Life in the Valley

Braves Take Down Siena; but MVC Loses 9 of 10

Saturday wasn’t a stellar day in the Missouri Valley Conference, as the league’s teams lost 9 of the 10 games played. Only the Bradley Braves, 9-2 victors over a winless Siena club, managed to find victory Saturday. Not that the competition was easy, mind you, but the results left Valley teams a combined 10-37 (.213) on the young season.

That record might well look a little better if Murray State’s series vs. St. Thomas this weekend hadn’t been canceled. Murray State has a strong offense and figures to be among the top teams in the Valley this season if their pitching is decent. But the Racers haven’t played since Valentine’s Day, losing 3 games against St. Thomas this weekend and a mid-week matchup with Tennessee-Martin, who Murray State will play Tuesday & Wednesday this coming week.

At 2-0, the Racers are the lone team in the Valley with a record above .500. The only team at .500 is Indiana State at 3-3, and Saturday was a rough go for the Sycamores, getting swept in a doubleheader by Northeastern and failing to score in the process, losing 7-0 and 5-0. Which sort of shows the randomness and weirdness of baseball, given Indiana State scored 36 in one game last week vs. Wagner.

Missouri State is 2-3 and has shown signs of being a very good baseball team. They nearly upset #18 Mississippi State on the road Friday, before losing 9-3 on Saturday. The Bears’ schedule of non-conference weekend series might be the toughest in the conference, having already visited Sam Houston last weekend, Mississippi State this weekend, with series to come against Louisiana-Monroe, Wichita State, and SIU-Edwardsville. Missouri State will also play Missouri, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, UCF, and Araknsas in mid-week games. My hunch is that the Bears will be fine and are still a team to watch at the top of the league once conference play starts.

Southern Illinois (1-3) and UIC (1-6) both have a single win, with the Salukis winning 1 of 3 at Texas Rio Grande Valley last week. UTRGV went on to hammer Dallas Baptist in the midweek, 15-5. SIU dropped the first game of a series at Tennessee Tech on Saturday and will play Tech twice more with the series extending to Monday. The Flames, who will also play Tennessee Tech next weekend, have had a tough go through the South early, playing The Citadel and Charleston Southern twice (1-3) and dropping the first 3 at #8 Georgia this weekend. While Game 1 was competitive at times, the Bulldogs have outscored the Flames, 34-8, so far.

Evansville and Illinois State, both 0-4; Valparaiso (0-5); and Belmont (0-6) have yet to find victory on the 2025 season. The Purple Aces dropped 3 on the road at Little Rock to start the season, then fell 10-9 in 13 innings at Lipscomb in a game where the Purple Aces led by 6 runs in the 9th inning. UE, which hosts a doubleheader today against cross-city rival Southern Indiana, still has tough weekend series at Missouri, Central Arkansas, and Samford coming up, along with mid-week games against Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Indiana, and Western Kentucky.

The Redbirds, picked by some to be the Valley’s lone representative in the NCAA Tournament later this spring, dropped 2 at Western Kentucky on opening weekend and unfortunately had 2 other games against the Hilltoppers rained out. The Redbirds have dropped the first 2 at Jacksonville this weekend, always a tough assignment as teams like the Dolphins, Stetson, etc., are usually stronger mid-majors given their location and recruiting advantages. Series against Lindenwood and Western Illinois give Illinois State a chance to rebound, but the Redbirds also have a weekend series at Oklahoma State coming up. Home-and-homes against Illinois and Iowa highlight their mid-week slate.

Valparaiso has had a tough schedule to navigate so far, losing 3 at Samford and falling in the first 2 this weekend at Memphis. Niagara, Illinois, and Ohio State await still for the Beacons in non-conference weekend series. The Niagara (0-6) series will be at home. Niagara dropped 3 at Miami-Fla. to start the season and has lost the first 3 of 4 this weekend at Purdue.

Belmont has lost 3 close games, 2 at Georgia State and the Friday opener this weekend vs. Kentucky by a 2-1 score. Notre Dame, Little Rock, and Butler await on non-conference weekends, with the Fighting Irish and Bulldogs both coming to Nashville. Belmont has had the better of it in terms of getting to play some non-conference series at home this season, where many teams don’t get that opportunity at all or only get 1 home series before conference play starts.

I know, I know, it’s a lot of gloom and doom. Sunday morning hasn’t felt this bad since Avon Barksdale’s people tried to get Omar while he was taking his grandma to church. But things will get better. If Evansville proved anything last year, playing tough opponents early helps you later, even if the results aren’t great at the start. The Purple Aces were 9-15 last season and ended up in Game 3 of a Super Regional. There’s no reason to give up hope so early on in the season. Most teams have 50 or so games left (weather permitting). And as the weather warms up, I’m guessing Valley teams will, as well.

That doesn’t make the present any easier, however. Hopefully the league will start to turn things around today.

Sunday’s Menu: Another big slate on tap with teams looking to turn things around, while Bradley looks for at least 1 win in its doubleheader vs. Siena to clinch the series. All times Central, all games weather permitting:

UIC at #8 Georgia, 10 a.m., ESPN+
Illinois State at Jacksonville, 10:30 a.m. (ESPN+)
Bradley vs. Siena, Game 1, 11 a.m. (Perfect Game)
Southern Indiana at Evansville, Game 1, Noon (no video)
Indiana State vs. Northeastern, Noon (FLOSports)
Valparaiso at Memphis, 1 p.m. (ESPN+)
Kentucky at Belmont, 1 p.m. (no video)
Missouri State at #18 Mississippi State, 1 p.m. (SECN+)
Southern Illinois at Tennessee Tech, 1 p.m. (no video)
Bradley vs. Siena, Game 2, 2 p.m. (Perfect Game)
Southern Indiana at Evansville, Game 2, 4 p.m. (no video)

Ed Morgans is the founder of MVCBaseball.com. An Evansville graduate, Ed has written about and broadcast college baseball, while following the sport for 40 years.