Life in the Valley

Three Valley Teams Finish Opening Weekend Undefeated

Our long national nightmare known as the college baseball offseason is over! Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) teams along with 280 or so others across the country got the 2024 season started over the weekend (except those folks in the Ivy League). It’s great to have baseball back and there were games available across the country from 10 a.m. or so each day until well after midnight (thanks, Hawaii). It’s all part of the winding road to Omaha, and one of those teams that successfully found Omaha, Oral Roberts, caught a surprise from a Valley visitor over the weekend. While a team that just missed out, Indiana State, got off to an impressive, unbeaten start.

Here’s a look at how the weekend went for all 10 Valley teams, who stood out, and what’s next.

Indiana State (3-0): The Sycamores picked up right where they left off last season, one of 3 Valley teams to be perfect after opening weekend. But Indiana State’s degree of difficulty in going unbeaten was pretty high, as the Sycamores took out Louisville, Connecticut, and South Florida, allowing just 1 run in the latter 2 games.

Pitching carried the Sycamores to their perfect start, as Indiana State’s team ERA stands at 1.67 heading into the new week, while the team WHIP is an impressive 0.93. Indiana State pitchers didn’t allow any homers over the weekend, and only conceded 5 walks while striking out 25. Luke Hayden, a junior right-handed transfer from Indiana impressed in his debut, throwing 6 shutout, 4-hit innings with 1 walk and 5 strikeouts against South Florida. Jacob Pruitt did the same in his start vs. Connecticut, walking 2 and fanning 9, earning himself MVC Pitcher of the Week honors. Veteran reliever Cameron Holycross threw 3 scoreless innings over the weekend with just 1 hit allowed and 3 strikeouts.

Randal Diaz led the offense with 5 hits and a .417 average. Indiana State had to manufacture runs, scoring 15 over the 3 games, despite having only 4 extra-base hits – doubles by Dominic Listi and Henry Brown, and homers from Brown and Parker Stinson.

Next up for the Sycamores, their Florida odyssey continues with a game at Florida Gulf Coast at 7 p.m. Wednesday. FGCU faced an opponent familiar to the Sycamores over the weekend, dropping 3 games at TCU- who eliminated Indiana State in the Super Regionals a season ago. But FGCU wasn’t short on offense, scoring 25 runs in the 3 losses (but they gave up 34). Indiana State is 2-0 all-time against Florida Gulf Coast.

Evansville (2-1): While it wasn’t a perfect weekend for the Purple Aces, many probably didn’t expect UE to come away from a 3-game series at Oral Roberts with a winning record. But Evansville pulled it off after losing the opener, taking the final 2 games by scores of 14-2 and 7-6 after dropping the opener, 12-10. ORU won 52 games and went to the College World Series, becoming the first mid-major to win a game in Omaha since Coastal Carolina won the national championship in 2016.

UE used a 6-run 5th inning and a 5-run 7th to blow out ORU on Saturday. Mark Shallenberger went 2-for-5 with 3 runs and 3 RBIs, and he and Chase Hug both homered. Hug’s 3-run shot in the 3rd inning gave UE the lead for good at 3-2. Shallenberger’s 3-run bomb made it 9-2 in the 5th.

Second baseman Cal McGinnis was named MVC Player of the Week for his offensive performance. McGinnis had 4 RBIs in the Friday loss, and went 6-for-13 for the weekend with 2 doubles, a triple, homer, and 5 RBIs. He also scored 5 runs. Five Purple Aces hit better than .300, with Simon Scurry going 5-for-10 (.500). Four different Purple Aces took ORU pitchers deep, and Evansville scored 31 runs for the weekend.

Next up for UE is today’s home opener against Bellarmine. The Knights went 1-2 over the weekend, taking the opener at Tennessee Tech, 11-3, before losing 5-1 and 8-1.

Murray State (3-0): The Racers took an extra day to get their season started, playing a Saturday-Monday series at home against Purdue-Fort Wayne. Murray swept the set in convincing fashion, winning 11-1, 17-2, and 5-2.

