The Saluki baseball team ended its season Friday with a 3-2 loss to Evansville’s Purple Aces in the Missouri Valley Conference Championship Tournament.

In the fourth inning sophomore infielder Logan Blackfan hit a home run, giving the fifth-seeded Salukis a 1-0 lead. The lead was lost when the Purple Aces’ junior infielder Trey Hair hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning, making the score 3-1.

Sophomore pinch-hitter Hunter Anderson started a short rally in the ninth with a home run, but Evansville sophomore Ryan Brady got the next three batters out, ending the game. 

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“I thought that out effort was great, we just couldn’t get anything going on offense,” head coach Ken Henderson told Saluki Athletics. 

The Saluki offense finished with five hits. SIU junior Joey Marciano pitched six innings, allowing three runs on eight hits and three strikeouts. 

“I am so proud of our guys and what they did this season,” Henderson said. “They played their rear ends off and we made huge strides. They should be proud about what they accomplished.”

This game concludes the 2016 season for the team, ending with a 31-25-1 record — 19 more wins than 2015.

The fourth-seeded Aces face top-seeded Dallas Baptist on Friday.

Brey Mong Delane can be reached at [email protected] or 618-536-3397.