Life in the Valley

Indiana State’s Unbeaten Run Ends at #9 Vanderbilt; Commodores Host Evansville Today

Entering the Missouri Valley Conference last season, the Murray State Racers and the Belmont Bruins both knew they had pretty big shoes to fill. Taking spots of departed teams such as Dallas Baptist, Wichita State, and long-lost Creighton, the Racers and Bruins were going to need time to find their place in the Valley, but also the conference needed them to be competitive in order to restore the conference’s profile after the loss of 3 quality programs.

The Racers pulled themselves to a game over .500 in their first Valley season, with a 31-28 overall record to boot. Belmont started strong in conference play before slipping to 10-17 in the league and 27-33 overall. Both programs came into 2024 looking to take the next step and join the likes of Indiana State, Evansville, Missouri State, and Southern Illinois at the top of the conference.

Both programs have taken steps in the right direction during the first 2 weeks of the new season. That continued on Tuesday, with Murray State (6-2) knocking off North Alabama, 8-1, while Belmont improved to 6-3 on the season with a 1-run victory over Tennessee Tech.

Murray State didn’t waste any time assuming control of the game Tuesday, scoring 4 runs in the 1st inning and taking a 6-0 lead through 3 innings. Dustin Mercer led the way offensively for the Racers, going 4-for-5 with a double, homer, stolen base, 3 runs, and 2 RBIs. The top 4 in the Murray State lineup – Drew Vogel, Mercer, Jonathan Hogart, and Carson Garner – combined to go 8-for-17 with 6 runs and 4 RBIs. Reserve Parker Estes hit a 2-run homer and 2B Logan Bland went 3-for-3. Murray State outhit the Lions, 14-3. Garner now leads the Racers with a .440 average, while Hogart, a redshirt junior from Madisonville, Ky., and Louisiana Tech transfer, is now hitting .419 and is tied with Mercer for the team lead with 13 runs.

Ethan Lyke turned in a near perfect mid-week start (or any other part of the week for that matter), retiring 18 of the 19 men he faced, allowing just 1 hit, 0 walks, and striking out 5. His 6-inning stint required a scant 69 pitches, a mere 3.83 pitches per out (anything under 5 is good, anything under 4 is Greg Maddux-type stuff). Jordyn Naranjo and Thomas McNabb finished off the win for the Racers.

Murray State will get a significant test this weekend, as the Racers head to Fayetteville for 3 games at #2 Arkansas. The only other series between the schools came in March 2021, an Arkansas sweep at home by scores of 7-6, 11-6, and 6-0.

Belmont outlasted Tennessee Tech, 9-8, to keep its momentum going. Tennessee Tech fought back from deficits of 4-1, 6-2, and 8-5 to tie the game in the bottom of the 8th inning at 8. But the Bruins didn’t relent and in the top of the 9th, Max Jones singled home Mason Landers with the eventual game-winning run. It was the capper on a tremendous day for Jones, a senior from Pekin, Ill., who had a season-high 3 hit sead 5 RBIs in the win. He singled home a run in the 1st to open the scoring, then hit a 3-run homer in the 3rd. For the season, Jones leads Belmont with a .355 average (11-for-31) and his 8 RBIs are tied with Landers for top team honors. Carson Godesey went 2-for-5 with 2 runs. Pete Daniel scored 2 runs, giving him a team-high 11 for the season.

Hank Liss (1-0, 2.35) got the win for the Bruins. Belmont is home this weekend for a 3-game series against Little Rock. The Trojans, who took 2 out of 3 from Illinois State last weekend, are 4-4 on the season after a 12-6 loss at Ole Miss on Tuesday.

In other Tuesday action …

Southern Illinois 10, Butler 8

The Salukis’ vaunted offense was on display early against visiting Butler Tuesday, scoring 7 runs in the 1st inning to erase a 2-0 deficit. But after taking a 10-4 lead through 4 innings, the Salukis had to hang on as the Bulldogs chipped away to 10-8 in the 8th but got no closer as Southern Illinois improved to 5-3. The 10 runs actually lowered SIU’s runs per game number to 11.9 (it was 12.1). Eight SIU games this season have seen a combined average of 21.5 runs scored.

Steven Loden went 2-for-4 with 2 runs and 3 RBIs in the win. Jake Allgeyer (.414) went 2-for-4 with 2 runs, a walk, and an RBI. SIU drew 9 walks and struck out just 6 times. The Salukis have drawn 77 walks in 8 games. Starter Alec Nigut picked his first win of the season in his 2nd start.

SIU will host a 3-game series vs. Appalachian State (7-1) this weekend.

#9 Vanderbilt 20, Indiana State 4

All good things must come to an end and such was the case with Indiana State’s season-opening winning streak, which came to an abrupt halt with a 20-4 loss at 9th-ranked Vanderbilt. The Sycamores, who crushed the Sandy Boys in Nashville last season, 10-2, were 2-0 down after 1 and 9-0 down through 3 innings. Jacob Humphrey homered in the 1st and Camden Kozeal went long in the 3rd. Kozeal finished 4-for-5 with 2 runs and 5 RBIs. R.J. Austin drove in 4 runs and scored 2. Humphrey had 4 RBIs and scored thrice.

Mike Sears hit a 3-run homer in the 4th inning, his 1st of the season, to get the Sycamores (7-1) on the board. Luis Hernandez and Adam Pottinger each had 2 hits for Indiana State.

Things won’t get much easier for the Sycamores this weekend, as they will play3 games at Southern Miss (6-3). The Golden Eagles took 2 of 3 from Missouri State last weekend.

Northwestern 5, Illinois State 1

Illinois State tried a Big Ten opponent on for size and fell to the Northwestern Wildcats, 5-1. Shai Robinson and Tyler Herron each had 2 hits in the loss for the Redbirds, who fell to 2-5 on the season. Robinson’s homer in the 6th inning tied the game at 1, but the Wildcats answered with 4 runs in the bottom of the 6th inning to take the lead for good. It was just the 2nd Illinois State game this season where one or both teams failed to reach the 10-run mark.

Illinois State hits the road this weekend for 3 games at Arkansas-Pine Bluff (5-3). Pine Bluff plays in the SWAC and is coming off a 4-game sweep vs. Arkansas Baptist (an NAIA school) with wins by scores of 20-6, 32-3, 15-1, and 30-2.

UIC 8, North Park 5

Speaking of non-D1 opponents, the UIC Flames picked up an 8-5 win over D3 North Park. Down 1-0 in the 1st, UIC (4-4) scored 4 times to take the lead, one on a passed ball and then 2 on a homer by Rayth Petersen. UIC seemed to be cruising with a 5-2 lead in the 5th before the Vikings struck for 3 to tie the game, including 2 runs that scored on an error.

But in the Flames’ 6th, UIC re-established control as Pambos Nicoloudes hit a 2-run homer to make it 7-5, and Zane Zielinski’s sac fly provided the final scoring in the victory. Nicoloudes (3 RBIs), Petersen, Kendall Ewell and Garrett Kay each had 2 hits for the Flames.

The Flames will spend their weekend in beautiful Athens, Ohio, playing 3 games against the Ohio Bobcats (2-4).

Today in The Valley …

Today’s Valley slate features just 2 games but they are both notable. Missouri State (4-3) has a 5 p.m. first pitch at Ole Miss (5-4) out of the SEC. A half-hour later, #9 Vanderbilt will see another familiar Valley opponent enter the visitor’s dugout as Evansville comes to Nashville to take on the Commodores. UE (4-3) took Vandy to 17 innings last season before falling, 2-1.