Life in the Valley

Lots of Impressive Seasons Being Turned in Around the Valley

Looking across the categories this week in the Friday stat leaders, you’ll see a pattern. And that is, many names appear multiple times. There are some sensational seasons being turned in around the Missouri Valley Conference and the numbers will only continue to skyrocket as the regular season winds down and each series gains in importance.

With another Valley weekend set to get underway in a few hours, let’s highlight a few players who are splashed all over the league leaders this week:

• Mark Shallenberger, UE: Leads the conference in batting average (.391; on-base percentage (.537); slugging (.733); and OPS (1.270). Reigning MVC Player of the Week has lifted Evansville to 2nd in the conference, 2 games back of Indiana State.
• Zane Zielinski, UIC: Second in the Valley in average (.377); third in hits (63); tied for first in stolen bases (17); 4th in OBP (.465); and 5th in OPS (1.100). Flames are currently 3rd in the Valley, 3 back of Indiana State.
• Kendall Ewell, UIC: Fourth in hitting at .367; 3rd in OBP (.474) and slugging (.690); 2nd in OPS (1.164). Has two 5-hit games this season.
• Mason Landers, Belmont: I’ll have more on Landers in next week’s Monday 9, but in terms of stats, he’s now 2nd in homers with 17 behind only Missouri State’s Zack Stewart (18). Landers is 3rd in RBIs with 50; tied for 3rd in hits with 63; 2nd in slugging (.701); and 4th in OPS (1.116).
• Luis Hernandez, Indiana State: As much as the talk has been pitching related when considering the Sycamores’ success, their offense has no doubt made great strides and Hernandez has been a key to that. He’s 3rd in the Valley in hitting (.374); first in RBIs (55); and tied for the lead in hits (65).
• Cade Vernon, Murray State: Leads the Valley in wins with a 7-2 record, while 5th in ERA (4.24), 2nd in innings pitched (68) and 4th in strikeouts (63).
• Brennyn Cutts & Luke Hayden, Indiana State: The duo has combined to 12-2 this year (each are 6-1, tied with UE’s Kenton Deverman for most wins with only 1 loss in the conference). They are 1st and 3rd in ERA; Cutts tops at 2.41; Hayden third at 2.79. Both have a complete game this season. Hayden is 2nd in the Valley with 65 strikeouts.
• Anthony Pron, Southern Illinois: Pron has emerged to challenge Belmont’s Reece Lawler for the saves title in the conference. Each now have 9. Pron is also 1 off the lead in appearances with 22, tied with Jordan Zuger of Belmont.

Here is the full Friday Stat Pack!