Life in the Valley

It was a good Tuesday in The Valley, as 4 MVC teams were victorious and the only one that played and lost, Belmont, was beaten by the 6th-ranked team in the country, Vanderbilt. Here are Tuesday’s quick recaps.

SIU Gets Past UT-Martin Late

Southern Illinois (7-10) broke open a 2-2 tie with 3 runs in the 8th inning and 1 in the 9th to defeat UT-Martin, 6-2. Steven Loden’s 2-run double in the 8th gave SIU the lead for good. Cole Christman’s sac fly made it 5-2. In the 9th, Nathan Bandy (3-for-5) scored on a wild pitch to complete the scoring.

Starter Jake Combs pitched 6 1/3 strong innings. He allowed just 2 runs on 7 hits with 0 walks and 6 strikeouts. He got 19 outs on 77 pitches (4.05 ppo). Combs lowered his ERA to 3.72 and he’s allowed just 3 earned runs in his last 2 appearances, a total of 11 1/3 innings. Reliever Matthew Steidl got the win, improving to 1-4. He pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings with 2 strikeouts.

Bears Smash SEMO

Cody Kelly’s 3-run homer capped off a 6-run 8th inning that saw Missouri State race away from SE Missouri State, 11-1. The Bears improved to 10-5 with the win. Kelly and Spencer Nivens (triple, stolen base) each had 2 hits to pace Missouri State. Taeg Gollert doubled and drove in 3 runs.

The Bears used 7 pitchers in the victory, the most impressive of which was reliever Tyler Tscherter, who pitched 3 scoreless innings with 0 walks. He struck out 7 of the 11 batters he faced. Tscherter got the win to improve to 3-0 on the season with a 2.08 ERA. He also sports a microscopic 0.92 WHIP. Opposing batters are hitting just .182 against the right-handed redshirt sophomore from Reinbeck, Iowa.

Bland Homers; Sammons Knocks in 3 as Murray State Wins

Logan Bland homered to tie the game at 2-2 in the 4th inning and Cade Sammons capped a 3-RBI game with a 2-run single in the 5th inning to put Murray State up 7-2, and the Racers cruised to a 9-6 win at North Alabama. The Racers improved to 7-10 with the victory. Murray State has won 3 of its last 4.

Drew Vogel doubled, scored twice, and drove in 2 runs for Murray State, which hosts Division-I newcomer Southern Indiana this weekend for 3 games. Matt Boynton threw 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to get the win as the Racers used 6 pitchers. Ben Krizen pitched 2 scoreless innings to get his 2nd save of the season.

UIC Back to .500 After Beating Milwaukee

Jackson Bessette and Charlie Szykowny both hit 2-run singles in a 4-run 8th inning to lift Illinois-Chicago past Milwaukee, 8-4, on Tuesday. Bessette’s single was as a pinch-hitter and he scored on Szykowny’s single.

The third of three UIC pitchers, Tyler Ingram, got the win, throwing the final 3 innings. He didn’t allow any runs on 3 hits with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts, recording 9 outs on 41 pitches (4.56 ppo). The 3 Flames pitchers (Ingram, Ryan Karst, and Zak Gould) combined to walk just 2 and strikeout 5 over 9 innings with each throwing 3 each.

Commodores Grab Early Lead and Never Look Back

Sixth-ranked Vanderbilt scored 4 runs in the top of the 1st inning and maintained the lead throughout, pulling away to beat Belmont, 15-6. The Bruins answered Vandy’s early surge with 2 runs of its own in the 1st, scoring both on a single by Drew Lowry. But by the time the Bruins (7-11) scored again, on Jack Rando’s 7th-inning solo homer, it was only enough to cut Vanderbilt’s lead to 9-3. It was 9-5 after 7 innings, but the Commodores (13-5) scored 3 runs each in the 8th and 9th innings to extinguish any Belmont comeback hopes.

Sam Kirkpatrick went 3-for-6 with 2 runs to lead Belmont’s offense. Vanderbilt’s R.J. Austin had a 4-hit game, with a double, run, and 2 RBIs.