Life in the Valley

3-Run 9th Propels Racers to 7-6 Series-Clinching Win

Down 4-0 after 5 innings and needing runs, the Murray State Racers probably figured it would take the long ball to come back and win at Evansville Saturday. It would’ve been a fair thought, given the Racers had homered in 14 straight games.

But ironically, on a day when Murray State didn’t go deep, they came back anyway, scoring 4 runs in the 7th and 3 more in the 9th to upend Evansville, 7-6, and clinch the series on the opening weekend of conference play. Murray State (16-6, 2-0) goes for the sweep on Sunday.

Taylor Howell (3-for-4, 2 doubles), Dan Tauken, and Preston Shelton drove in runs in the 7th, with Parker Estes scoring on a wild pitch to tie the game at 4-4. But it didn’t stay that way long. The Purple Aces had a rally of their own in the 8th, scoring twice – once on Mark Shallenberger’s double that plated Harrison Taubert, then another when Kip Fougerousse singled to score Shallenberger.

But in the 9th, Howell led off with a double. With 1 out, pinch-hitter John Roberson doubled to score Howell and cut the Evansville lead to 6-5. With 2 outs, Drew Vogel singled to plate pinch-runner Gunnar Bingham, then advanced to 2nd on an error. UE brought Max Hansmann on to relieve Shane Harris, but Dustin Mercer singled home Vogel with the go-ahead run.

UE (9-13, 0-2) put 2 runners on in the bottom of the 9th, but Nathan Holler got Evan Waggoner to fly out to end the game. Allen Roulette got the win in relief; the save was Holler’s 4th of the season. Harris (1-4) took the loss.

Brent Widder had 3 hits for Evansville.

Bradley 12, Illinois State 6

Joining Murray State at the top of the Valley standings tonight is Bradley, who improved to 2-0 in the league and 8-13 overall with a 12-6 victory at Illinois State, clinching the series.

The Braves’ offense continues to roll. Starting with a 12-3 win at Rollins College in Winter Haven, Fla., the Braves have now scored 96 runs in their last 7 games. Bradley wasted no time Saturday, scoring 6 times in the first inning. Cole Luckey’s 3-run double was the big blow, while Timmy O’Brien added a 2-run single. Logan Delgado had RBI singles in both the 1st and 2nd as the Braves took a 7-0 lead.

The Redbirds (10-11, 0-2) got back into it quickly, however, scoring 5 runs in the bottom of the 2nd to cut the deficit to 2. Auggie Rasmussen hit a solo homer, Luke Lawrence knocked an RBI single and Daniel Pacella’s double scored 3. But 2 runs was as close as Illinois State would get. The Braves added a single run in the 3rd on Luckey’s RBI single, then another in the 5th on an RBI fielder’s choice by Ryan Taylor.

Beau Durbin went 4-for-5 for Bradley, scoring 3 times. O’Brien had 3 hits and 3 RBIs. Luckey drove in 4, a season-high. Pacella had 3 RBIs in the loss fro the Redbirds.

Travis Lutz, who hit the game-winning homer in the top of the 9th in Friday’s 9-8 win, started on the mound Saturday and got the pitching win, going 6 innings with 0 walks and 3 strikeouts. He’s now 2-3 on the season. Tyrelle Chadwick lasted just 1 inning on 41 pitches and took the loss, falling to 2-3.

Belmont 4, UIC 3

The Bruins cooled off the red-hit UIC Flames for one day anyway, downing Illinois-Chicago, 4-3, to even their series at a game apiece. Down 3-0 after 3 innings, Belmont (12-11, 1-1) scored 2 runs in each of the 4th and 5th innings and that was the end of the scoring.

The only bad note for Belmont on the day was that Mason Landers didn’t homer – ending his streak of 5 consecutive games with yard work. But he did bring in a run on a sac fly in the 5th, tying the game at 3-3. Brodey Heaton’s RBI double in the 5th scored Sam Slaughter with the eventual winning run. Slaughter went 3-for-4.

Dominic Baratta (2-1) got the win for Belmont, going 6 innings and allowing 3 runs on 4 hits with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts on 89 pitches (4.94 ppo). Hank Liss got a 3-inning save, allowing 0 runs on 2 hits with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. It was Liss’ 2nd save of the season. Brandon Bak (1-2) took the loss, despite striking out 7 in 6.2 innings. It was just UIC’s (14-7, 1-1) 2nd loss in its last 11 games.

Indiana State 3, Missouri State 0

After dropping its conference opener Friday to Missouri State, Indiana State got back in the column with a 3-0 victory over the Bears on Saturday. Luis Hernandez was the offensive star for the Sycamores (16-5, 1-1), going 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and driving in all 3 Indiana State runs. Dominic Listi had 2 hits, as well.

Brennyn Cuts started and went 6.1 innings to get the win, improving to 3-1 on the season. Cutts allowed 5 hits, no runs, walked 4, and struck out 6 on 102 pitches (5.37 ppo). Jared Spencer came on in the 7th and got the final 8 outs for his 2nd save, walking 1 and striking out 3 while allowing only 1 hit. Cuts, a 6-3, 235-pound junior from Greenup, Ill., set a season-high for innings pitched and lowered his ERA to 3.46 for the season.

Taeg Gollert had 2 hits, including a double, for Missouri State (10-11, 1-1).

Southern Illinois 13, Valparaiso 1 (8)

SIU joined the tie at the top of the conference in emphatic fashion, defeating Valparaiso by run rule, 13-1. The Salukis (16-7, 2-0) scored 5 runs in the 8th inning, the final 3 coming on Steven Loden’s homer that served as a walk-off blast as it gave the Salukis a 12-run lead with at least 7 innings played. Loden now has 8 homers and 34 RBIs on the season. SIU has scored 204 runs in 23 games.

Bennett Eltoft, who hit a grand slam on Friday, homered again Saturday – a 2-run shot in the 4th inning that gave the Salukis a 4-0 lead. Jordan Bach and Cole Christman also went deep for Southern Illinois.

Al Holguin pitched 5 innings of scoreless ball to get the win and improve to 2-2 for SIU. He gave up 4 hits and struck out 5. Easton Dermody worked the final 3 innings to get his 3rd save.

Alex Ryan had a solo homer for the Beacons, while he and Alex Thurston each had 2 hits.

Sunday on Valley Diamonds: All 5 conference series are scheduled to conclude, weather permitting.

What I’ll Be Watching: Along with Valley action on ESPN+ with at least 3 games scheduled to be streamed, I’ll be spying up some ACC action as #12 Florida State takes on #4 Clemson. FSU came into Saturday as the nation’s last undefeated team, but the Tigers swept a doubleheader.