Life in the Valley

Salukis Visit Western Kentucky Today

So after a weekend at Life in The Valley HQ dominated by the ups and downs (mostly downs) of a 2-year-old with a stomach bug, we’re back in the swing of things looking forward to today’s non-conference slate. Hard to believe we only have one more non-conference weekend left before Valley competition begins. Teams like Murray State and Southern Illinois are off to great starts and look to be a conference favorite, while others have fine-tuning to do.

Today’s games will help that process, so let’s see what we have on offer, starting with the main event in Kentucky.

Southern Illinois: Two teams riding 10-game winning streaks collide today in Bowling Green, Ky., as the Salukis go head-to-head with Western Kentucky at 4 p.m. today. Southern Illinois is 11-2 after the offense had a bonanza over the weekend against Bellarmine, scoring 44 runs in 3 wins, 2 games of which were only 7 innings. Matt Schark went 8-for-14 in the 3-game set, with 2 homers, 9 RBIs, and 7 runs. Schark is hitting .382 for the season with 4 homers and 14 RBIs.

But the SIU offense has been a balanced attack. Eight different Salukis have already driven in at least 10 runs in just 13 games. Jordan Bach leads in average at .400, while Schark and John Lemm are tied for the team lead in homers with 4. SIU hits .301 as a team and sports a .954 OPS. They’ve hit 24 homers. Five regulars have and OPS of at least 1.065, led by Lemm’s 1.286. A

Alec Nigut had another strong outing vs. Bellarmine, giving up 2 runs (0 earned) on 4 hits over 5 innings with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. Nigut is 4-0 with a 0.82 ERA and 0.82 WHIP. He’s walked just 7 in 22 innings, allowed no homers, and struck out 20. Nigut has allowed 11 hits and 9 of those have been singles.

The Hilltoppers, meanwhile, are 15-1, the only loss being a 2-1 defeat at Murray State on February 24. WKU swept 4 from UNC-Asheville last weekend. Western is hitting .317 as a team with a .945 OPS thanks to 39 doubles and 19 homers through 16 games. They’re also 37-for-44 stealing bases. Ryan Wideman (.438) and Carlos Vasquez (.406) both hit above .400, and those 2 are tied for the WKU lead in runs scored with 19. Wideman has 11 steals, 15 RBIs, a 1.212 OPS, and 46 total bases in 16 games. WKU’s team ERA is a paltry 2.23.

The only bad news for this matchup is there’s no streaming video (How?). Audio is available through the WKU baseball website on The Varsity Network.

Murray State: After unexpectedly dropping 2 of 3 to Western Illinois over the weekend, the 8-3 Racers try to regroup today (3 p.m., ESPN+) at home vs. Lindenwood, in the start of a 2-game mid-week series. Murray State won the opener vs. WIU, a third win in as many tries against the Leathernecks this season but dropped the next 2 games, 5-3 and 3-1. The Racers, however, are still averaging 9.4 runs per game and hitting .310 as a team. Luke Mistone is rolling along at .417 to lead the Racers in average, while 4 other regulars are hitting at least .333. Will Vierling (5) leads Murray State in homers, while Dan Tauken’s 18 RBIs are good for club top honors. Murray State’s 4.12 team ERA is less than half that of their opponents. In 4 relief outings, Dylan Zentko is 1-1 with a 2.30 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and 22 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting just .190 against him and he’s averaging nearly 4 innings per appearance.

Evansville: The Purple Aces (5-9) at Southeast Missouri State this afternoon (4 p.m., no stream). UE earned its first weekend series win of the season, taking the final 2 at Central Arkansas last weekend to clinch the series. On Sunday, Evansville won, 8-0, thanks to a double, 2 stolen bases, and 3 RBIs from Ty Rumsey offensively, and the once-again stellar pitching of Kevin Reed, who pitched 7 scoreless innings, allowing just 3 hits with 0 walks and 6 strikeouts on 100 pitches. Sam Sandy worked the final 2 innings to close it out. Reed lost his first decision at Little Rock, but is 3-0 since, giving up just 2 runs on 16 hits with 2 walks and 20 strikeouts. He hasn’t walked a batter in either of his last 2 appearances – 6 innings at Missouri and the 7 at Central Arkansas. He’s also a workhorse, having gone 108, 104, and 100 pitches in his last 3 outings. His ERA is now 2.28 for the season with a 1.10 WHIP. SEMO is 8-7 this season and has won 2 straight.

