Life in the Valley

Some of the ambiguity at the top and bottom of the Missouri Valley Conference baseball standings disappeared Thursday, as Mother Nature cooperated and all 5 scheduled games were played as planned. Indiana State captured the Valley regular-season title and top seed in next week’s MVC Baseball Tournament (which it hosts) with an 11-4 win at Missouri State. The Sycamores built a 10-0 lead early and never looked back. At the other end of the table, Belmont won at Bradley, 4-0, while Valparaiso defeated Illinois State, 7-6, in what might have been the most exciting conference game of the day. The Bruins and Beacons clinched the final 2 spots in the tournament, though exact seeding is still to be determined. The baseball seasons for the Redbirds and Braves will end after this weekend.

Here’s a team-by-team look at what we know now with 2 games left in the MVC regular season.

1. Indiana State (36-14, 22-3): The dominant MVC force got its regular-season crown tonight in convincing fashion. Mike Sears and Parker Stinson homered in the win – Stinson led ISU with 4 RBIs. Matt Jachec worked 6 2/3 innings to get his 6th win of the season. The next 2 games are all about NCAA Regional seeding (and maybe hosting) for the Sycamores.
2. Missouri State (31-19, 18-7): The Bears know they are the #2 seed next week in Terre Haute, and without an at-large profile to rely on, it’s all about the tournament now for Missouri State. Taeg Gollert went 3-for-4 tonight for the Bears.
3. Southern Illinois (29-24, 14-11): SIU rallying after a 10-2 defeat to Evansville a few weeks ago to take the series is looking big now. Today’s loss at Murray State dropped SIU into a tie with UE, but the Salukis have the 3rd-place tiebreaker if the teams stay deadlocked. There are many scenarios in play for SIU still, though finishing 6th now seems out of the question with UIC’s loss tonight.
4. Evansville (32-21, 14-11): Have a nig in Evansville’s 9-8 win over UIC. The homer was a grand slam and his 20th HherR of the season. UE needs more wins than SIU to finish 3rd. Another win would go along way for Evansville and put some pressure on old rival SIU.
5. Murray State (28-25, 13-12): No tiebreakers here as the Racers have the 5th seed all to themselves for now. Murray State downed SIU, 10-7, today, scoring 6 runs in the 7th inning to take the lead for good. Brennan McCullough went 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs while Drew Vogel homered and drove in 4. Starter Jacob Pennington fanned 6 in 5 2/3 innings. The Racers can do no worse than 4th with 2 more wins.
6. UIC (26-22, 12-13): The Flames fell at home to Evansville tonight, nearly overcoming a 6-run deficit. The loss dipped UIC under .500, but 2 wins to salvage the series would give the Flames a tiebreaker over Evansville, though for what position would on the SIU/Murray results. The 5th-8th seeds get action underway Tuesday while the 1st-4th seeds get an extra day to prepare.
7. Valparaiso (20-23, 10-15): The Beacons won a back-and-forth affair over Illinois State, 7-6, scoring 3 runs in the 8th off Redbirds reliever Elijah Dale to get the win. Bobby Nowak, who was a reliever, then a starter, returned as a reliever today to pitch the 9th and get a save. Ryan Maka had 3 hits, 2 runs, and a stolen base. Valpo was 4-for-5 in thefts as it clinched its MVC Tourney berth. Valpo can still catch UIC for 6th if the Beacons sweep the Redbirds and the Flames don’t manage to beat UE.
8. Belmont (24-30, 9-16): The Bruins also locked up their first MVC Tourney berth in this their debut season with a 4-0 win over Bradley. The Bruins could still finish 7th if they match or pass Valpo in the standings over the next 2 days. Dominic Baratta and Jett Thielke combined on today’s 6-hit shutout with 7 strikeouts.
9. Illinois State (18-30, 7-18): Queue up “The End of the Road,” for our final two teams, as this weekend will be the end of the line for the Redbirds and Bradley. Despite a homer and 4 RBIs from Daniel Pacella today, the Redbirds fell at Valpo and were eliminated.
10. Bradley (15-30, 6-18): The Braves were shutout at home by Belmont to end whatever small hopes Bradley had of making the MVC Tournament. If you’re wondering, and I know you are, Illinois State holds the tiebreaker over Belmont for 9th.