Life in the Valley

It was a banner night for the Missouri Valley Conference, as both Indiana State and Illinois-Chicago took down Power-5 competition. UIC scored an impressive 14-3 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes, while Indiana State continues to make noise nationally as they went to Nashville and routed 4th-ranked Vanderbilt, 10-2.

The Sycamores (23-12, 11-1 MVC) started the scoring in the 4th inning, thanks to RBIi singles off the bats of Parker Stinson (2-for-4, 2 runs, 1 RBI) and who else, Seth Gergely (2-for-3, run, 2 RBIs, 2 walks). In the 5th, Mike Sears’ 3-run homer boosted Indiana State’s lead to 5-0. Before the Commodores (29-8, 13-2 SEC) could respond, the Sycamores stretched their advantage to 9-0 with 4 more runs in the 6th inning. Adam Pottinger and Miguel Rivera had run-scoring knocks in the 6th, and Gergely added an RBI single in the 9th.

Patience was key for Indiana State, which combined its 11 hits with 10 walks, and 2 Sycamores were plunked. Gergely reached base 5 times, lifting his on-base percentage for the season to .452, while his team-leading batting average now rests at .328. Sears’ homer was his 12th of the season to go with 34 RBIs, which leads the team.

Brennyn Cutts (1-3, 4.91) picked up his first win of the season for Indiana State, 3 1/3 innings of 1-hit, scoreless ball with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. Jacob Pruitt, Cameron Holycross, and Jared Spencer picked up the ball from there, as Vandy managed just 6 hits and struck out 8 times. Two of Cutts’ 3 career wins for Indiana State have been against Power-5 competition. The other was April 19 of last season over Illinois.

Indiana State can now turn its attention to a weekend showdown with 2nd-place Southern Illinois (10-2 MVC) that may go a long way toward deciding the regular-season conference champion and top seed in the Valley tournament.

Meanwhile in Chicago, UIC (15-17, 3-9) overwhelmed the visiting Hawkeyes, 14-3. Up 6-3 entering the bottom of the 5th, UIC plated 6 runs to take command, and the game ended after 7 innings. Carson Roberts walked twice and scored 3 runs in the victory, while Breck Nowik and Rayth Petersen each drove in 3 runs. Petersen homered in the 4th inning, a 2-run shot that gave UIC its 6-3 lead.

Iowa (25-10, 4-5 Big 10) used 7 pitchers but the Flames torched just about all of them, notching 11 hits and drawing 12 walks. Five UIC pitchers got work Tuesday night, with reliever Ysen Useni getting the victory. Peter Newton, Ryan Karst, and Reece Lawler combined to work the final 4 innings in shutout fashion, allowing 1 hit and 1 walk with 6 strikeouts.

The 14 runs were the 2nd-most allowed by Iowa this season, the Hawkeyes allowed 17 in a loss to Texas Tech on March 10. UIC’s 14 runs were 2nd-most only to last week’s wild 24-20 win over Northwestern.

Missouri State’s bid to take down a Power-5 opponent ended in walk-off heartbreak in Columbia, Mo., last night, as the Missouri Tigers tied the game at 6-6 on a sac fly in the 9th inning, then won it when C Dylan Leach singled home 2B Trevor Austin to give Mizzou (23-13, 5-10 SEC) a 7-6 victory. The Bears (19-16, 8-4) got a 2-run homer from Anthony Socci as part of a 3-RBI game, while Cody Kelly went 3-for-4 with 2 runs and a solo HR. Zack Stewart went 2-for-4 but top bat Spencer Nivens was held down, going 0-for-5.

Here’s a quick glimpse at what else happened in The Valley last night:

Belmont 6, North Alabama 5 (10)
Ethan Harden (1-for-4, 2 runs) scored on a wild pitch by North Alabama’s Will Shepherd in the top of the 10th inning to give Belmont a 6-5 victory. Jett Thielke got the final 8 outs to pick up his 5th win of the season. Brodey Heaton homered.

Murray State 10, Alabama State 0 (7)
Dustin Mercer singled twice and homered, stole a base, and drove in 3 runs, as the Racers run-ruled Alabama A&M, 10-0, in 7 innings. Carson Garner (2-for-3, 2 runs, 3 RBIs) also homered for Murray State, while Seth Gardner doubled and scored twice. Ethan Lyke and Cade Brown combined on a 2-hit shutout.

Southern Illinois 10, Austin Peay 9
SIU rallied from 9-5 down in the 8th inning to score a walk-off victory when Matt Schark singled home Steven Loden to cap the rally. SIU scored 4 in the 8th to tie the game at 9, 2 on Nathan Bandy’s double, before Schark, who has a proclivity for walk-off hits, ended the game. Bennett Eltoft homered twice in going 4-for-4 with 3 runs and 4 RBIs.

Evansville 10, Western Kentucky 8
UE sprinted to a 10-2 lead then held on to beat the Hilltoppers, 10-8. Mark Shallenberger continues to shine in his return from injury, hitting a 2-run homer. Meanwhile, Chase Hug authored the most exciting play in baseball – a 3-run triple – in the 2nd inning to give UE the lead for good, 5-2. Danny Borgstrom and Drew Howard had 2 hits each for UE. Outfielder/pitcher Eric Roberts earned his 1st save.

Milwaukee 4, Illinois State 2
Illinois State’s struggles continued Tuesday night, as the Redbirds lost their 8th in a row, 4-2 to Milwaukee. Auggie Rasmussen was 3-for-3 in the loss with 2 doubles for the Redbirds, though he was caught stealing for only the 2nd time in 16 attempts this season. Illinois State left 15 runners on base, including thrice leaving the bases loaded.

Notre Dame 7, Valparaiso 3
The Beacons weren’t able to down an ACC opponent on Tuesday, falling in South Bend, Ind., 7-3, to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Kyle Schmack went 2-for-3 with a solo homer for Valpo. Notre Dame’s Vinny Martinez hit a pair of solo homers, one in the 3rd inning and another in the 8th.

Today in The Valley:
Murray State at Tennessee-Martin
Illinois State at Northern Illinois
Bradley at Iowa