Life in the Valley

Three Teams Fall at Hands of Power Confernce Opposition

Murray State’s resurgent bats fell silent for 7 innings Tuesday night at Tennessee-Martin, but Carson Garner saved the Racers with an 8th-inning homer – his team-leading 15th of the season – to tie the game at 1, and in the 10th-inning, Riley Hawthorne drew a bases-loaded walk that gave Murray State the eventual winning run as Garner scored again in the Racers’ 2-1 victory over the Skyhawks.

Murray State (27-17, 9-9 MVC) logged just 3 hits for the game – Garner’s homer and singles by Drew Vogel and Jonathan Hogart. UT-Martin (18-26, 10-8) took the lead in the 3rd inning when Andrew Fernandez singled to right, scoring Zac Rice, who had 3 of UT-Martin’s 6 hits.

Reed Braundmeier, Allen Roulette (W, 4-1), and Thomas McNabb (2nd save) pitched 6 innings of scoreless relief to keep the Racers in the game, walking just 1 and striking out 6. Dustin Mercer went 0-for-5 to snap an 11-game hitting streak.

Evansville 7, SEMO 6: Having just given up 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning and trailing at Southeast Missouri State, 4-3, entering the top of the 9th, you could forgive Evansville if they were a little shell-shocked. But if they were bothered, it didn’t show. The Purple Aces scored 4 runs in the top of the 9th inning then held off a late SEMO (22-23, 10-8 OVC) rally to win, 7-6, in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Reigning MVC Player of the Week Mark Shallenberger’s 2-run homer (12th of the season) in the 9th gave UE (25-19, 12-6) the lead for good, 5-4, also scoring Ty Rumsey. With Kip Fougerousse aboard later in the 9th, Chase Hug hit a 2-run shot – his 4th – to make it 7-4. That turned out to be a key blow, as well, with the Redhawks scoring twice in the bottom of the 9th to get within 7-6 on a single by Caleb Corbin (2-for-3, 3 RBIs). But Max Hansmann, who had come in with 1 out in the 8th and was eligible for the win, allowed a fielder’s choice to put a runner at 2nd with 2 out, then struck out Keoni Coloma to end the game.

Shallenberger, Hug, Harrison Taubert, and Simon Scherry all had 2 hits each for Evansville. Kevin Reed started and threw 6 scoreless innings, allowing 4 hits with 3 walks and 5 strikeouts on 89 pitches (4.94 ppo).

Illinois 21, #24 Indiana State 11: Into every successful baseball season, a little oops must fall. No. 24 Indiana State (31-10, 14-4) dealt with that Tuesday, falling at Illinois, 21-11, in a 7-inning, run-rule affair. Illinois (26-15) scored 6 runs in each of the 2nd and 3rd innings to take a 14-4 lead. The Sycamores, however, battled back scoring 6 in the 4th – 4 on Parker Stinson’s grand slam, his 2nd homer of the game and 13th of the season. Stinson later added a run-scoring double for a 7-RBI night, a career high. It wasn’t, however, a game high. That honor went to Illinois (26-15, 11-4 Big Ten) RF Ryan Moerman, who drove in 9, going 4-for-5 with 3 homers.

#2 Arkansas 12, Missouri State 7: The 2nd-ranked Hogs took the first game of a 2-game mid-week series in Fayetteville on Tuesday, 12-7. The Bears (18-25, 7-11) found themselves down, 9-0, after just 3 innings. Missouri State got 4 back in the 4th, 2 on a single by Logan Chambers, then down 11-4 in the 7th, Taeg Gollert hit a 3-run homer (his 8th of the season) to cut the Arkansas (38-7, 16-5 SEC) lead to 4. Wehiwa Aloy hit a grand slam in the 1st inning for the Razorbacks. The teams combined to use 14 pitchers. Missouri State and Arkansas meet again at 3 p.m today in Fayetteville.

Iowa 8, Illinois State 7: A 9th-inning rally by the Redbirds came up 1-run short at Iowa City Tuesday, as Illinois State fell to the Iowa Hawkeyes, 8-7. Auggie Rasmussen’s 2-run homer in the 9th that also scored Noah Rabin cut the Iowa lead to 1, then with 2 outs, Shaydon Kubo singled to keep the Redbirds alive. But Luke Lawrence struck out to end the game. Daniel Pacella drove in 2 runs for the Redbirds (21-21, 9-9). Rasmussen now has 10 homers on the season, tying him with Rabin for the team lead. Pacella’s 49 RBIs lead Illinois State.

