Life in the Valley

Other Valley Teams Struggle vs. Power Conference Foes

While the days of shopping for cool Christmas toys in the Sears Wish Book are long gone, Indiana State saw its baseball wishes for Tuesday come true thanks to the bat of DH Mike Sears.

Sears hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 5th inning to tie the game at 6-6, fully erasing what had been a 6-0 Indiana lead. Then in the 6th, his pop-up double to short right on a windy afternoon in Terre Haute cleared the bases, scoring 3 runs as the Sycamores took a 10-7 lead and never looked back, downing the Hoosiers, 15-7. Sears finished 3-for-5 with 2 runs and 6 RBIs. His homer was one of 5 hit by Indiana State on the afternoon, with Randal Diaz, Parker Stinson , Luis Hernandez, and Adam Pottinger also joining the power parade.

Sears, a redshirt senior from Cincinnati who previously played at Sinclair Community College, drove in 6 runs in a game for the 2nd time this season. He also turned that trick on March 10 at Florida A&M, a game in which he also homered. Eight of Sears’ 14 hits this season have been home runs and he now has 34 for his career after hitting 19 a season ago.

Stinson scored 4 runs in the win, while he and Luis Hernandez (3 runs, 2 RBIs, each had 2 hits.

Cam Edmonson pitched 4 innings in relief to get the win, taking over in the 3rd and allowing just 1 run on 4 hits with 0 walks and 3 strikeouts to give the Sycamores a chance to get back in the game and eventually emerge victorious. Zach Davidson worked 3 perfect innings with 2 strikeouts for his 2nd save.

Indiana State (15-4) hosts Missouri State this weekend to start Valley conference play. Indiana fell to 11-10. Indiana State, now 3-0 vs. Big 10 foes this season, will have a return matchup at Indiana on April 2.

Here’s a quick look at what else happened around The Valley on Tuesday.

Valparaiso 9, Ball State 6: In Valpo’s long-awaited home opener, the Beacons didn’t disappoint, rallying from 5-0 down to defeat the Cardinals, 9-6. Valpo (8-11) took the lead for good in the 6th inning when Kyle Schmack hit a 2-run homer to right. Schmack later homered again in the 8th, a solo shot that completed the scoring. Schmack now has 8 HRs and 18 RBIs, and his .351 average gives him the team lead in all 3 Triple Crown categories. Grant Jablonski (W, 2-0) and Bryce Konitzer (SV, 1) combined for 5 innings of scoreless, 2-hit relief with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. Valpo opens conference play this weekend at Southern Illinois.

#3 Vanderbilt 3, Belmont 1: Belmont gave the 3rd-ranked Commodores all they could handle in a neutral site game at the home of the AAA Nashville Sounds Tuesday, but Vandy (19-3) prevailed, 3-1. Mason Landers homered in the loss for Belmont’s (11-10) lone run. Landers has homered in 4 straight games and has 6 for the season. Blake Ciuffetelli produced a solid start on the mound, working 5 innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits with 1 walk and 5 strikeouts. Vanderbilt has won 14 games in a row. Belmont opens Valley play at home vs. UIC this weekend.

Illinois 12, Bradley 10: The Braves (6-13) continued producing runs but fell in a slugfest at Illinois, 12-10. Bradley has scored 74 runs in their last 5 games (3-2), heading into this weekend’s conference series at Illinois State. Tuesday, each team had a 6-run inning. Bradley’s came in the 2nd to give the Braves a 7-2 lead and featured a 3-run homer by Timmy O’Brien and a 2-run shot by Cole Luckey. Illinois (8-11) struck back with 6 in the 5th to take the lead for good at 10-8. Cal Hejza’s 2-run homer was the big blow in that barrage. Issac Sobieszczyk also homered for the Braves.

Illinois State 14, SIU-Edwardsville 3: The Redbirds (9-9) got to .500 with a 14-3 victory over the Cougars. Illinois State scored 13 runs in the first 4 innings and the game was ended by run rule after 7. Luke Lawrence, batting leadoff, went 3-for-4 with 2 runs, 5 RBIs, a double, and a homer. Illinois State hit 6 doubles on the day, led by Judah Morris’ 2. Daniel Pacella drove in 3 runs. Daniel Contreras and J.T. Sokolove each scored 3 runs. Sokolove leads the Redbirds with 24 runs this season. Starter Thomas Harper (2-0) went 5 innings, allowing 1 run on 7 hits with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. The Redbirds host Northern Illinois this afternoon.

Kentucky 11, Evansville 3: UE and Kentucky (18-3) each scored 3 times in the 5th inning to break open a scoreless game, but the Wildcats then added 7 more in the 6th to pull away and down the Purple Aces (9-11), 11-3. James McCoy Emilien Pitre each had 2-run hits in the 7-run uprising. Pitre drove in 4 runs for the game and had 3 hits. Brent Widder hit a 2-run homer for Evansville, while Mark Shallenberger drove in the other UE run with 5th-inning double, scoring Harrison Taubert. Shallenberger is on a 5-game hitting streak and is hitting .403 for the season, 94th in the nation and 3rd in the MVC behind UIC’s tandem of Zane Zielinski (.443) and Jackson Bessette (.431). UE hosts Murray State to open Valley play this weekend.

Oklahoma State 13, Missouri State 4: The Bears dropped their 5th straight, and 4th against Big 12 competition, with a 13-4 loss in Stillwater Tuesday. Logan Chambers went 3-for-4 for Missouri State (9-10), who go to Indiana State this weekend to commence conference action. Taeg Gollert and Caden Bogenpohl hit solo homers in the loss. The Cowboys (13-9) scored 8 runs in the 2nd inning to take an 8-1 lead and never looked back.

Arkansas State 10, Southern Illinois 5: In the first of a rare, 2-game, mid-week, home-and-home series, SIU (13-7) suffered a 10-5 defeat at Arkansas State. (13-9) The teams will rematch in Carbondale today. On Tuesday, the Red Wolves jumped out to an 8-3 lead after 4 innings. Jordan Bach, Jake Allgeyer, and Trey Cutchen had 2 hits each for the Salukis. SIU stole 6 bases in the loss, including 2 for Bach. SIU is 24-for-27 on stolen-base attempts this season, with 10 different Salukis swiping a base.