Life in the Valley

Missouri State and UIC Clinch Series with Sunday Victories

Winners of 12 of their first 15 games in the Missouri Valley Conference (and 34 of their last 40 going back to last season), the Indiana State Sycamores earned some well-deserved (and perhaps overdue) recognition Monday, debuting at #25 in the D1Baseball Top 25. The poll was released this morning.

The Sycamores (29-8, 12-3) once again lead the field in the Valley after going 24-3 last season and winning both the regular-season and conference tournament championships. That brought a regional to Terre Haute (which the Sycamores won) and Indiana State appears much on the same path in 2024 – they’re the #12 national seed in the latest Field of 64 projections by D1Baseball, released late last week, which would mean hosting a regional again this May.

The Sycamores did nothing to hurt themselves over the weekend, winning their 15th series in a row by taking Sunday’s finale at Illinois State, 11-1. Luke Hayden pitched a complete game, allowing 1 run on 6 hits with 11 strikeouts to just 1 walk over 97 pitches (7 innings). Grant Magill and Randal Diaz homered, with Magill and Mike Sears each driving in 3 runs. Magill went 3-for-5.

Hayden, a junior Indiana transfer from Bloomington, has allowed 2 earned runs or less in 5 of his last 7 starts (12 total in 36 2/3 IP in that span, a 2.95 ERA), and none in his last 2 covering 12 2/3 innings. Hayden’s ERA for the season is down to 2.84, and he’s struck out 59 in 50 2/3 innings. Most impressive Sunday, however, was Hayden only allowing 1 walk. He had allowed 4 walks in 4 of his previous 5 starts (and 3 in the other one). The 11 strikeouts were a season high.

The series got off to a rocky start for Indiana State, however, as the Redbirds (20-17, 8-7) captured the Friday opener, 4-3. Down 3-2 in the 8th, Illinois State tied it on Shaydon Kubo’s RBI single, then won it in the 9th when Daniel Pacella homered. Pacella went 3-for-5 in the game.

The Sycamores got back on track Saturday, scoring 3 runs in the 1st and never looking back en route to a 10-1 win. Brennyn Cutts authored another strong outing, pitching 7 shutout innings, allowing 2 hits, 3 walks, and striking out 6 on 110 pitches. Seven different Sycamores had at least 1 hit and 8 scored at least 1 run. Magill drove in 3, going 2-for-5. Diaz and Parker Stinson homered.

UE Sweeps Bradley; Stands 2 Back in 2nd: While the Sycamores have been the “It” team in the Valley in terms of season-long performance, there’s no one hotter in the conference right now than Evansville, winners of 8 straight and 12 of 13. The Purple Aces notched back-to-back weekend conference sweeps by taking down Bradley, 9-7, 6-1, and 7-2 over the weekend. The sizzling streak has taken Evansville to lone 2nd in the Valley, 2 games behind Indiana State at 10-5 (22-18 overall).

Friday’s opener was the closest game of the three, through it didn’t start out that way. Evansville powered home 9 runs in the first 3 innings to take a 9-1 lead and probably had a run-rule victory on their minds. Simon Scherry had a 3-run homer as part of Evansville’s 6-run 3rd, but that marked the end of UE’s offense for the game. Bradley countered with 4 in the 6th, 2 on a single by Issac Sobieszczyk, then 2 more in the 7th on another homer from the red-hot Timmy O’Brien, his 2nd of the game, and an RBI double off the bat of Michael Mylott. But Drew Fieger and Jakob Meyer closed the door on Bradley in the 8th and 9th, respectively to secure UE’s 9-7 win. Bradley’s Jack Stellano pitched 5 2/3 innings of scoreless, 3-hit relief to keep the Braves (10-27, 4-11) in the game.

Saturday, UE again raced out to a good lead, 5-1 after 4 innings, but there was no comeback to worry about this time. Mark Shallenberger hit a 3-run homer and Kip Fougerousse had 3 hits in the win. Logan Delgado went 2-for-3 for Bradley. Evansville starter Donovan Schultz pitched 7 innings, giving just 1 run on 7 hits with 0 walks and 4 strikeouts on a super-efficient 84 pitches (4.00 ppo).

In the Sunday finale, Brodie Peart drummed up 3 RBIs thanks to a 2-run single and a sac fly to lead the way to a 7-2 win and the sweep. Fougerousse had 2 hits and scored twice. Harrison Taubert also had 2 hits. Ryan Vogel and Beau Durbin had 2 hits each for Bradley. Shane Harris got the win for UE with 6 innings of work, including 6 strikeouts, with Fieger and Meyer again shutting down the Braves over the final 3 innings.

SIU Stars in Nashville: Southern Illinois (24-16, 8-7) got back over .500 in MVC play by sweeping Belmont in Nashville. Friday’s win came in comeback variety, as the Salukis scored twice in the top of the 9th to down the Bruins, 7-6. Trey Cutchen, who seems to have authored up quite a few big hits for SIU lately, did so again, doubling in both runs as Hesston Gray and Jordan Bach scored the decisive tallies. Cutchen was 3-for-5 in the game. Bach and Gray also homered for the Salukis. Anthony Pron worked a scoreless 9th to get his 6th save. Jack Rando went 3-for-5 with 3 runs in the loss for the Bruins (20-20, 7-8). Belmont starter Will Pryor went 6 innings and struck out 10.

