Life in the Valley

Evansville, Indiana State, and Southern Illinois all rode perfect weekends to the top of the Missouri Valley Conference baseball standings. UE, winners of 9 straight and 16 of 18, downed Missouri State, 7-4, to finish off a road sweep of the Bears. The Sycamores used a doubleheader sweep of Valparaiso to get to 3-0 in the conference and 11-11 on the season overall. SIU finished off a weekend sweep of UIC with an 11-5 win on Sunday.

Here’s a look at all of Sunday’s action.

Braves, Racers Split Sunday Doubleheader

T. J. Manteufel hit a 2-run homer in the 6th inning to lift Bradley past Murray State in Game 1, 4-3. Manteufel also singled and stole a base in the win. Bradley’s Connor O’Brien had 3 hits in the win. Noah Edders pitched 4 1/3 innings of 4-hit, shutout relief to get the win. In the nightcap, Murray State broke open a 3-1 game with 4 runs in each of the 5th and 6th innings to claim an 11-1 victory. The 2/3/4 hitters in the Racer order – Dustin Mercer, Brennan McCullough, and Carson Garner – combined to go 7-for-10 with 7 runs and 7 RBIs. Mercer homered twice. Bryce Valero pitched 6 innings and struck out 7 to get the win.

Sycamores Sweep Pair from Beacons

Indiana State’s season of streaks continued as the Sycamores have now won 3 straight – after losing 3 straight, after winning 6 straight, after losing 7 straight – as ISU swept Valpo with 7-2 and 4-2 wins on Sunday. Mike Sears homered twice in the opener, driving in 4 runs. He hit a 3-run homer in the 6th and a solo shot in the 8th. Connor Fenlong won the starting pitcher battle of Connors, downing Valpo’s Connor Lockwood. Fenlong gave up 2 runs on 6 hits over 7 innings with 1 walk and 5 strikeouts. Lockwood fanned 6 in 6 innings but gave up 6 runs on 7 hits. Cameron Haycross pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to win Game 2 for Indiana State. Seth Gergely had 2 hits and is hitting .348 for the season.

Purple Aces Win 9th Straight, Sweep Bears

Leadoff hitter Eric Roberts homered twice and drove in 5 runs as Evansville defeated Missouri State, 7-4, completing a road sweep. Roberts leads the Purple Aces with 9 home runs, while Evansville homered 10 times in the 3 weekend wins. Roberts has driven in 32 runs in 23 games. The Purple Aces are averaging nearly 7.5 runs per game. Donovan Schultz improved to 4-1 on the season by going 5 innings, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. Schultz has a 2.81 ERA and has struck out 30 in 32 innings.

Southern Illinois Aluminum Company Pummels UIC

SIU moved to 3-0 in the conference and got back to .500 overall (12-12) with a 13-5 victory over UIC. The Salukis hit 6 homers, 2 off the bat of Matt Schark, along with blasts from Cole Christman, Nathan Bandy, Pier-Olivier Boucher, and Steven Loden, which was Loden’s team-leading 7th of the season. Loden also leads SIU in RBIs with 22. Christman is hitting .361 and sports a team-leading 1.192 OPS. SIU has outhomered its opponents this season, 35-22. Both of Schark’s homers were 3-run shots. James Harris and Charlie Szykowny homered for the Flames.

Redbirds Salvage Finale at Belmont

Illinois State avoided a winless start to its Valley campaign with an 11-7 victory at Belmont Sunday. The game was your stereotypical Sunday slugfest, as the teams combined for 29 hits and 18 runs, though there were only 2 home runs – Dylan Swarmer for the Redbirds and Mason Landers for the Bruins. Belmont lost despite hitting 7 doubles – Jack Rando and Sam Kirkpatrick hit 2 each. ISU’s Auggie Rasmussen had 4 hits, all singles, and scored 3 runs. Eric Kubiatowicz got the win for the Redbirds, going 3 innings with 1 run and 3 hits allowed, striking out 3.