Life in the Valley

Evansville, Murray State, Illinois State All Win on Final Day of Regular Season

Because why not have some drama on the final day of the Missouri Valley Conference regular season?

Well, at least in the standings. Sadly, Saturday’s scores were mostly one-sided affairs, but the combination of wins by Evansville (8-2 over UIC); Murray State (16-3 over Bradley); and Illinois State (8-1 over Belmont) brought home hoped-for scenarios for both the Racers and Redbirds.

The combination of results means Murray State will be the #2 seed in next week’s MVC baseball tournament, riding an 8-game winning streak and a powerful offense into Evansville for the event. UE secured the 3rd seed with its win over UIC today, as the Purple Aces rallied from a Thursday defeat to open the series to win the last 2 and finish the regular season on a high note. Illinois State, who needed the most help to earn the 4th seed and a day off on Tuesday, got everything they needed and took care of its own business against Belmont.

UIC’s loss turned out to be costly, dropping the Flames down to the 5 seed and meaning they will play Tuesday against 8th-seed Missouri State. Not a friendly draw for a 5 seed given the Bears’ audacious power. The 6/7 game Tuesday will feature Southern Illinois vs. Belmont. The Salukis earned the 6 seed with an 18-11 win today over Missouri State, while the Bruins moved down to 7th with their loss to the Redbirds. Valparaiso, defeated 15-4 today by 20th-ranked Indiana State, will finish 9th thanks to a head-to-head tiebreaker over Bradley, who finished 10th. Both the Beacons and Braves will miss the tournament. We also know that #3 Evansville will play #4 Illinois State on Wednesday.

Here’s a quick read on how everything unfolded on the final day:

Murray State 16, Bradley 3: The first game to go off involving the battle among the top seeds behind Indiana State, Murray State (37-18, 17-10) broke open a 3-2 game in the 6th inning with 3 runs, then scored 6 in the 7th and 4 in the 8th en route to a 16-3 victory. Jonathan Hogart homered and drove in 4 runs, while Drew Vogel had 2 hits and 3 runs; Dustin Mercer went 2-for-3 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs; Carson Garner also had 2 hits, 2 runs, and 2 RBIs, and Dan Tauken (3 RBIs) and Parker Estes each had 3 hits. Murray State outhit Bradley, 18-7. Logan Delgado homered for the Braves (13-37-1, 6-21).

Evansville 8, UIC 2: A scoreless game came alive in the 5th as UIC took a 1-0 lead in the top half on Garrett Kay’s sac fly; but Evansville responded with 3, including a 2-run homer by Kip Fougerousse; then added 3 more in the 6th on it way to an 8-2 series-clinching win. Eight of UE’s 10 hits were singles, but the Purple Aces drew 7 walks, had 2 batters hit, stole 2 bases to put up 8 runs. Fougerousse, Harrison Taubert, and Ty Rumsey all had 2 hits for the Purple Aces (31-23, 17-10) and combined to score 5 runs. Vidal Colon had 3 hits for UIC (33-18, 16-11). Kevin Reed went 5 strong innings for the win as the UE starter, needing just 65 pitches (4.33 pitches per out).

Illinois State 8, Belmont 1: Judah Morris hit a 2-run homer in the 1st inning to open the scoring, then a grand slam in the 7th to close the scoring as Illinois State defeated Belmont, 8-1. Morris had a stellar series for the Redbirds, and his 6 RBIs today were a season high. Morris went 5-for-11 against Belmont for the weekend, with 3 runs, 10 RBIs, 2 doubles, a triple, and today’s 2 homers. He’s now hitting .286 on the season with 12 homers and 45 RBIs, along with 18 doubles. Auggie Rasmussen doubled for Illinois State (28-25, 16-11), giving him 29 extra-base hits in just 180 plate appearances, matching his number from last season despite 53 fewer plate appearances. Belmont fell to 25-30, 12-15.