Bradley 16, Western Illinois 1: The Braves (12-29-1, 5-13) needed just 7 innings to dispatch of Western Illinois in Macomb on Tuesday, scoring 12 runs in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings combined to build a 12-0 lead, then 2 each in the 6th and 7th to run-rule the Leathernecks. Jackson Chatterton homered and scored 4 Bradley runs, while he and Ryan Vogel each drove in 2. Vogel’s 2 RBIs give him 99 for his career. Nick Hosie went 3-for-4 with 2 homers, 4 runs, and 5 RBIs. Hosie had a 2-run double in the 2nd; a 2-run homer in the 3rd; and a solo homer in the 4th. Hosie, a junior from Australia, set season highs in just about every major offensive category. It was Hosie’s 2nd 2-homer game of the season (April 10, Lindenwood). Jack Stellano, Anthony Edge, and Jake Perrino combined to hold WIU (9-31, 6-12 OVC) to 1 run on 4 hits.

Southern Illinois 7, Southern Indiana 5: Trey Cutchen’s 2-run single and a bases-loaded walk by Hesston Gray (what did we say the other day in the Monday 9 about SIU (26-19, 9-9) and on-base percentage) erased a 2-0 deficit in the 4th inning and SIU never again trailed, downing the Southern Indiana (19-26, 8-10 OVC) Screaming Eagles, 7-5, in Carbondale. Gray later doubled in a run in the 6th, while Cutchen’s sac fly brought Gray home. Steven Loden homered, singled, and drove in 2. Cole Koonce (3-0) got the win, pitching 2 innings of scoreless relief with 1 hit and 1 walk and just 20 pitches (3.33 ppo).

UIC 3, Northwestern 2: Five Flames pitchers held Northwestern to 2 runs on 3 hits with 4 walks and 10 strikeouts as UIC (28-13, 11-7) downed their city rival Wildcats, 3-2. Colin Hawkins and winner Rigel Verciglio opened the game with 5 scoreless, no-hit innings with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts on a combined 50 pitches. UIC’s combined no-hit bid and shutout quest ended in the top of the 7th when Vince Bianchina homered. Owen McElfatrick homered in the 8th to get Northwestern (13-27, 2-13 Big Ten) within 1, but that closed the scoring. Kendall Ewell and Pambos Nicoloudes had 2 hits each for UIC, with Ewell and Jackson Fisher picking up RBIs.

Western Michigan 8, Valparaiso 6 (15): Valparaiso worked a whole shift of overtime Tuesday in Kalamazoo, but couldn’t come up with a win as the Western Michigan Broncos downed the Beacons, 8-6, in 15 innings. Dylan Nevar won the game for WMU in the bottom of the 15th with a 2-run homer. The game was tied at 5-5 after 9 innings. Both tams scored in the 12th. Valpo took a 6-5 lead on a Kevin Denty bases-loaded walk, only for WMU to tie it on Josh Swinehart’s sac fly that scored C.J. Richmond. The scored stayed 6-6 until Nevar ended it. Brady Renfro, Ryan Maka, and Connor Giusti all had 3 hits each for Valpo (13-29, 5-13). Fresh off an 8-homer performance in Sunday’s 20-0 win over UIC, the Beacons hit 3 more Tuesday – off the bats of Renfro (5th of the season) , Giusti (4th), and Alex Thurston (5th). Valpo has 11 homers in its last 2 games after hitting 46 in its first 40. Michael Maloney had 4 hits for Western Michigan (23-18, 13-8).

Today on Valley Diamonds: We’ve got a bit of action today as we are quickly running out of non-conference mid-weeks:

UT-Martin at Murray State, 3, ESPN+
Missouri State at #2 Arkansas, 4 (SECN+)
Western Illinois at Illinois State, 5, ESPN+

If You’re Still Starved for More College Baseball: The televised slate is a bit light today, but there’s a sneaky good mid-major game on at 5 p.m. Central on ESPN+ as Campbell (27-15, 8-10 CAA) visits Liberty (18-25, 9-6 C-USA). It’s been a bit of a down year for Liberty, but they’re 4th in Conference USA and the 3 teams they’re looking up at are really good – Western Kentucky (31-14); Louisiana Tech (34-13); and Dallas Baptist (32-11). Campbell is 19-5 non-conference with wins over UC-Santa Barbara (twice), East Carolina, N.C. State, and Duke. The Camels also swept a 3-game series from Valparaiso earlier this season.