Life in the Valley

Indiana State defeated Southern Illinois Monday afternoon in Terre Haute, 7-2, to cap a perfect weekend and extend its winning streak to 14 games. Indiana State is 14-1 in The Valley, and in getting swept, the Salukis (23-17, 10-5, slipped 1 game behind surging Missouri State and down to 3rd in the Valley standings. Southern will try to right the ship this weekend against Illinois State while Indiana State heads down Highway 41 to meet Evansville. Missouri State takes on Valparaiso.

Indiana State took control of today’s game on the back of continued strong starting pitching. That continued a theme, as the Sycamores outscored the Salukis, 23-7, in the 3-game sweep, including a 10-0 win in Game 2. Today, starter Lane Miller went 6 1/3 innings, allowing just 2 runs on 2 hits with 5 strikeouts. He departed with Indiana State up, 6-2, after allowing a solo homer to Steven Loden (his 12th of the season).

But if SIU thought their fortunes would improve with Miller out of the game, they were mistaken. Jared Spencer came on for the Sycamores (26-12) and needed a mere 29 pitches to record the final 8 outs – retiring every Salukis batter he faced. He struck out 2 to end the 7th, and finished the outing with 4 strikeouts. Miller is now 4-0 with a 2.12 ERA on the season, with just 10 walks and 26 strikeouts in 40 1/3 innings. Spencer has been overpowering opponents all season, now showing 47 strikeouts in only 33 2/3 innings.

Though he wasn’t in a save situation today, Spencer’s 3-1, 5-save record this season to go with a 2.61 ERA is a major asset for Indiana State given how strong we already know their starting pitching is with Miller, Matt Jachec, and Connor Fenlong. Miller’s WHIP dropped to 0.94 with today’s outing. Fenlong threw a 7-inning, 1-hit shutout in the 10-0 Indiana State win, while Cameron Holycross has also been key for the Sycamores, throwing 4 scoreless, 1-hit innings in relief of Jachec in the Sycamores’ 6-5 series-opening win.

Missouri State has sprung into 2nd place in The Valley thanks to a 9-game MVC winning streak. The Bears got a little extra rest before tomorrow’s home game vs. #5 Arkansas (30-10, 11-7 SEC) after sweeping Belmont in a Thursday to Saturday series. The Bears outscored the Bruins, 28-7, in the 3 games. In the 17-5 win on Thursday, Mason Hull and Taeg Gollert each homered twice – 4 of Missouri State’s 6 homers in the game – with Hull driving in 6 runs. The Bears had 15 hits and 11 walks in the contest. On Friday, pitching was the story, as Hayden Minton pitched a 5-hit complete game, allowing just 1 unearned run while fanning 6 in a workhorse, 128-pitch effort. Jake Eddington got the win in the finale, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits in 6 1/3 innings. Cody Kelly hit a 3-run homer and drove in 4 runs.

Evansville and Murray State are tied for 4th in the conference at 8-7, but the Purple Aces can lay claim to any tiebreaker with the Racers in large part thanks to Kip Fougerousse. He had his version of a “Sandberg Game” in the opera of Evansville’s series at Murray State over the weekend. With UE down 6-1 in the 8th inning, Fougerousse hit a 2-run homer to get the Purple Aces within 3. In the 9th, he came up again and tagged a grand slam to give UE the lead for good in a 7-6 victory, clinching the series. The Linton, Ind., native has 8 homers for the season, and the epic performance was his 2nd multi-homer game of the season. The other came way back on Feb. 17 in the opener vs. Troy. Murray took the finale, 10-3, as Ryan Vogel singled twice, doubled, drove in 3 runs, and stole a base as the Racers (21-20) avoided a sweep. Cade Vernon pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing just 1 run on 3 hits with 5 strikeouts.

Illinois State (13-22, 4-11) captured a road series over the weekend, winning 2 out of 3 at Bradley. The Redbirds took the first 2 games by scores of 16-9 and 9-0, before the Braves battled back to roll in the finale, 19-3. Daniel Pacella hit 2 of Illinois State’s 5 homers in the series opener, driving in 5 runs and scoring 4 times. Shai Robinson and Auggie Rasmussen each drove in 3 runs, as well. Derek Salata got the win, fanning 7 in 5 1/3 innings. In Game 2, Robinson went 4-for-5 with 2 doubles, while Cameron Mabee and Erik Kubiatowicz combined on a 6-hit shutout. Bradley got its bats going in the finale, scoring 10 runs in the 6th inning to win the 7-inning game, 19-3. Sophomore OF Cole Luckey (Glenview, Ill.) led the barrage by going 4-for-4 with 2 runs and 5 RBIs. Superior, Wis., native Peter Hansen drove n 4 runs for Bradley (13-23, 4-11.

UIC (16-19, 4-11), which has been known to break out some serious aluminum combination alloy lumber at times this season, did so again in its series finale vs. Valpo, downing the Beacons, 21-7, avoiding a sweep. Carson Roberts homered and drove in 5 for the Flames, while Charlie Szykowny and Rayth Petersen each had 4 RBIs. Valpo had already clinched the series, however, with 12-9 and 5-4 victories to start it off. The Beacons (16-16, 7-8) exit the weekend at .500 overall thanks to Ryan Make’s double, homer, and 5 RBIs in the opener. Alex Thurston and Brady Renfro also had 3 hits each, while Roberts drove in 4 for UIC in the loss. In the middle game, Brady Nowicki’s 8th-inning sac fly proved the difference in Valve’s 5-4 victory. Jake Skrine and Matt Olive homered for the Beacons. Ryan Mintz pitched 3 innings of 2-hit, scoreless relief to get the win.

Here’s how The Valley stands after 5 of 9 conference weekends:

1. Ind. St. 14-1, 26-12
2. Mo. St. 11-4, 22-16
3. SIU 10-5, 23-17
4. UE 8-7, 23-16
5. Murray 8-7, 21-20
6. Valpo 7-8, 16-16
7. Belmont 5-10, 20-21
8. UIC 4-11, 16-19
9. Ill. St. 4-11, 13-22
10. Bradley 4-11, 13-23