Life in the Valley

Bradley Visits Vegas, Baby, Vegas

If you’re going to go on a road trip, you might as well do it right and the Bradley Braves are doing it up this weekend with a trip to Las Vegas to take on UNLV for a 3-game series that opens today. Bradley went 1-2 on opening weekend, winning its season debut at Western Kentucky, before dropping the next two games, 5-0, and 5-3.

Like some other Valley teams so far, hitting has been a bit of a struggle for Bradley. The Braves are bating just .205 as a team in 3 games, with only 18 hits. Bradley scored just 8 runs opening weekend, with Timmy O’Brien, Jackson Chatterton, and Beau Durbin each driving in 2. Tyrese Johnson had the best weekend from an average standpoint, going 4-for-10 (.400). Bradley hitters walked just 8 times and struck out on 31 occasions.

On the bright side, Bradley’s pitching was solid. The Braves threw to a 3.13 team ERA last week, allowing just 8 earned runs and 24 hits in 23 innings. Three errors did allow 4 unearned runs to score. Bradley hasn’t hit or allowed a homer yet. and the Braves’ staff walked just 5 in 3 games.

The Runnin’ Rebels enter this series on a 3-game winning streak (3-1 overall) and should be in great spirits after upsetting Stanford, 10-8 on Monday at The Farm. UNLV outhit the Cardinal, 16-11. Chase Ditmar went 3-for-5 with a double, 2 runs, and 2 RBIs in the victory. Joey Acosta pitched 6.1 innings of relief, allowing just 1 run on 5 hits with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts.

UNLV is hitting .303 as a team but most of their damage has come from singles. Of 46 hits, they only have 8 extra-base hits (6 doubles). UNLV’s team ERA is a solid 3.50, with just 7 extra-base hits (5 doubles) allowed in 36 innings.

Southern Illinois (4-0)
(Friday, Saturday, Sunday at Central Arkansas)

You get some runs!

You get some runs!

YOU GET SOME RUNS!

Offense has been the theme of all 4 of SIU’s games so far, and it’s worked out well for the undefeated Salukis. SIU swept a 3-game set at Northwestern State last weekend by scores of 14-7, 14-9, and 15-11. On Tuesday, the barrage continued with a 14-11 victory at Tennessee-Martin.

No less than 4 Salukis are hitting at least .444 with Trey Cutchen (.444), Bennett Eltoft (.467), Mattieu Vallee (.474), and Jordan Bach (.500) combining to hit .471 (32-for-68), with 28 runs, 4 doubles, 2 triples, and a homer. Together, they’ve driven in 24 runs, with Eltoft’s 8 RBIs leading the group (Steven Loden also has 8 with a team-high 4 HRs). Loden’s 4 HRs leave him tied for 2nd in the nation entering the weekend. Only Texas A&M’s Jace Laviolette has more (5). SIU is 2nd in the nation as a team with 49 walks (only South Carolina, 59, has more).

SIU is averaging 14.25 runs per game offensively. But the bad news for the Salukis is they’ve need almost all of them. Opponents are batting .336 (SIU is hitting .342 – tied for 28th in the nation), while the SIU team ERA sits at 9.25. SIU has allowed 51 hits in 36 innings, issuing 22 walks to 39 strikeouts. There have been 14 homers hit in 4 games so far combined, 8 by the Salukis. Aidan Foeller provided a solid start in his debut, however, pitching 1-hit, shutout baseball for 5 innings with 8 strikeouts.

Central Arkansas (1-4) dropped a pair to #3 LSU last weekend in Baton Rouge, and split with VMI. A 14-4 midweek loss at Memphis dropped the Bears to 4 losses in 5 games. A.J. Mendolia leads UCA with a .3745 average and 3 doubles. The Bears have just 6 extra-base hits this season and are hitting .193 as a team, so this seems like it would be a good weekend for the SIU pitching staff to get on track. UCA starters have worked 21.2 innings, allowing 26 hits and 17 earned runs, for a 7.06 ERA. Look for SIU to strike early – the Bears have been outscored, 21-8, in the first 5 innings of games this season.

Missouri State (3-1)
(Friday, Saturday, Sunday at Southern Mississippi)

The Bears picked up a big win Tuesday, downing Oral Roberts, 10-6, in Tulsa. That came on the heels of winning 2 out of 3 at UL-Monroe on opening weekend. Missouri State is hitting a modest .261 so far, but have 15 extra-base hits, including 8 doubles and 6 homers for a team slugging percentage of .470. Combined with a stellar .411 on-base mark, the .881 team OPS is strong.

Taeg Gallery leads the Bears in hitting at .375, but 2 others, Zack Stewart and Caden Bogenpohl are close at .333. Bogenpohl homered twice in Missouri State’s win at Oral Roberts. Four other players have hit a single homer for the Bears so far. Stolen bases might be on the cards this weekend. Missouri State is 7-for-8 in thefts, but opponents are 12-for-13.

Missouri State is still working through its starting pitcher. Brandt Thompson has made 2 short starts totaling just 3.2 innings and he’s struggled (7.36 ERA; 2.18 WHIP). Brendan Beaver and Tyler Charlton only pitched a combined 7 innings in MSU’s other 2 starts, leaving a lot of action for the bullpen. But that group has been solid, allowing just 6 earned runs in 24.1 innings (2.22 ERA).

