Life in the Valley

Murray State Sweeps 2-Game Mid-Week Series from Lindenwood

Murray State (10-3) kept on keeping on during the week, sweeping a 2-game series from visiting Lindenwood by scores of 12-11 and 11-9. Tuesday’s 12-11 win in 10 innings came thanks to that of Will Vierling, who hit a solo homer in the bottom of the 10th inning to end it. Vierling’s 6 homers lead the team. Murray State also belted 5 doubles in the game, including one from Vierling, who has emerged as one of the Racers’ top extra-base hit threats in his first season.

Luke Mistone, who has flirted with .500 at times so far this season, did nothing to hurt that cause on Tuesday, going 4-for-6 with 3 runs scored. Vierling finished 3-for-6 while Jonathan Hogart, Dustin Mercer, and Nico Bermeo each had 2 hits. Jack Wajda pitched the final 2 1/3 innings to get the win, improving to 2-1. Jackson Ugo and Preston Chaudoin combined to pitch 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.

On Wednesday, the Racers built a 9-5 lead then held on for the 11-9 victory. Hogart went 3-for-6 with 2 runs and 3 RBIs, including 2 homers. Mistone and Carson Garner also went deep for the Racers as part of a 17-hit attack. Harper McClendon got the final 5 outs without allowing a run to secure the win. The game featured 20 runs, 33 hits, and 396 total pitches between the two teams. The win marked the 7th time already this season that Murray State has scored at least 10 runs in a game (the Racers had 9 runs in 2 other games). For the season, Murray State is averaging 9.7 runs per game with a .972 team OPS. The 9.7 run average is good for 18th in the country and leads The Valley.

The Racers head to Evansville this weekend for 3 games against Southern Indiana (7-9) from the OVC.

Here’s how the rest of the Valley fared through the midweek and a look at what Valley teams are facing this weekend, the final non-conference weekend before Valley plays begins.

Belmont: The Bruins’ lone action in the mid-week came Wednesday with a 7-3 loss at Middle Tennessee (10-6). Belmont held a 3-1 lead entering the bottom of the 5th inning on the back of a solo homer from Ty Allen, Pete Daniel’s RBI double, and a sac fly by Charlie Davis. But the Blue Raiders picked up 4 in the 5th to take the lead and never looked back. Mike Sprockett had 2 hits for Belmont (4-13). The Bruins host a 4-game weekend series vs. Butler next.

Bradley: The Braves took the mid-week off ahead of a 3-game series at Florida Atlantic. The Owls are 14-3, the best non-conference record of any team in the always competitive American Athletic Conference.

Evansville: A rough mid-week concluded Wednesday with a 12-11 loss at SIU-Edwardsville, which came on the heels of a 17-6, 7-inning loss at Southeast Missouri State on Tuesday. But Wednesday’s defeat will stick in the Purple Aces’ craw a bit longer considering UE held a 10-2 lead after 3 innings. But an opponent’s late-inning rally bit the Purple Aces again, with SIU-E scoring 4 in the bottom of the 9th to win, the deciding run scoring on Daniel Gierer’ s RBI single. Matt Flaherty went 2-for-5 with 4 RBIs for UE, while Drew McConnell was 2-for-3 with 3 runs and 3 RBIs. Kellen Roberts, who had been strong out of the bullpen on weekends, started against SIU-E and threw 2 scoreless innings. Against SEMO, Ty Rumsey and Harrison Taubert each had 2 hits. Taubert had an 8-game hit streak stopped against SIU-E, but during that span, the senior from Casper, Wyo., went 18-for-36 (.500), including 3 straight 3-hit games. He also hit 3 homers and drove in 13 runs in the 8 games. UE has another tough test this weekend with 3 games at Samford (9-8) out of the Southern Conference.