Murray State hit .353 for the weekend, scoring 33 runs on 36 hits with 11 extra-base hits, including 5 home runs. Carson Garner hit 2 of those long balls on his way to a .545 average and 1.758 OPS. Perhaps most impressive by the Racers was their plate discipline, as Murray State hitters drew 25 walks in the 3 games and struck out just 12 times. Murray State starters Bryce Valero and Cade Vernon combined to pitch 11 innings of 2-hit, 1-run ball, walking 4 and striking out 13. Allen Roulette threw 5.1 innings of 1-hit, scoreless relief in his lone appearance, walking none and fanning 6.

On deck for Murray State is today’s game at Southeast Missouri State. SEMO, a regular non-conference opponent on MVC schedules, is looking for its first win of 2024 after dropping 3 games at Dallas Baptist by 9-5, 8-6, and 6-5 scores.

Southern Illinois (3-0): It’s maybe not a wise choice to play the under when SIU takes the field in 2024. The Salukis swept a true road series, taking all 3 games at Northwestern State by scores of 14-7, 14-9, and 15-11.

The Salukis hit 5 homers, 3 off the bat of Steven Loden, who scored 6 runs and posted a team-high 1.639 OPS. He also drew 6 walks. As a team, SIU picked up 37 free passes (tops in the country, per SIU) in 3 games to just 25 strikeouts. Matthieu Valley led the Salukis with 7 hits, while Jake Allgeyer scored 7 runs. SIU hit .339 as a team, while Northwestern State posted a .324 clip. But SIU junior Aidan Foeller, who transferred in from Northeast Mississippi Community College, produced a fine start in his SIU debut, throwing 5 scoreless innings with 1 hit allowed, 0 walks, and 8 strikeouts.

SIU brings it traveling offensive road show to Martin, Tenn., today for a 4 p.m. matchup at UT-Martin. Alec Nigut gets the start for SIU.

Belmont (3-1): The Bruins hosted Eastern Michigan for a 4-game set over the weekend and came away with 3 wins, taking Games 1, 2, and 4 by scores of 4-3, 3-2, and 9-7, respectively. EMU won Game 3, 16-6.

Belmont starters Jake Timbes and Will Pryor combined to throw 11 innings in their season debuts, allowing 2 runs on 8 hits with 2 walks and 10 strikeouts, limiting opposing hitters to a .200 combined batting average. Jett Theilke earned a 4-inning save with 5 strikeouts. Belmont used 12 different pitchers over the weekend with none making more than 1 appearance. The bats have some work to do (.224 as a team), but Landon Godsey hit 2 homers and drove in 3, and Belmont hit 5 homers as a team.

Belmont is in action today at North Alabama. The game is scheduled for broadcast on ESPN+. The Lions played 3 different opponents over the weekend and went 1-2, beating Southern Indiana, 13-7, and dropping games to South Alabama (3-2) and Lamar (9-1).

UIC (2-1): The Flames went to Corpus Christi, Texas, to take on a Power-5 opponent in the Kansas Jayhawks and came away 21-, winning the first 2 games 11-9 and 13-6 before dropping the finale, 8-2.

Jackson Bessette led the UIC offense, going 7-for-15 (.467). He was one of 4 Flames to hit at least .333, and UIC batted .304 as a team for the weekend. Eleven different Flames scored at least 1 run. Defensively, the Flames were perfect, committing no errors over the 3 games. Dillon Schueler and Brandon Bak had quality starts on the mound, combining to pitch 10 innings, giving up 3 runs on 10 hits with 7 walks and 5 strikeouts.

The Flames remain in Texas to take on Incarnate Word on Wednesday afternoon. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

Missouri State (2-1): The Bears headed south on a season-opening road trip to Louisiana-Monroe and won the series, 2-1. Missouri State took the first 2 games, 10-4 and 6-5. UL-Monroe salvaged a win in Game 3, 10-8.