#20 Indiana State 15, Valparaiso 4: Indiana State finished the conference regular season 22-5 (39-11 overall); and the Sycamores are now 46-8 in back-to-back MVC regular seasons including 2023. It’s the most dominant conference run since Missouri State went 36-4 through 2017 and 2018. The Sycamores won in a 7-inning, run-rule game today, scoring in every inning but the 4th. Mike Sears locked up the title of Valley Home Run King with 2 homers and 5 RBIs, giving him 23 HRs on the season. Luis Hernandez hit his 21st. Adam Pottinger and Josue Urdaneta also homered, as the Sycamores hit 16 homers in the 3-game series and have 99 for the season. Hernandez went 3-for-4 with 3 runs and 2 RBIs. Sears was 3-for-3 with 3 runs. Urdaneta had 3 hits. But for Valpo (14-38, 6-21), there was a cool moment, when Kaleb Hannahs, the son of Indiana State head coach Mitch Hannahs, hit a solo homer in the 3rd inning in his final collegiate game.

Southern Illinois 18, Missouri State 11: SIU spoiled the final regular-season home game for Missouri State head coach Keith Guttin, as a wild Saturday slugfest saw the Salukis prevail, 18-11. Southern Illinois (31-25, 12-15) scored 14 runs in the first 5 innings, taking a 14-2 lead before the Bears answered with 3 in the 5th inning. Bennett Eltoft went 3-for-6 in this one with 3 doubles, 3 runs, and 5 RBIs. Mathieu Vallee, Jordan Bach, and Hesston Gray all had 3 hits each for SIU. Gray hit the lone homer, but the Salukis pounded out 9 doubles, with Trey Cutchen adding 2, and Steven Loden, Cole Christman, Jordan Bach, and Nathan Bandy all bashing 2-baggers, as well. The Salukis also stole 6 bases.

Cody Kelly, Carter Bergman, and Zack Stewart (21st) all homered for Missouri State (23-32, 11-16), which finished the regular season with 110 homers in 55 games. The Bears slugged .510 for the regular season. Not exactly your prototypical 8th seed in a conference tournament.

Where They Finished: A look at the final MVC regular-season standings:

1. Indiana State 22-5, 39-11
2. Murray State 17-10, 37-18
3. Evansville 17-10, 31-23
4. Illinois State 16-11, 28-25
5. UIC 16-11, 33-18
6. Southern Illinois 12-15, 31-25
7. Belmont 12-15, 25-30
8. Missouri State 11-16, 23-32
9. Valparaiso 6-21, 14-38
10. Bradley 6-21, 14-37-1

Individual Races: The final day saw league leaders decided in a variety of different categories. I’ll have a full stat pack for you Tuesday morning in advance of the first games of the Valley tournament, but here are some highlights:

• Batting title: UIC’s Kendal Ewell comes out on top at .392, He finished 10 points ahead of UE’s Mark Shallenberger, while Indiana State’s Luis Hernandez earned a podium finish at .373.
• Home Run King: Two homers on the final by Mike Sears settled the home run race with 23, 2 better than teammates Hernandez and Missouri State’s Zack Stewart. All of them homered Saturday. Drew Vogel and Ewell both finished with 20.
• RBIs: Hernandez edged out Sears, 68-67, to win the RBI title. Ewell finished third at 64.
• Hits: Hernandez’s 3 hits on Saturday earned him this crown, as well, with 79 – 2 better than Illinois State’s Luke Lawrence. Ewell, UE’s Mark Shallenberger, Vogel, and UE’s Kip Fougerousse all finished tied for 3rd with 76.
• Doubles: Evansville teammates Shallenberger and Harrison Taubert tied for the crown here with 19. Ewell, Fougerousse, Taeg Gollert of Missouri State, and Illinois State’s Judah Morris all had 18 and tied for 3rd.
• Base Thievery: Belmont’s Sam Slaughter topped the stolen base list with 21, 2 ahead of Zielinski and Illinois State’s J.T. Sokolove.
• Strikeout King: SIU’s Aidan Foeller, despite not pitching this weekend, won this title with 91. He finished ahead of 2nd-place Cade Vernon of Murray State (83) and Bradley’s Noah Edders (76).

Today on Valley Diamonds: All is quiet as we prepare for the Valley tourney.

If You’re Still Starved for More College Baseball: ESPN+ has the Patriot League Championship Game between Army and Navy at Noon Central.