Life in the Valley

With the top 2 teams in The Valley rained out last night in Springfield, Mo., the battle for 3rd place in the conference took center stage as Southern Illinois visited Murray State and Evansville battled Illinois-Chicago.

Early in the day, the Salukis did their part with an 11-4 win over the Racers to improve to 15-11 in the conference (30-24 overall). After falling down 2-0 early on an RBI ground out and Brennan McCullough’s run-scoring single, SIU scored the next 5 runs to take the lead. Matt Schark hit a solo homer as part of the run, while Cole Christman singled in a run in the 4th then brought home another with a 6th-inning sac fly. Murray (28-26, 13-13) closed within 1 in the 7th thanks to a 2-run homer from Logan Bland. But the Salukis put things out of reach with a 6-run 8th inning. The Salukis hit for the cycle in the inning, with Schark homering again to go with a Pier-Olivier Boucher triple, Bennett Eltoft’s double, and a single by Matthieu Vale. Eltoft and Schark each had 3 hits and drove in 3.

Easton Dermody and Matthew Steidl combined on the mound to strike out 12 for Southern Illinois.

Evansville saw its hopes for 3rd disappear with a 7-3 loss to UIC. The Flames led 7-0 after 3 innings and never looked back. All 5 UIC runs in the 3rd inning came via the long ball, as Rayth Petersen hit a 2-run homer and Breck Nowik launched a 3-run shot. UIC starter Kade Lancour earned his 6th win of the season, pitching 6 innings and striking out 7 with 0 walks. Zak Gould, a 5-game winner in his own right, worked the final 3 innings to get the save.

Notable for Evansville was the 21st homer of the season for Eric Roberts, which broke the school’s single-season record that had stood for 36 years.

UE and UIC will play Saturday with the winner earning the 4th seed for The Valley Tournament. Though the day could end with 3 teams tied at 14-13 in the standings (if UIC and Murray State win), the Racers lost their series to both UIC and Evansville. Even if UE wins and gets to 15-12 and SIU loses, the Salukis hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Purple Aces.

In the wildest game of the day, Illinois State scored 13 late runs to double up Valparaiso, 20-10. Valpo led, 8-7, after 6 innings before the Redbirds’ offensive barrage began. Auggie Rasmussen hit a grand slam as part of Illinois State’s 7-run 7th, then Daniel Pacella’s 3-run homer was the big blow in the 6-run 8th. Lawrence had a monster day, with a double, homer, stolen base, 5 hits, 4 runs, and 6 RBIs – all from the leadoff spot! Rasmussen went 2-for-6 with 2 runs and 4 RBIs, while Noah Rabin had 4 hits himself, with 3 runs and 3 RBIs.

Jake Skrine’s recent power surge continued for Valpo, as he hit 2 homers and drove in 4. Skrine is the first Beacon this season to reach double-digits in home runs with 11.

Belmont scored 2 runs in the 12th to defeat Bradley, 5-3, and keep their hopes alive of the 7th seed in The Valley Tournament. Both the Beacons and Bruins are 10-16 heading into the final day, with Belmont holding the tiebreaker should the teams have matching results in today’s finales. Belmont took the lead in the 12th on Cade Rogers’ sac fly, the first run in the game since the 3rd inning for either team. A fielder’s choice off the bat of Sam Slaughter brought home Jeff Clarke with an insurance run. Simon Tesh slammed the door in the bottom of the 12th to end the game.

In Springfield, the Indiana State Syacamores and Missouri State Bears were rained out. They will try to play a doubleheader today to wrap up their regular seasons, with the teams being locked into the 1 and 2 seeds, respectively, for The Valley Tournament.