Life in the Valley

Missouri State Homers Early and Often in Run-Rule Win

Missouri State hit 6 home runs and Brandt Thompson pitched 6 strong innings as the Bears run-ruled UIC, 17-3, in the Thursday opener of a 3-game Missouri Valley Conference series in Springfield, Mo.

Zack Stewart homered twice, while Caden Bogenpohl, Dylan Leach, Taeg Gollert, and Cody Kelly all also went yard for Missouri State, which improved to 4-6 in the MVC. The series will continue through Saturday and is in the only Valley conference series this week to start on Thursday.

UIC (20-11, 5-5) actually opened the homer barrage in the 1st inning, as Ryan Nagelbach went deep to right center to give the Flames a 2-0 lead. But it was almost all Bears from there. In the 2nd, after a Jahlani Rogers double scored Nick Rodriguez to cut the Flames lead to 2-1, Kelly’s homer to right gave the Bears the lead for good at 3-2. Two batters later, Bogenpohl’s homer made it 5-2, also scoring Tyler Epstein. Missouri State wasn’t done, however, as Zack Stewart later homered in the 2nd, a 2-run shot that featured Leach as the passenger, and Missouri State led, 7-2, after 2.

Kendal Ewell, coming off a 5-hit game in the midweeks stayed hot in this one with a solo homer in the 4th that made it 7-3, but that was the last run Thompson allowed. He improved to 5-0 on the season pitching 6 innings, allowing 3 runs on 7 hits. But more importantly, he didn’t walk anyone while striking out 7. He got 18 outs on 91 pitches (5.05 ppo).

For all of Missouri State’s (15-17, 4-6) recent homer thunder (more on that in a minute), Thompson has turned into the Friday ace any team looking to make a late-season run needs. In his last 4 starts, he’s worked 25 innings, while allowing just 4 walks, 18 hits, and 5 earned runs (1.80 ERA during that stretch). He’s also struck out 24, for a 4.8 K:BB ratio that will excel in any conference. Today’s outing was also the 4th straight where he’s thrown at least 91 pitches, but he’s throwing to a 5.03 pitch-per-out mark in that span, which in this homer-happy, offensively charged year in college baseball, is more than respectable. Thompson now sports a 2.35 ERA on the season, with 47 strikeouts in 46 innings.

Missouri State padded its lead in the 5th, scoring 6 times. Four of those came on Stewart’s grand slam, which gave him 6 RBIs for the game. He, Leach, and Epstein all scored 3 runs. The 6 RBIs are a career high for Stewart, who leads the Bears with 12 homers this season. He and Leach are tied for the team lead with 30 RBIs, while Leach leads now in average at .339.

The Bears have now hit 53 homers in 32 games, which entering the weekend would put them in the top 30 nationally. In the 6 games since Bogenpohl was moved into the leadoff spot (a win over SEMO on April 2), he’s hitting .250 with 10 runs, 6 RBIs, and 3 homers (he’s homered to lead off games twice). Missouri State has hit 20 HRs in that stretch, scored 68 runs (9.7 per game), and produced a 5-2 record after starting 10-15.

Game 2 of the series is Friday, also at 11 a.m. Central, as is the finale on Saturday.

Friday on Valley Diamonds: Here’s the rest of the Valley slate this weekend, with all 4 other series starting on Friday:

Belmont at Valparaiso
Bradley at Indiana State
Illinois State at Evansville
Murray State at Southern Illinois