Life in the Valley

Salukis Score 9 in Middle Innings to Earn 30th Win

Up 3-1 entering the bottom of the 4th inning Tuesday night in Carbondale, the Southern Illinois Salukis scored 4 times to take the lead, then added 5 more in the 5th to take a 12-1 lead and overwhelm visiting Bellarmine, 14-8.

Three Salukis (30-23, 11-13) homered, including Jake Allgeyer in the 2nd inning, a solo shot that gave the Salukis a 3-0 lead. In the 5th, Mathieu Vallee’s 3-run homer broke the game wide open, making it 11-1. Anthony Kodama added a solo shot later in the 5th. Vallee went 3-for-4 with 3 runs scored in the win and also drew 2 walks. Allgeyer scored 3 runs, while Nathan Bandy and Jordan Bach had 2 hits each.

Ben Riffe (3-3) got credit for the win, pitching a scoreless 1st. SIU’s 6 pitchers struck out 9 Bellarmine (8-44, 7-20 Atlantic Sun) batters.

Missouri State 8, Oral Roberts 4: Logan Chambers hit a 2-run homer and Tyler Epstein connected on a bases-clearing double for 3 more runs as part of Missouri State’s 5-run 3rd inning that led to an 8-4 victory over visiting Oral Roberts (23-28, 12-13 Summit). Chambers went 3-for-3 with 2 runs.

Caden Bogenpohl also homered for the Bears (21-31, 9-15), while Carter Bergman and Cody Kelly doubled. Missouri State also stole 3 bases.

Jake Syverson (1-2) got the win for his scoreless work in the 3rd inning. Stephen Schissler pitched up his 2nd save of the season.

#1 Tennessee 10, Belmont 0: Any hopes of an upset in Knoxville Tuesday were quickly put to rest by the Vols (43-10, 19-8 SEC) in the 1st inning, as Tennessee scored 5 times in the frame en route to a 10-0, 7-inning win over Belmont. Hunter Ensley’s 3-run double was the big blow in the 1st. DH Cody Backus drove in a run with a single in the 3rd, then hit a solo homer in the 6th.

Sam Slaughter had 2 singles and 2 stolen bases for the Bruins (24-28, 11-13).

Northwestern 7, Valparaiso 2: The Beacons fell at Northwestern Tuesday, as the Wildcats (17-32, 3-18 Big Ten) did all their scoring in the first 3 innings – featuring a 5-run 3rd inning that put the game out of reach. Valpo’s (14-35, 6-18) runs came on solo homers from Alex Thurston and Connor Giusti. Ryan Maka singled twice in the loss. The Valparaiso bullpen, with relievers Joe Seiber, Grant Jablonski, Trent Turzenski, and Josh Spencer, pitched 5 scoreless innings, allowing 3 hits, 1 walk, and striking out 2.

Eastern Illinois 5, Illinois State 3: After both Eastern Illinois (17-32, 10-14 OVC) and Illinois State scored 3 runs in the first 1st inning to set up what looked like a mid-week slugfest, the bats stayed quiet again until the 8th inning, when Eastern’s 2-run rally was enough to put away the Redbirds, 5-3. Daniel Pacella and Noah Rabin homered in the 1st for the Redbirds, with Pacella’s being a 2-run shot. Luke Lawrence walked 3 times and scored a run for Illinois State. Thomas Harper and Braden Roesch each pitched 3 innings of scoreless relief for the Redbirds (26-24, 14-10).

Today on Valley Diamonds: All is quiet.

If You’re Still Starved for More College Baseball: No, really, all is quiet. There are no D-1 games scheduled in the country today. So let’s go to YouTube! Click the link for a March 17, 2015, game between Florida State and Florida. (It’s the best we can do today, folks.)