Southern Miss, a perennial regional contender, is 4-1 after taking 2-of-3 from Marist on opening weekend, then beating Air Force (7-5) and New Orleans (15-10) during the week. This will be the first of back-to-back weekend series against Valley foes for the Golden Eagles, who welcome Indiana State to Hattiesburg March 1-3.

Despite scoring 39 runs in 5 games, the Golden Eagles are only hitting .213. But their plate discipline has been outstanding. Southern Miss is tied for 4th in the nation with 40 walks; and the Golden Eagles have struck out just 30 times. As a team, Southern Miss’ OBP (.403) is 48 points higher than its SLG% (.355).

Southern Miss has a 3.00 team ERA and has gotten excellent starts from Niko Mazza, Will Armistead, and Billy Oldham. The trio has combined to throw 16.1 innings, allowing just 3 earned runs (1.65 ERA), 12 hits, and 2 walks, while striking out 24. Southern Miss almost has more firepower in its arms than with its bats. Golden Eagle pitchers have struck out 63 batters in 45 innings, which is tied with Grand Canyon for 3rd in the nation (only LSU and Central Michigan, each with 65, have more).

Illinois State (1-2)
(Friday, Saturday, Sunday at Little Rock)

After a promising 18-12 victory over St. Thomas in its season opener, things got rough for the Redbirds in the next 2 games, as Illinois State lost 13-8 to Saint Louis and then 20-8 to St. Thomas. The Redbirds have had some time to stew over that latter loss, as their last game for last weekend for Saint Louis was canceled and they didn’t have a mid-week game scheduled.

Now Illinois State hits the road to take on Little Rock (2-2), the first of back-to-back series against Arkansas schools. Next weekend, the Redbirds make a road trip to Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

In 3 ISU games this season, there have been a combined 79 runs and 95 hits. Illinois State is hitting .390 as a team (best in the nation), but allowing opponents to hit .425. Obviously it’s early in the season and both numbers will normalize a bit as the campaign goes on. There have also been 15 homers hit in the 3 games, 7 by Illinois State and 2 each by Noah Rabin (.538, 1.625 OPS) and Daniel Pacella (.385, 1.346 OPS). To put the offense in perspective, Pacella’s .385 average is only 5th among qualifiers on the team. And this is mostly without 2023 standout Auggie Rasmussen, who hit .315 with 10 HRs and 38 RBIs a season ago but has been limited to 1 plate appearance in ’24. Fittingly, he singled and scored.

ISU’s 13.50 team ERA (273rd in the country) has almost no choice but to come down this weekend. The Redbirds have pitched to a 2.96 WHIP, which seems almost impossible. But 3 games is a pretty small sample size. Cameron Mabee (1-0, 11.25) and Tyrelle Chadwick (0-1, 31.50) get the Friday and Saturday starts, the Redbirds announced. Sunday’s starter is TBA.

Little Rock is hitting .283 as a team with 3 homers – 2 from Nico Baumbach, who leads the club with 15 total bases and a .938 slugging percentage. Noah Brewer (.429) and Skyler Trevino (.400) have also had solid starts at the plate. But on the mound, it’s been a different story and there’s reason to think Illinois State’s bats will stay hot this weekend. Little Rock’s team ERA is 8.75, with an even 2.00 WHIP. The Trojans have already used a whopping 17 pitchers already this season.

UIC (2-2)
(Friday vs. Lamar; Saturday vs. Houston Christian; Sunday vs. Creighton)

The Flames thought they would be coming into this weekend’s trio of games in Sugarland, Texas, on a high after taking 2 out of 3 vs. Kansas on opening weekend in Corpus Christi. But that got dimmed on Wednesday in San Antonio, when UIC was bombed by Incarnate Word, 22-7.

Now it’s a barrage of different opponents for UIC this weekend, highlighted by former Valley members Creighton on Sunday, as the Flames’ Texas residency continues. Zane Zielinski and Jackson Bessette have enjoyed the scenery so far, with Zielinski 7-for-13 (.538) and Bessette 9-for-18 (.500). They’ve combined for 6 runs, 7 RBIs, and 21 total bases. UIC has scored 33 runs in 4 games, but have allowed 45 – a stat skewed a bit by the 22 Incarnate Word put up on Wednesday.

But UIC’s .908 team OPS is plenty strong and they’ve drawn 23 walks (31 strikeouts) so far. Zielinski, Ryan Nagelbach, and A.J.Henkle are all tied for the team lead with 5 RBIs. On the mound, Dillon Schueler and Brandon Bak went 10 total innings, allowing 10 hits and 3 runs (2.70 ERA) in their opening starts.

Lamar entered todays’ game vs. UIC with a 2-2 record. The Cardinals beat Southern Indiana and North Alabama, while losing to South Alabama and Baylor. Lamar will also take on Stephen F. Austin and UT-San Antonio this weekend.

Houston Christian is 3-2 after taking 3 of 4 from Le Moyne opening weekend. But they came back down to Earth with a thud on Tuesday, falling to #16 Texas, 20-3. The Huskies are members of the Southland Conference.

Creighton is a name long-known to Valley fans. Now in the Big East, CU is 2-0 with a 24-0 rout and a 9-6 victory over Baltimore’s Coppin State last weekend. The Bluejays should have left Maryland 3-0, after piling up a 25-2 lead on Coppin State in the series finale. But the game wasn’t going to end early enough to work with Creighton’s travel plans, and it was declared a no-contest. CU his hitting .342 as a team and has 6 HRs already from 6 different batters.