Life in the Valley

Three Missouri Valley Conference teams got wins over Big 10 opponents Tuesday, as Evansville (Purdue), Illinois State (Illinois), and Indiana State (Indiana) all took down perceived big brothers in their states. Here’s a quick recap of those and the other 5 games in The Valley on Tuesday.

Indiana State 4, Indiana 0
Cameron Holycross pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just 3 hits with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts, leading a trio of Sycamore pitchers to an 8-hit combined shutout of the Indiana Hoosiers (20-9). Indiana State (15-12) had Jared Spencer close the game, picking up a 3-out save while allowing 3 hits and striking out 2. Josue Urdaneta and Adam Pottinger each had 2 hits for Indiana State while Randal Diaz and Luis Hernandez homered.

Illinois State 12, Illinois 9
The Redbirds (10-13) went to Champaign-Urbana and knocked off the Fighting Illini (12-13) behind 4 hits from Noah Rabin (2 R, 2 RBIs) and homers from Adrian Flores, Auggie Rasmussen, and Luke Lawrence. Tyrelle Chadwick got the win for Illinois State, while Elijah Dale pitched 2 hitless, scoreless innings to get the save. Rasmussen and Flores each hit 3-run homers in Illinois State’s 6-run 2nd inning.

Evansville 12, Purdue 10
UE (17-11) shook off a 4-game losing streak and an 8-2 deficit to overpower the Boilermakers, 12-10. Purdue (12-15) scored 8 runs in the 2nd inning to take an 8-2 lead, 3 of which came on a Connor Cask3nette homer. But Chase Hug and the Purple Aces fought back. Hug homered and scored all 4 times he reached base (3 hits, 1 walk). Evan Waggoner and Ty Rumsey also homered for Evansville, which took the lead for good in the 8th inning on Hug’s double that scored Danny Borgstrom to make it 11-10. John McCauley and Nate Hardman pitched the final 2 scoreless innings to secure the win. UE has won 7 straight vs. Big 10 opponents and has the longest road winning streak (9 games) in the country, per UE Sports Information.

Kansas 9, Missouri State 8 (10)
The Bears (13-14) took on a Big of a different type, visiting Kansas (13-14) out of the Big 12. Missouri State led an 8-2 lead slip away, as well, falling in 10 innings, 9-8, when KU’s Janson Redder struck out, reached on a wild pitch, and Jackson Kline scored. Spencer Nivens and Nick Rodriguez homered for Missouri State. Nivens also tripled.

Belmont 9, Tennessee Tech 4
Leading 5-3 after just 3 innings, Belmont (18-12) scored 4 runs in the 8th inning to finally put Tennessee Tech (9-18) away, 9-4. Ethan Harden’s 2-run single was the big blow in the 8th. Blake Barton, Brodey Heaton, and Jack Rando all had 2 hits for the Bruins, while Sam Slaughter homered. Cade Granzow pitched 3 scoreless innings to get the win.

Murray State 11, Southeast Missouri State 8
The Racers (15-14) scored 2 runs in each of the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings to down SEMO, 11-8, Tuesday. Jacob Pennington singled in 2 in the 6th as part of a 3-RBI game. Riley Hawthorne’s 2-run single in the 7th came as part of his 3-hit day. He also scored twice. In the 8th, Gunnar Bingham tripled home 2 runs. Murray State used 6 pitchers in the win. Thomas McNabb went 2 2/3 innings to get the win, giving up 0 runs on 2 hits with 0 walks and 4 strikeouts. SEMO, which plays so many Valley teams it should be in the conference, fell to 16-15.

Southern Illinois 14, Lindenwood 2
SIU welcomed a porous Lindenwood side to Carbondale and beat them, 14-2, as the visitors had more errors (3) than runs. Leadoff man Nathan Bandy had a big day for the Salukis, bashing a double and homer while driving in 4 runs. Steven Loden homered and drove in 3, while Pier-Olivier Boucher’s bat continued to sizzle. Boucher went 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored. Jake Combs got the win for a perfect 1st inning, then gave way as SIU used 5 relievers in the blowout. This is Lindenwold’s first season in Division I and it is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference with a 5-24 record. Their wins have come over Nicholls, Minnesota State-Mankato, South Dakota State, and 2 over fellow D-1 debutant Southern Indiana in a conference series.

UIC 6, Northern Illinois 3
The Flames improved to 11-13 on the season by doubling up a struggling NIU (5-22) squad. Every UIC run scored on either a single or a sacrifice fly. Rayth Petersen went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs in the win. Jackson Bessette went 2-for-4 with 2 runs and 3 RBIs. Zak Gould was given a long leash in a midweek start, going 5 innings. He rewarded the opportunity, allowing just 1 run on 2 hits with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts. Gould is 4-1 on the season and the 5 innings tied a season-long outing, matching his start vs. Northwestern on March 7, in which Gould also recorded a victory.

Today in The Valley

There are just 2 games in The Valley on Wednesday, but the Big 10 theme continues as Bradley hosts Iowa (20-6). The Hawkeyes are 1-3 in their last 4 but had won 9 straight games prior to that. In the only other game today, Illinois State visits Western Illinois (3-20, 0-3 Summit League). WIU has lost 9 straight, but their 2 wins prior to that both came against current Valley co-leaders Belmont. Like Lindenwood, Western Illinois’ other victory this season came against Southern Indiana.