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.
History Conference history Independent (1924–1926; 1946–1950) Indiana Collegiate Conference (1951–1978) Independent (1979–1980) Midwestern City / Midwestern Collegiate Conference (1981–1994) South Division (1981–1990) Missouri Valley Conference (1995–present)
1924–26: Harmon era 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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
2007–08: Seifert era
2009–: Carroll era
Championships Conference tournament championships 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 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 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 Head coaches 1924–1926 John Harmon 3 12–18 1946 Emerson Henke 1 0–5 1947–1966 Don Ping 21 93–119–5 1967–1969 Dave Daviess 3 16–24–1 1970–1974 Wayne Boultinghouse 5 80–66–3 1975–1976 Bob Hodges 2 38–30 1977–1978 Mike Platt 2 35–47 1979 Gary Crum 1 4–27 1980–2002 Jim Brownlee 23 680–565–4 2003–2006 Dave Schrage 4 130–108 2007–2008 David Seifert 2 49–65 2009–present Wes Carroll 16 428–434
NCAA tournament YearRecordPct.Notes 1975 0–2 Mideast Regional 1976 0–2 Mideast Regional 1988 1–2 Tempe Regional 2000 1–2 Tallahassee Regional 2006 4–2 Charlottesville Regional 2024 4–3 Knoxville Super Regional
Players and coaches National awards
Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year Andy Benes – 1988
Baseball America Pitcher of the Year Andy Benes – 1988
Rotary Smith Award Andy Benes – 1988
Academic All-American of the Year Aaron Gries – 1993
NCAA Regional Tournament MOP Kip Fougerousse – 2024
ABCA/ATEC Regional Coach of the Year Wes Carroll – 2024
Conference awards
MCC Player of the Year Pat Heck – 1985 Andy Benes – 1988 John MacCauley – 1991 Pat Schulz – 1992
MCC Coach of the Year Jim Brownlee – 1985, 1988, 1991
MCC Coleman Award Pat Heck – 1985 Aaron Gries – 1993 Willie Glen – 2001
MCC Tournament MVP Brad Tyler – 1988 Jeff Breivogel – 1990
MVC Coach of the Year Jim Brownlee – 2000 Dave Schrage – 2006 Wes Carroll – 2014, 2022
MVC Pitcher of the Year Ryan Smith – 2000 Kyle Freeland – 2014 Nick Smith – 2022
MVC Newcomer of the Year Cody Strait – 2004 Ben Norton – 2006
MVC Tournament MOP Kasey Wahl – 2006 Cal McGinnis – 2024
MVC Freshman of the Year Eric Stamets – 2010 Kenton Deverman – 2024
MVC Defensive Player of the Year Eric Stamets – 2012
MVC Player of the Year Kevin Kaczmarski – 2015
Team awards ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award Evansville Purple Aces – 2016, 2022, 2023, 2024
Retired numbers 6 Jim Brownlee Head coach 1980–2002 23 Jamey Carroll Infielder 1994–1996 30 Andy Benes Pitcher 1986-1988
No-hitters thrown 1 April 7, 1990 Gerry Croarkin Butler 4 1 2 May 13, 2000 Vince Serafini Missouri State 3 0 3 April 10, 2005 Fred Jones Northern Iowa 10 0 4 May 2, 2009 Keegan Dennis SIU Edwardsville 9 0
Facilities 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
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 Indiana State
Aces in the MLB 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 List of NCAA Division I baseball programs
References