Princeton Community High School in Princeton, Indiana and had little college coaching experience. This was evident after Evansville finished with a 7–37–1 in his first season.

Before the 1981 season, Evansville joined the Midwestern City Conference (MCC) – now known as the Horizon League – in hopes of better competition. Evansville struggled in the conference until 1985 when they went 38–26 overall and 7–5 in the conference. Brownlee was named MCC Coach of the Year and Pat Heck won MCC Player of the Year, marking the first time in school history that a coach or player won such awards.

Evansville won the MCC regular season divisional and conference championship during the 1988 season after compiling an 11–1 record in conference play. After losing in the first round of the MCC Tournament, Evansville fought to beat Detroit Mercy twice to win the tournament. Brad Tyler was named MCC Tournament Most Valuable Player. They were then given an automatic berth to the 1988 NCAA Division I Tempe Regional. Evansville would upset the eventual College World Series runner-ups in No. 1 Arizona State in the first round but would lose back-to-back games against No. 4 UNLV and No. 3 Central Michigan to be eliminated. Pitcher Andy Benes became the first Aces player to be named Consensus All-American while also being awarded MCC Player of the Year, Baseball America Pitcher of the Year, Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year, and was named the inaugural Rotary Smith Award recipient. Brownlee was also named MCC Coach of the Year. Evansville finished the season with a program-best 44–20 record, a school record that still stands as of 2024.

2003–06: Schrage era

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2007–08: Seifert era

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2009–: Carroll era

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Championships

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Conference tournament championships

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Season Conference Coach Opponent Score(s)
1988 MCC Jim Brownlee Detroit Mercy 7–0, 9–4
1990 Notre Dame 8–7
2006 MVC Dave Schrage Missouri State 8–4, 2–1
2024 Wes Carroll Indiana State 8–6
Conference Tournament Championships: 4

Conference regular season championships

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Season Conference Coach Overall Conference
1951 ICC Don Ping 7–9 6–2
1975 Bob Hodges 17–14 10–2
1976 21–16 10–2
1988 MCC Jim Brownlee 44–20 11–1
1990 27–25 11–3
1991 40–18–1 19–5
2006 MVC Dave Schrage 43–22 16–8
2014 Wes Carroll 34–21 15–6
Conference Regular Season Championships: 8

Division regular season championships

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Season Division Coach Overall Conference
1988 MCC South Jim Brownlee 44–20 11–1
1989 30–26 12–3
1990 27–25 11–3
Division Regular Season Championships: 3

All-time records

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Head coaches

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Tenure Coach Seasons Record Pct.
1924–1926 John Harmon 3 12–18 .400
1946 Emerson Henke 1 0–5 .000
1947–1966 Don Ping 21 93–119–5 .440
1967–1969 Dave Daviess 3 16–24–1 .402
1970–1974 Wayne Boultinghouse 5 80–66–3 .547
1975–1976 Bob Hodges 2 38–30 .559
1977–1978 Mike Platt 2 35–47 .427
1979 Gary Crum 1 4–27 .129
1980–2002 Jim Brownlee 23 680–565–4 .546
2003–2006 Dave Schrage 4 130–108 .546
2007–2008 David Seifert 2 49–65 .430
2009–present Wes Carroll 16 428–434 .497

NCAA tournament

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Year Record Pct. Notes
1975 0–2 .000 Mideast Regional
1976 0–2 .000 Mideast Regional
1988 1–2 .333 Tempe Regional
2000 1–2 .333 Tallahassee Regional
2006 4–2 .667 Charlottesville Regional
2024 4–3 .571 Knoxville Super Regional

Players and coaches

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National awards

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Conference awards

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Team awards

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Evansville Purple Aces – 2016, 2022, 2023, 2024

Retired numbers

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No. Member Position Career
6 Jim Brownlee Head coach 1980–2002
23 Jamey Carroll Infielder 1994–1996
30 Andy Benes Pitcher 1986-1988

No-hitters thrown

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No. Date Pitcher Opponent RS RA Notes
1 April 7, 1990 Gerry Croarkin (7 IP) Butler 4 1
2 May 13, 2000 Vince Serafini (7 IP) Missouri State 3 0
3 April 10, 2005 Fred Jones (7 IP) Northern Iowa 10 0
4 May 2, 2009 Keegan Dennis (7 IP) SIU Edwardsville 9 0

Facilities

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Bosse Field

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Main article: Bosse Field

Bosse Field is a baseball stadium in Evansville, Indiana. It was the home of the University of Evansville Purple Aces baseball team from 1985 to 1998.

Charles H. Braun Stadium

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Main article: German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium

German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium is a baseball stadium in Evansville, Indiana. It has been the home stadium of the University of Evansville Purple Aces baseball team since 1999. In 2020, the field was named after the German American Bank due to its contributions to the 2019 renovations.

Rivalries

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Indiana State

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Aces in the MLB

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Year Player Rnd. No. Team
1984 Mike Goedde 4 82 Cincinnati Reds
1987 Darren Niethammer 16 415 Texas Rangers
1988 Andy Benes 1 1 San Diego Padres
Rob Maurer 6 141 Texas Rangers
1990 Brad Tyler 6 175 Baltimore Orioles
1991 John MacCauley 35 930 Chicago White Sox
1992 Jeff Tenbarge 6 153 Houston Astros
1993 Curtis Broome 22 621 Chicago White Sox
Sal Fasano 37 1,029 Kansas City Royals
Greg Willming 42 1,179 Texas Rangers
1994 Chris Helfrich 36 989 Oakland Athletics
1995 Adam Benes 20 547 St. Louis Cardinals
Jason Imrisek 43 1,206 New York Yankees
1996 Jamey Carroll 14 400 Montreal Expos
Mike Zywica 24 713 Texas Rangers
1997 Chris Luttig 17 512 Pittsburgh Pirates
1998 Brian McMillin 31 919 Minnesota Twins
1999 John Kremer 19 591 New York Yankees
2000 Ryan Miller 9 261 Milwaukee Brewers
2001 Preston Larrison 2 55 Detroit Tigers
Vince Serafini 6 167 Minnesota Twins
Wes Carroll 37 1,100 Philadelphia Phillies
Matt Serafini 43 1,284 Milwaukee Brewers
2002 Steve Obenchain 1S 37 Oakland Athletics
Blake Whealy 13 387 New York Mets
Andy Rohleder 24 713 Florida Marlins
Joey Vandever 43 1,301 St. Louis Cardinals
2004 Cody Strait 12 348 Cincinnati Reds
2005 Erik Lis 9 285 Minnesota Twins
Michael Greenhouse 28 850 Chicago Cubs
2006 Adam Rogers 31 930 Toronto Blue Jays
2007 Ben Norton 24 726 Kansas City Royals
Kirk Bacsu 32 982 Philadelphia Philies
Fred Jones 33 1,021 New York Yankees
Kai Tuomi 40 1,197 Washington Nationals
2009 Wade Kapteyn 24 720 Detroit Tigers
2011 Cody Fick 23 721 Philadelphia Phillies
2012 Eric Stamets 6 207 Los Angeles Angels
2013 Kyle Lloyd 29 868 San Diego Padres
2014 Kyle Freeland 1 8 Colorado Rockies
Kyle Pollock 20 603 Kansas City Royals
Sam Johns 31 934 Washington Nationals

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Missouri Valley Conference Style Guide (PDF). August 29, 2022. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
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