Life in the Valley

Valpo Rallies in 9th Only to Lose Tough One at Jacksonville

Murray State and UIC got their offenses in gear Tuesday, scoring home victories over Arkansas State and Milwuakee, respectively, as The Valley went 3-1 in non-conference play on Tuesday.

Murray State 12, Arkansas State 7

The Racers (7-5) upended a good Red Wolves club (9-4) thanks to a 7-run 4th inning that gave Murray State a 9-3 lead nd they never looked back, downing Arkansas State, 12-7.

Coming to bat in the 4th trailing, 3-2, Logan Bland got the Racers level with an RBI double. Drew Vogel followed with a 2-run triple that gave Murray the lead for good. But the Racers kept pouring git on. Dustin Mercer hit a 2-run homer, his 3rd of the season, to make it 7-3. Three batters later, Carson Garner hit his team-leading 7th homer of the season, another 2-run shot that made it 9-3. Vogel (.347-3-12) had 3 RBIs in the win, while Ethan Krizen had 3 hits. Five other Racers had 2 hits each. Garner is now hitting .366 with 7 HRs and 16 RBIs. Garner’s 7 homers tie him for 5th in the country and lead the MVC. Jonathan Hogart, who hit a solo homer in the 6th, leads the Racers with a .378 average.

Note: Murray’s scheduled game Wednesday at North Alabama will now be played Thursday at 5 Eastern.

UIC 10, Milwaukee 7

The Flames (7-5) also used a big inning early in the game to get the jump on a winless Milwaukee club, scoring 4 times in the 2nd inning to take a 4-1 lead in an eventual 10-7 victory.

James Harris’ (2-for-5, 5 RBIs) 2-run triple started the scoring for the Flames in the 2nd and he later scored on Zane Zielinski’s double. The final run of the inning came when Zielinski stole 3rd and then scored on an error to make it 4-1. Zielinski doubled twice in the win, 2 o UIC’s 6 doubles overall. The Flames also stole 5 bases – 2 each from Kendall Ewell and A.J. Taylor, along with Zielinski’s swipe. UIC has stolen 19 bases in 12 games and only been caught twice, led by 9-for-10 from Zielinski. Harris’ 5 RBIs leave him tied with Zielinski for the team lead with 14. Jackson Bessette continues to lead the team in hitting at .447.

Zack Millsap got the win for the Flames, on a day where UIC used 7 pitchers. Reece Lawler got the final 4 outs for his 2nd save.

Southern Illinois 7, SIU-Edwardsville 1

The Salukis improved to 7-5 thanks in large part to … wait for it … a big early inning, as SIU scored 5 in there 3rd to take the lead and roll past SIU-Edwardsville (2-11), 7-1. The Salukis scored 7 runs on only 5 hits, but Edwardsville pitchers issued 10 walks and hit another.

That lack of control hurt the Cougars in the 3rd, as one run scored on a bases-loaded walk drawn by Bennett Eltoft, who walked 3 times in the game. Mathieu Vallee had the big hit in the frame – a 2-run double that capped the scoring and gave the Salukis a 5-0 lead. Runs in the inning also came from Jordan Bach’s (.392-0-12) RBI double that scored Nathan Bandy, and a Steven Loden sac fly that brought home Jake Allgeyer.

Alec Nigut provided a strong mid-week start, pitching 5.2 innings, allowing just 1 run on 5 hits with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts on 90 pitches (5.29 ppo). Cole Koonce, Tanner Gerdes, Anthony Prof, and Ben Riffe combined to throw 3.1 innings of scoreless relief to secure the win, giving just 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 6. Riffe has a 0.00 ERA now in 3.2 innings with 7 strikeouts this season.

Valpo Rallies but Jacksonville Answers Back in Dolphins Win

Down 4-2 in the top of the 9th inning, the Valparaiso Beacons staged an epic 3-run rally to take a 5-4 lead at Jacksonville, setting themselves up for what would have been a decent non-conference victory, even if the Dolphins have struggled at times to start the season (5-6).

Valpo got a run to make it 4-3 when Carson Husmann drew a bases-loaded walk, scoring pinch-runner Spencer Warfield. Liam Patton (2-for-5) then came up with a 2-run single that gave the Beacons a 5-4 lead.

But in the bottom of the 9th against reliever Jake Jakubowski, the Dolphins quickly put runners at the corners. Justin Nadeau’s single tied the game, but Husmann in right threw a strike to 3B Brady Nowicki to retire Will Gale and get the Beacons a needed out. Three batters later, however, Clay Hodges singled to right to score Nadeau, and the Dolphins had a 6-5, walk-off win.

Kevin Denny went 3-for-4 with a double and 2 RBIs for the Beacons (4-7). Bryce Konitzer threw 3.2 innings of relief, allowing just 1 run on 2 hits with 3 strikeouts and 0 walks, but he got a no-decision.

Note: Yesterday’s Belmont-Lipscomb game was postponed.

Today in The Valley: With the Murray game at North Alabama postponed, there’s only one game left on today’s slate. Belmont is action at home against Kennesaw State (6-6) at 5 p.m. There’s no video stream for the game, but audio is available via iHeart Radio.