Life in the Valley

Evansville Earns Series Split with Sunday Win at Mizzou

A busy weekend of Valley baseball is complete. Let’s take a look at how Saturday and Sunday went for each of the 10 MVC baseball schools. We’ll go in alphabetical order.

Belmont: The Bruins gave visiting ACC foe Notre Dame all it could handle over the weekend, but suffered a series sweep, losing 12-8 on Friday; 2-1 Saturday, and 6-2 on Sunday to fall to 1-10. Joe Ruzicka was a standout Saturday, pitching 6 innings and allowing just 1 run on 3 hits with 4 walks and 4 strikeouts on 101 pitches. But a Davis Johnson homer in the 7th gave the Fighting Irish the eventual winning run. On Sunday, Notre Dame broke open a 1-1 game in the 8th, scoring 3 in that frame and 2 in the 9th. Jake Timbes pitched 4 shutout innings as the Belmont starter, giving up just 2 hits and striking out 5. But Notre Dame pitchers struck out 12 Bruin batters. Charlie Davis wasn’t one of them, going 3-for-4 with 2 runs, including a double and 2 stolen bases. Belmont hosts North Alabama on Tuesday.

Bradley: The Braves took 3 tough losses at Dayton to fall to 2-7 on the season in a series where weather and darkness played a role. Timmy O’Brien hit 3 homers in the series opener, driving in 6 runs. The second game of Friday’s doubleheader was suspended due to darkness after 6 innings, but not resumed until Sunday. The Flyers (6-6) finished off that win, 11-7. In the finale, Dayton earned a 9-3 win. A bright spot for the Braves was catcher Nick Hosie, who went 6-for-9 with 5 RBIs, a double, run, and stolen base. Hosie is hitting .429 for the season with 6 RBIs and an 1.119 OPS. Bobby Atkinson continues to lead the Braves in hitting (.438), runs (12), and RBIs (11). The Braves visit Marshall for a 3-game series this weekend.

Evansville: After Friday’s 7-6 win at Missouri, the Purple Aces were felled twice (6-2, 17-7) Saturday to give the Tigers a chance to win the series with a victory Sunday. But UE (3-8) wasn’t having any of that. The Purple Aces broke open a scoreless game with 2 runs in the 3rd, then 2 more in the 4th to take a 4-1 lead. Up 4-3 entering the 9th, Evansville added 5 in the final frame, 3 on Harrison Taubert’s bases-clearing double. Jake McGhee singled in a run and Ty Rumsey earned a painful RBI getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Taubert drove in 5 runs Sunday, going 3-for-5 with 2 runs. He had a double, walk, and stolen base. Kevin Reed had another strong outing, going 6 innings and allowing just 2 runs on 10 hits with 0 walks and 5 strikeouts. Missouri batters failed to draw a walk the entire gam against Reed, Drew Fieger, and Kellen Roberts, who picked up his 2nd save of the weekend. Evansville concludes its SEC swing with a game at Vanderbilt on Tuesday afternoon.

Indiana State: The Sycamores took on tough competition at East Carolina over the weekend and suffered 3 defeats. After Friday’s 10-2 loss to Virginia Tech, Indiana State (5-6) lost to the hosts East Carolina, 13-1, Saturday, before dropping a 6-5 verdict to Kent State Sunday. In the finale, the Sycamores rallied for 4 runs in the top of the 7th to get within 1, with relievers Colby Morse (3 IP) and Gavin Morris (1 IP) holding the Pirates at bay for the final 4 innings. But Ciaran Caughey and Peyton Cariaco combined to get the last 7 outs to put the game away. Carlos Pena had 2 hits and 2 RBIs for Indiana State, which hosts Purdue on Tuesday.

Illinois State: After losing 8-5 at Lindenwood on Friday, the Redbirds (2-7) split games over the weekend against the Lions, winning 8-6 on Saturday before Lindenwood clinched the series with a 4-2 win Sunday. Saturday’s game was still scoreless in the 5th before Illinois State scored 8 runs over the next 4 innings. Daniel Contreras’ RBI double started the scoring in the 5th. Shai Robinson and Judah Morris hit solo homers in the 6th, while Luke Stulga hit a 2-run homer in the 7th to make it 5-2 Redbirds. Carter Monke went 6 strong innings to get the win, allowing just 2 runs on 4 hits with 1 walk and 1 strikeout. Joe Husak, one of last season’s leading relievers in The Valley, went the final 3 innings to get his first save. The Redbirds are at Oral Roberts Wednesday on their way to Stillwater for 3 games at #25 (D1Baseball) Oklahoma State this weekend.

