Life in the Valley

Indiana State won its Friday opener at Belmont, 2-1, as Sycamores ace Matt Jachec went 7 innings, striking out 11, and allowing 1 unearned run on 7 hits with 0 walks. He threw 111 pitches, and managed to work through a delay late in his outing when a piece of the artificial-turf Belmont pitching mound tore from its base.

Jachec, who improved to 4-2 on the season with a 3.25 ERA, confounded Belmont hitters with pitches that seemed tasty and hittable to the Bruins’ batters, but Jachec’s pitches weren’t what they seemed. Often, the high breakers moved at the top of the zone, or dropped and curved downward, leaving Belmont hitters to struggle. Belmont’s first two hits were opposite-field singles in the opening 2 innings by Mason Landers and Sam Slaughter, but Jachec got out of both situations, including Slaughter being nabbed stealing at second base to end the 2nd inning.

To that point, Belmont ace Andy Bean had been almost every bit as good, retiring the first 6 Sycamores he faced on 27 pitches (22 strikes). Through the first 2 innings, Jachec and Bean combined to throw just 47 pitches to get 12 outs, and 37 of those pitches were strikes.

But Indiana State’s offense fired the first significant shot in the 3rd inning. With 0 outs, Adam Pottinger homered to right field on a 2-2 pitch. It was Pottinger’s 5th homer of the season and 14th RBI. Bean then retired the next 8 men he faced before a 2-out walk to Pottinger in the 5th, but Bean got Henry Brown to pop out to end the inning.

The only time Belmont scratched anything across against Jachec came in the 4th. After a Landers single, he moved to 2nd on an errant pickoff throw from Jachec. Brodey Heaton later singled home Landers to tie the game.

In the 6th, however, Indiana State took the lead for good. With Seth Gergely at 1st base after a fielder’s choice, Luis Hernandez doubled to right. Slaughter threw in toward the infield to keep Gergely at 3rd base, but the ball wasn’t fielded and rolled all the way to the dugout, allowing Gergely to score on what was scored as a double and an error by Heaton at first base.

Bean (3-5) finished 7 2/3 innings, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits with 1 walk and 5 strikeouts. He threw 111 pitches and lowered his season ERA to 2.96. Between Bean and Jachec, 68% of the 222 pitches they threw (111 each) were strikes. The matchup mostly lived up to the hype as potentially the two best starters in The Valley faced off. Hopefully they may meet again in the conference tournament. But more pressing matters await as the Sycamores and Bruins play Game 2 of their weekend series at 2 p.m Central time on Saturday. The game isn’t scheduled to be shown on ESPN+, but can be heard on iHeart radio.

The win improved Indiana State to 20-12, 9-1 on the season, while Belmont fell to 19-16, 5-5.

Here’s a look at the rest of the action in The Valley Friday night:

Evansville 10, Southern Illinois 2
The Salukis fell to 2nd place in The Valley, 1 game behind Indiana State, after suffering a 10-2 setback at home to Evansville. Down 1-0 in the 3rd inning, the Purple Aces scored 5 runs to take control of the game – 3 on a home run by Mark Shallenberger. In the 5th inning, Shallenberger hit a 2-run homer, and he ended up driving in 6 runs on the night and had 10 total bases. Shallenberger, who was 1st-team all-MVC in the outfield last season, was playing in just his 5th game of the season. But his bat is just another big one in a talented UE lineup. Nick Smith started and got the win, improving to 3-3 on the season. He worked 5 innings, allowing 1 run on 5 hits. SIU fell to 20-14, 8-2; while UE improved to 20-13, 6-4.

Murray State 7, Illinois State 4
Jacob Pennington got his 5th win of the season, Dustin Mercer doubled and had 3 hits, and Drew Vogel hit 2 solo home runs to power Murray State past Illinois State, 7-4, in their series opener. Vogel homered in the 4th and 9th innings, giving him 3 for the season with 21 RBIs. Pennington pitched 5 innings, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits with 3 strikeouts. Ben Krizen worked 2 scoreless innings for his 4th save. Illinois State starter Derek Salata fanned 6 in 5 innings to give him 59 strikeouts for the season. Murray State improved to 17-17, 5-5; while Illinois State slipped to 10-18, 2-8.

Missouri State 6, Illinois-Chicago 2
The Bears kept pace with Evansville for a 3rd-place tie in The Valley at 6-4 after a 6-2 win at UIC Friday night. Anthony Socci and Will Duff homered in the victory, while Spencer Nivens went 3-for-4, including an RBI double in the Bears’ 2-run 9th inning that put the game away. Nick Rodriguez also had 3 hits for Missouri State (17-15). Bears ace Brandt Thompson pitched 6 shutout innings, allowing just 2 hits, with 2 walks and 6 strikeouts. He threw 91 pitches. Thompson’s 63 strikeouts lead The Valley. Cole Conn stole 3 bases for UIC, giving him 13 for the season. He entered the week tied for 3rd in The Valley with 10. UIC reliever Peter Newton pitched 4 scoreless innings to keep the Flames (14-15, 3-7) in the game.

Valparaiso 4, Bradley 3 (10)
The Beacons captured the extra-inning victory when Spencer Warfield scored on an error in the top of the 10th inning to give Valpo (12-14, 3-7) a 4-3 lead. Grant Jablonski threw 4 innings of scoreless relief to get the win. He walked 2 and struck out 3, allowing 3 hits. Jacob Kisting started for Bradley (11-18, 3-7) and went 7 innings with 7 strikeouts, but wasn’t around for the decision. Valley batting leader Ryan Vogel of Bradley went 1-for-4 with an RBI. He entered the weekend at .405.