Life in the Valley

Top-seed Indiana State and #4-seed Evansville will square off Saturday for the Missouri Valley Conference baseball championship, with the undefeated Sycamores in dominating position having already routed the Purple Aces Friday, 10-1. Evansville must beat Indiana State not once but twice on Saturday to capture the championship and earn the MVC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Indiana State will certainly get an at-large bid of it needs one, but a loss on Saturday might well doom the Sycamores’ chances for hosting a regional.

Evansville (36-23) will have to play much better than it did in Friday’s affair against Indiana State. UE got off to a good start with Chase Hug’s homer giving the Purple Aces a 1-0 lead. But it was all downhill from there. A Parker Stinson sacrifice fly tied the game in the 4th, then Indiana State took the lead for good in the 5th, thanks to Luis Hernandez’s RBI double and a sac fly from Miguel Rivera.

Things fell apart for Evansville in the 6th, as the Sycamores (41-14) added 4 more runs to take full control. The 4 runs scored on a single, walk, hit batter, and sac fly. Indiana State did all the little things right throughout the game, even down to things such as defensive positioning, as it seemed like every Evansville ground ball was right to a Sycamore fielder.

Adam Pottinger added a 2-run double in the 7th and Josue Urdaneta was hit by a pitch in the 8th to score Stinson. Pottinger went 2-for-4 with 3 RBIs, while Urdaneta had 3 hits, 2 runs, and 2 RBIs. Indiana State outhit Evansville, 13-5, while the teams combined for 26 strikeouts. UE’s Jarrett Blunt fanned 9 through 5 innings, but allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on 8 hits and got the loss, his first of the season. Indiana State starter Lane Miller went 5 1/3 innings and fanned 6, allowing just 1 run on 2 hits with 1 walk. Zach Davidson got the final 11 outs for the save – 6 by strikeout.

The loss meant UE had to get right back out and play #2-seed Missouri State in an elimination game. The Bears (33-23) defeated Murray State, 4-3, in the first game of the day to advance. The go-ahead run scored on a throwing error by the Racers in the 9th. But unfortunately for the Bears, throwing errors also plagued them all day. Missouri State committed 4 errors in the nightcap against Evansville, which led to the Bears allowing 6 unearned runs. Evansville bats also produced 13 hits, the combination of which was enough for the Purple Aces to cruise to an 11-3 win and advance to the final. Kip Fougerousse and Evan Waggoner each drove in 3 runs for UE, while Chase Hug went 3-for-5 with 2 runs and an RBI. Tyler Denu started and struck out 7 over 5 innings, allowing just 1 hit. Missouri State ended up with more errors (4) than either runs (3) or hits (2).

None of that will concern the Sycamores, who already had a rested bullpen Friday thanks to Connor Fenlong’s complete-game shutout on Thursday. With only using 2 pitchers on Friday and needing only 1 win to lift the trophy, Indiana State is in a tremendously advantageous position over Evansville on Championship Saturday. Indiana State has won 3 out of 4 from Evansville this season.

Here’s Saturday’s slate at the MVC Championship. All times are Eastern and all games are live and archived on ESPN+.

2:30 p.m., Game 14: #4 Evansville vs. #1 Indiana State
6 p.m., Game 15: #4 Evansville vs. #1 Indiana State, if necessary