Indiana State: The Sycamores fell to 7-10 Tuesday night with a 9-4 loss at home to Indiana. With the game tied at 2 in the 6th, the Hoosiers (8-9) scored 5 runs in the top of the 6th to take command. Andrew Ortiz, Carter Beck and Carlos Pena each had 2 hits for Indiana State. Ortiz doubled and tripled while Beck homered. Pena continues to lead the Sycamores with a .367 average. Indiana State hosts Pacific (9-9) this weekend. Pacific is a member of the West Coast Conference.

Illinois State: The Redbirds (3-10) were scheduled to visit Northwestern on Tuesday but the game was canceled due to weather conditions. Illinois State visits Western Illinois for 4 games starting today – the Leathernecks took 2 out of 3 at Murray State last weekend. Judah Morris leads the Redbirds with 16 RBIs, 5 homers and is second in average at .341. Reliever Matthew Donnison is 1-1 in 5 appearances spanning 13 2/3 innings, with 20 strikeouts and a 3.29 ERA.

Missouri State: The Bears’ lone action during the week featured a 9-7 loss at home to Oral Roberts, as the Golden Eagles swept the 2-game, home-and-home season series from Missouri State. ORU beat Missouri State, 8-7, in 10 innings on February 25 in Tulsa. On Tuesday, the Bears built a 7-2 lead after 3 innings, but ORU (11-4) responded with 6 runs in the top of the 4th to take an 8-7 lead an that was all the scoring save for a run-scoring wild pitch that increased the Golden Eagles final margin to 9-7. Jake McCutcheon and Tyler Epstein homered for Missouri State (5-10). Max Knight had 2 hits and 2 RBIs. The Bears host SIU-E for 3 games this weekend.

Southern Illinois: The battle of teams on 10-game winning streaks didn’t need to go to the scorecards for a judges’ decision on Tuesday. Western Kentucky improved to 16-1 for the first time in team history with a 21-2 victory over SIU in Bowling Green, Ky. The Hilltoppers scored in every inning and the game was called after 7. SIU led, 2-1, after the top of the 2nd, but a 2-run double by CF Ryan Wideman gave WKU a 3-2 lead and they dominated from there. Wideman hit for the cycle and drove in 9 runs. The Hilltoppers are 3-1 vs. Valley teams this season, with their only loss on the season coming to Murray State. WKU and Evansville will play a home-and-home later this season. SIU (11-4) plays Morehead State in Marion, Ill., before returning home for 2 more vs. MSU this weekend. SIU is 7-0 at home.

UIC: The Flames got a much-needed win Wednesday, downing Northwestern, 5-2. Down 2-1 entering the bottom of the 3rd, UIC used the long ball to take the lead, as Terrick Thompson-Allen homered to tie the game at 2, then 3 batters later, Jackson Bessette hit a 2-run homer to make it 4-2. Luke Nowak’s RBI single in the 5th completed the scoring. UIC used 9 pitchers in the victory. The Flames (3-13) are at Purdue. The Boilermakers are 15-2, 2-1 in the Big Ten.

Valparaiso: The Beacons’ lone mid-week action saw them suffer a 7-inning, 12-0 loss at #16 Vanderbilt. The Commodores (14-3) scored in each of the first 4 innings to build a 10-0 lead. Valpo was held to 3 hits. Riley Nelson had 3 hits for Vanderbilt, one of the upper-echelon teams (among many) in the SEC. The Beacons (3-9) conclude a stretch of 7 straight games against Power-4 opponents this weekend when they visit Illinois. The Fighting Illini are 8-6, 1-2 in the Big Ten. Valpo went 1-2 at Ohio State prior to the Vanderbilt loss.

We’re just 8 days away from conference play starting and it’s almost hard to believe that teams have played about a third of their schedules already in some cases. The season moves fast.

Weekly stat leaders returns to the blog next Friday. Also next week, I’ll have a wrap-up of how the bulk of the non-conference season has gone for Valley teams and how they fared against certain levels of competition.

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.