On Saturday, Bach homered again as part of a 3-for-4 day with 2 runs and 3 RBIs as the Salukis beat the Bruins, 7-3. Bach singled in a run in the 3rd inning to give Southern Illinois a 2-1 lead. His sac fly in the 5th made it 4-2 SIU. He then hit a solo homer in the 9th to close the scoring. Cutchen, Cole Christman, and Mathieu Vallee all had 2 hits each for the Salukis. Ben Riffe got the win, starting and pitching 5 innings. Pron and Easton Dermody blanked the Bruins over the final 4 innings with 5 strikeouts. Pete Daniel drove in 2 of Belmont’s runs and Brodey Heaton scored twice.

Sunday brought SIU strikeout maven Aidan Foeller to the mound and he picked up his 3rd win of the season and 5 more Ks over 6 1/3 innings as the Salukis overwhelmed the Bruins, 11-1. Valle, Jake Allgeyer, and Christman – the top 3 in the SIU order, combined to go 6-for-13 with 5 runs and 5 RBIs. Cutchen drove in 3. Justin Keuss, getting a start at DH, homered.

SIU has a midweek game at Southeast Missouri State Tuesday (6 p.m., ESPN+), then gets its shot at vs. Indiana State in Carbondale this weekend.

UIC Takes Series from Murray State with Sunday Win: In a series that held tremendous interest for the conference from an RPI perspective, UIC (24-12, 9-6) prevailed, winning the rubber game on Sunday, 15-5, in an 8-inning run-rule affair. The Racers had taken the Friday opener, 13-9, before the Flames answered back with a 9-3 victory on Saturday.

Both teams entered the weekend in a position where a sweep might have got them into the top 50 of the RPI. That didn’t happen, but the series win has UIC at #53 according to today’s rankings at D1Baseball.com. As would be expected, the Racers (23-16, 7-8) didn’t suffer much from the series defeat, now sitting at #61. They are the 2nd and 3rd-highest ranked RPI teams in the Valley, with Indiana State currently at #10. The current positions for UIC and Murray would leave them outside likelihood for an at-large regional bid, but with 4 conference weekends left, both teams kept themselves in position to make a run (though Murray’s conference record will need to greatly improve a good bit along the way).

Things looked good early for Murray with their Friday win. The Racers scored 10 runs from the 6th to the 8th innings to overturn a 5-3 deficit. Jonathan Hogart received Top 30 Hitter honors from D1Baseball for his 4-for-4 performance, including the rare 4-4-4-4 line score, with his 4 runs and 4 RBIs. Hogart doubled twice and homered. Taylor Howell had 3 hits and 4 RBIs. UIC lost despite hitting 3 homers and getting a 3-for-4 day from Jackson Bessette, including 3 runs and 3 RBIs. Zane Zielinski, who entered Friday leading the conference in hitting at .400, stayed right on that number with a 2-for-5 game.

UIC evened things Saturday, 9-3. Zielinski again went 2-for-5 with a homer, while Kendal Ewell homered twice, and Bessette again had 3 hits, including a homer. Hogart homered again for Murray, going 2-for-4 with 2 runs. UIC starter Brandon Bak went 5 2/3 innings to get the win and improve to 3-2 on the season, striking out 3 and walking 0.

Sunday, as was the case with every game in the Valley, was a lopsided affair. UIC took a 5-0 lead after 2 and then scored 3 each in the 7th and 8th innings to run-rule the Racers, 15-5. Ewell, who had two 5-hit games last week to earn MVC Player of the Week honors, went 4-for-5 in this one with 3 runs, 4 RBIs, and another homer. He also doubled. A.J. Taylor and A.J. Henkle each had 2 RBIs. Carson Garner homered and doubled as part of a 3-hit day for Murray State, while Hogart finished a monster series with 3 more hits, a run, and 2 RBIs.

Missouri State Rebounds to Earn Needed Series Win: After suffering a 7-6, 12-inning loss at Valparaiso on Friday, the Missouri State Bears (17-21, 6-9) turned things around to take the final 2 games and the series over the Beacons (12-25, 4-11).

Facing a team that usually feasts on the long ball in the Bears, Valpo beat Missouri State at its own game Friday, as Brady Renfro homered in the bottom of the 12th, a 2-run shot that gave the Beacons the win after Cody Kelly had homered in the top of the 12th for State. Valpo hit 4 homers to Missouri State’s 2 in the win, as Renfro, Liam Patton, Ryan Maka, and Alex Ryan all went yard. Caden Bogenpohl also homered for the Bears. Bears ace Brandt Thompson went 6 1/3 innings and struck out 8 but got a no-decision.

On Saturday, however, Valpo’s late-inning runs weren’t enough, as the Beacons’ 2-run 9th left them 2 runs short in an 8-6 loss. Zack Stewart and Kelly homered for the Bears, with Stewart scoring 2 runs and driving in 3 as his recent hot streak puts him in the discussion for MVC Player of the Year honors. Rodriguez, Kelly, and Taeg Gollert all had 2 hits in the win. Kaleb Hannahs led Valpo with 3 hits, while Renfro and Carson Husmann (homer) drove in 2 each.

Sunday, the Bears had two solid opening drives, putting up a touchdown and a field goal in the first 2 innings to take a 10-0 lead and eventually win, 14-3. Seven different Bears each had 2 hits as Missouri State pounded out 16 for the day, including homers from Stewart (there go that man again) and Logan Chambers, who led the Bears with 3 RBIs. Ryan and Kyle Schmack went deep for Valpo.

Today on Valley Diamonds: All is quiet.

If You’re Starved for College Baseball: One of the country’s best mid-majors, Lamar (30-8, 9-3 Southland) takes on UT-Rio Grande Valley at 6:30 p.m. Central on ESPN+. The Cardinals have been hot but are coming off a 2-1 series loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Lamar swept a series at Oklahoma and has a win over UIC this season.