Life in the Valley

Zielinski Reaches .400 to Lead Batting Race

We’ve hit the time of the college baseball season where we have a pretty good sample size regarding who is doing what. Teams have played anywhere from 33 to 37 games; weekend pitching rotations are pretty much established, and many hitters are well over 100 plate appearances.

With that, patterns begin to emerge. One pattern seen this week in the stat pack – the race to be Valley Home Run King is going to go right down to the wire. Three Valley sluggers are tied for the lead this week with 14 homers each – Indiana State’s Mike Sears; Missouri State’s Zack Stewart; and Belmont’s Mason Landers. Right on their tails, 2 more boppers in Carson Garner of Murray State and Missouri State’s Caden Bogenpohl, who both have 13.

The notable number in the conference batting race is that UIC’s Zane Zielinski has once again reached .400, putting him at the top, 21 points ahead of Mark Shallenberger (Evansville). Zielinski also leads in hits (54); is tied for 2nd in stolen bases (13), 3rd in on-base percentage (.494); 4th in slugging percentage (.681); and 2nd in OPS (1.175).

On the mound, Indiana State has a pair of 5-0 pitchers joining Missouri State’s Brandt Thompson at the top of the list in Jared Spencer and Cam Edmonson. Thompson (2.35) also continues to lead in ERA.

But in terms of strikeouts, it’s Aidan Foeller’s world and we’re all paying rent. Foeller has 62 strikeouts in just 41 1/3 innings, a 13.5 K/9 IP mark. A junior from Nesbit, Miss., who also played at Northeast Mississippi Community College, Foeller struck out 12 on April 6 at UIC for his season high. But he also has starts featuring 11, 9 (twice), and 8 strikeouts. Half of the outs Foeller has recorded this season have been strikeouts.

Heading into this weekend’s conference action, here’s the stat pack!