Indiana State: Speaking of SEMO, the Sycamores enter today’s 4 p.m. matchup vs. Indiana (ESPN+) off a 4-game split with SEMO last weekend. Indiana State probably was hoping for a better result after winning the first 2 games 7-1 and 3-0 but fell 4-1 and 8-6 to wrap up the weekend. Max McEwent took the ball in the opener and threw 110 pitches, going 6 1/3 innings with just 1 run (unearned), 2 hits, 4 walks, and 5 strikeouts. In the 3-0 win, Colby Morse pitched 7 1/3 innings of scoreless relief with 0 walks, 4 strikeouts, and only 2 hits allowed. Morse has a 1.17 ERA and 0.52 WHIP in 15 1/3 innings this season. Carlos Pena leads the Sycamores with a .364 average and 1.074 OPS, along with 3 homers and 17 RBIs. Indiana State and IU both enter today’s game 7-9.

Missouri State: The Bears (5-9) host Oral Roberts today in the back end of a home-and-home that saw Missouri State fall at ORU, 8-7 in 10 innings on February 25. Wichita State swept the Bears over the weekend, winning 7-5, 4-2, and 9-8. The Bears had a 7-4 lea din the finale but went down 8-7. Max Knight tied the game with a homer in the top of the 9th, but the Shockers won it on a walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th. Caden Bogenpohl leads the Bears at .385 and he and Knight are tied for the team lead with 3 HRs. Bogenpohl has also walked 15 times and has a 1.137 OPS. ORU is 10-4 this year, 2 seasons removed from a College World Series appearance.

UIC: After another tough weekend assignment that saw the Flames (2-13) drop 3 games at Louisville, UIC was to have faced Milwaukee today but the game as canceled due to cold weather. The Flames’ tough non-conference slate has also featured 4 games at Georgia and 3 at Tennessee Tech, with a 3-game series at Purdue (14-2) and another midweek game against Iowa before Valley play begins with 3 games at red hot Southern Illinois. UIC head coach Sean McDermott talked with D1Baseball’s Joe Healy about the Flames’ tough early-season slate and what they’re trying to build on the MVC First Pitch Podcast, which you can watch here. Luke Nowak leads UIC with a .352 average.

Illinois State: While the final 2 games of the Redbirds’ weekend strip to #25 Oklahoma State didn’t go well (16-1 and 18-1 losses), all Illinois State’s memories from the weekends will be Friday’s 12-6 victory. Judah Morris doubled and drove in 4 in the win batting 3rd, as he, Graham Mastros, and Daniel Pacella formed a top-third of the order that combined to go 7-for-13 with 6 runs and 8 RBIs against the Cowboys (9-6). Thomas Harper pitched the final 2 2/3 innings giving up 0 runs and 1 hit to get the save on one of the biggest non-conference wins by a Valley team this season. Pacella is tearing it up at .396 with 5 doubles and 3 homers, while Morris is at .341 with 5 homers, 16 RBIs, and 4 doubles to go with 9 walks and a 1.255 OPS. Illinois State’s scheduled game today at Northwestern has been canceled.

Valparaiso: Another Valley team that dropped 2 of 3 but has to come out of the weekend with a positive mindset is Valparaiso, which lost the series on the road in Columbus but beat Ohio State on Friday, 10-7. That’ll be valuable experience going into today’s 4:30 p.m. first pitch at #16 Vanderbilt (SECN+). Up 5-4 in the 7th, the Beacons posted 5 runs to take a 10-4 lead and grab control of the game. Liam Patton was a standout for Valpo, going 4-for-5 with 4 RBIs. Case Sullivan went 2-for-4 with 2 walks, 3 runs, and 2 RBIs in the victory. Valpo outhit the Buckeyes, 13-9. Connor Lockwood went 6 2/3 innings to get the win, his first of the season.

Belmont: The Bruins also have some positive vibes to head into the week after capturing a series at Little Rock for the first time in school history, winning 6-3 and 3-2 before dropping the finale, 6-3. You can point to pitching as the key for the Bruins, who got the usual workmanlike effort from Joe Ruzicka Saturday, featuring 6 innings with just 2 runs on 3 hits allowed, 4 walks and 5 strikeouts on 98 pitches. Owen Marsh and Ethan Harden closed the game out. On Friday, however, Belmont (4-8) got to see the old Will Pryor, as the frontline starter went 6 2/3 innings, allowing 3 runs on 8 hits and 8 strikeouts on 104 pitches. Marsh, Harden, and Andrew Perry worked the final 2 1/3 innings scoreless. Pryor, a junior righty from Whitwell, Tenn., went 8-4 his previous 2 seasons with a 4.37 ERA and 120 strikeouts in 115 1/3 innings. But he’d struggled in his first 3 appearances this season, including allowing 10 runs in 3 2/3 innings against Notre Dame. But if non-conference games are about tuning up for league play, Pryor’s outing last weekend is a big step in the right direction for the Bruins. Belmont is off today and goes to Middle Tennessee on Wednesday.

Bradley: The Braves are off this mid-week after getting swept at Marshall and falling to 2-10 on the season. The Braves go to Florida Atlantic for 3 games this weekend.

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.