Missouri State: The Bears (4-6) leave the weekend on a 2-game winning streak after defeating Louisiana-Monroe 11-1 and 11-9 on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The homer-happy Bears did their damage by wall-banging Saturday, bashing 5 doubles, led by 2 from Jake McCutcheon, who went 2-for-3 with 4 runs and 2 RBIs. Caden Bogenpohl, now leading off, went 3-for-5 with 2 runs. Jackson Holmes pitched a 7-inning complete game, allowing just 1 run on 3 hits with 2 walks and 7 strikeouts. Sunday, Missouri State built up a 10-2 lead through 5 innings, then held off a late Warhawk rally to clinch the series. McCutcheon doubled again, going 2-for-5 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs. Dylan Roberton hit a grand slam in the 5th inning to make it 9-2. Josh Gregoire got the final 2 outs to secure the win. The Bears host Saint Louis on Tuesday afternoon.

Murray State: The Racers improved to 7-0 with a weekend sweep at Little Rock. The Trojans, which had swept visiting Evansville earlier this season, found no luck against Murray State, getting drubbed 21-2 on Saturday and falling 6-4 Sunday. The Racers scored 6 runs in the 1st inning and 10 in the 9th on Saturday, as Murray State hit 4 homers and 4 doubles. Dan Tauken had one of each. Conner Cunningham, Tauken, and Jonathan Hogart all drove in 3 runs each. Luke Mistone, Hogart, and Dustin Mercer each had 3 hits. Issac Silva benefitted from the run support but pitched very well, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits with 2 walks and 7 strikeouts on 103 pitches. On Sunday, the Racers were down 4-3 entering the top of the 9th before lightning struck as Hogart homered to tie the game, than Mistone’s 2-run triple put Murray State ahead for good. Mistone went 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs in the win. Dylan Zentko pitched 5 innings in relief with 7 strikeouts to get the win. The undefeated Racers visit 10-1 and 17th-ranked Ole Miss on Wednesday afternoon.

Southern Illinois: Speaking of teams going streaking, Southern Illinois is red hot. Winners of 7 in a row, the Salukis picked up 4 victories over the weekend, downing Southern Indiana on Friday and Sunday, and sweeping a Saturday doubleheader from visiting Bowling Green. Tyler Timmerman, Al Holguin, and Matt Irvine combined on a 4-hit shutout Sunday with no walks and 8 strikeouts. Kristian Sprawling went 2-for-3 in that game with 3 RBIs. Cecil Lofton homered, his 3rd of the season to go with 10 RBIs for the campaign. John Lemm had a hit in all 4 wins and is on a 5-game hitting streak. He’s scored 10 runs on the season, 9 of which have come during his hitting streak. Alec Nigut got a win vs. Bowling Green Saturday, giving up 1 runs on 4 hits in 7 innings with 0 walks and 4 strikeouts. Nigut is 3-0 this season with a 1.06 ERA and 0.76 WHIP. SIU is off until hosting Bellarmine for 3 games this weekend.

UIC: The Flames slipped to 2-10 on the season after suffering a 3-game sweep at Tennessee Tech over the weekend, falling by scores of 11-5, 6-4, and 8-3. Four different Flames had 2 hits each in the Saturday loss, a game UIC led, 3-0, heading into the bottom of the 3rd inning. Despite the Saturday loss, UIC got 4 1/3 scoreless relief innings from Zack Millsap and Colin Hawkins to end the game. James Harris hit a solo homer in the Sunday loss. The road gets even tougher for the Flames this weekend, as they visit the Louisville Cardinals for 3 games.

Valparaiso: The Beacons only got 2 games in over the weekend, losing to previously winless Niagara on Friday, 11-1, then exacting some revenge later Friday, winning 16-11. But Game 3 was canceled. Valpo (2-6) scored in all but 2 innings in the win, plating 16 runs on 14 hits. Bryan Hatch went 3-for-6 with a run and 2 RBIs, while Liam Patton, Austin Amburgey, Connor Giusti, Patrick Ilitch, and Spencer Warfield all had 2 hits. Ilitch and Patton drove in 3 runs each. Case Sullivan scored 3 runs. Ilitch and Warfield homered. Ryan Maka leads the Beacons with a .367 average through 8 games. The Beacons play 3 games at Ohio State this weekend.

Monday’s Valley Menu: All is quiet in The Valley today. If you’re looking for some college baseball, though, ESPN+ has Tulane at Long Beach State at 8 p.m. Central, followed by Northeastern at Hawai’i at 10:30.

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.