Taeg Gollert was an offensive standouts for the Bears, going 5-for-12 (.417) with 2 doubles, 2 walks, and 3 runs scored. Jahlani Rogers and Dylan Leach led the Bears with 5 RBIs each. Zack Stewart went 4-for-13 (.308) with a triple. Missouri State was active on the base paths, stealing 6 bases in 7 attempts (though ULM went 12-for-13). The Bears will be looking to clean up their defense going forward after making 6 errors in the series.

The Bears are next in action today, as they follow in Evansville’s footsteps and visit Oral Roberts. The game can be seen on MidCo Sports Plus and the Summit League Network (subscriptions needed).

Valparaiso (2-2): Like Belmont, the Beacons also started the season with a 4-game series, splitting their set with Alabama State in Montgomery. Valpo won the middle 2 games of the series, 8-2 and 8-1, and lost the bookends, 16-5 and 9-1.

Alex Ryan, Alex Thurston, and Connor Giusti all had 5 hits in the 4 games for the Beacons, despite Valpo posting just a .211 team batting average. Four different Beacons homered, including Giusti, who also doubled 3 times. Four different Valpo hitters also drew 3 walks each on the weekend. Valpo went 6-for-7 on stolen bases. On the mound, Lucas Foley and Josh Cottrill impressed in starting roles, combining for 13 innings with just 9 hits, 2 runs, and 2 walks allowed, while striking out 18, a very impressive 12.5 Ks/9 IP.

The Beacons continue their Alabama-themed start to the season with 3 games against the Alabama Crimson Tide this weekend. Valpo isn’t scheduled to play a home game until March 19 against Ball State, their 19th game of the season.

Bradley (1-2): The Braves got their season off to a winning start with a 5-2 victory at Western Kentucky on Friday, but dropped the next 2 games by scores of 5-0 and 5-3.

The offense struggled for the Braves, as they produced just 8 runs on 18 hits over 3 games with 0 homers, 0 stolen bases, and 31 strikeouts. Tyrese Johnson was a standout, going 4-for-10 (.400). But Bradley’s pitching kept the Braves competitive, as the hurlers produced a 3.13 team ERA and 1.26 WHIP. Starters Jack Stellano and Noah Edders combined for 11 innings, 9 hits, 1 earned run (2 total), 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Anthony Potthoff, a junior from Van Meter, Iowa, got the save in Bradley’s lone win without allowing a run. Bradley pitchers walked just 5 in 23 innings.

Bradley hits the road this weekend for Vegas, baby, Vegas! The Braves will play 3 games at UNLV starting Friday at 9:05 p.m.

Illinois State (1-2): While the Redbirds didn’t have a winning weekend, it certainly wasn’t boring for those watching – if they love offense anyway. In 3 games – 2 against St. Thomas and 1 against Saint Louis, Illinois State opened with an 18-12 win over St. Thomas, then dropped games by 13-8 and 20-8 scores. ISU pounded out 20 hits in the win, with Daniel Pacella going 3-for-4 with 4 runs, 4 RBIs, and a homer.

The numbers from Illinois State’s 3 games look like someone messed with the settings on Out of the Park Baseball 24. ISU hit .390 as a team with 7 HRs, 34 runs, 32 RBIs, and 46 hits. But opponents hit .426 with 8 HRs, 41 RBIs, 45 runs, and 19 extra-base hits. SIU has a team OPS of 1.093, but opponents checked in at 1.302(!). ISU pitchers issued 28 walks. Noah Rabin was the top hitter for the Redbirds, going 7-for-13 (.538) with 6 runs, 2 homers, 13 total bases, and he was hit twice. Luke Lawrence was 8-for-17 (.471) with 4 RBIs. Pacella drove in 8 for the weekend with 2 homers and 6 runs scored.

Illinois State won’t play in the midweek, but hits the road this weekend for 3 games at Little Rock, the first of back-to-back Arkansas road trips for the Redbirds, who will play at Arkansas-Pine Bluff March 1-3.