Life in the Valley

Braves Fall in 14-Inning Epic

Gabe Petrucelli went 3-for-5 with a triple, run, and 2 RBIs, as Southern Illinois downed the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks, 9-3, Tuesday afternoon. The win improved SIU to 16-7 on the season. The Salukis have won 3 straight games heading into today’s return matchup against UT-Martin, set for 6 p.m. in Carbondale (no streaming scheduled).

Petrucelli, a junior second baseman from Rocklin, Cal., by way of Sacramento City College, has 6 hits in his last 3 games, to go with 4 runs and 4 RBIs in that span. He’s hitting .309 for the season and has impressively scored 24 runs in 21 games.

SIU took command of the game early, scoring 5 runs in the first 3 innings to take a 5-1 lead. Petrucelli’s 2-run triple in the 1st got the Salukis going. Mason Schwalbach homered in the 3rd to give the Salukis their 4-run lead. Seven different SIU batters had at least 1 hit, with Jaxon Holder going 2-for-3 with 2 runs. SIU also drew 6 walks. While each team had 10 hits, SIU had 4 extra-base hits (Holder doubled and Matt Schark homered) while UT-Martin had just one, a Jalen Fithian double.

Tyler Timmerman started and pitched 5 2/3 innings to get the win, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits with a couple walks and 5 strikeouts. He threw 89 pitches. Dylan Petrey and Gavan Wernsing finished it off on the mound. Timmerman improved to 3-1 on the season.

UT-Martin fell to 10-14 ahead of today’s rematch.

Braves Felled in 14: Bradley suffered a heartbreaker at Lindenwood Tuesday, heading into the bottom of the 9th inning with an 11-4 lead only for the Lions to tie it in an inning that featured 2 homers, a triple, and 2 run-scoring singles. Still tied at 11 in the 14th, the Lions (11-14) won it when Tyler Ellis, who didn’t even start the game, hit his 2nd homer of the contest to give Lindenwood the 12-11 victory. Lindenwood had 8 extra-base hits – including 2 triples by Cam Edwards.

Bradley had 17 hits and drew 9 walks. Mitch Ball homered twice, while Timmy O’Brien went long again (his 6th of the season). Bobby Atkinson doubled twice. O’Brien finished 4-for-7 with 2 runs. Ball drove in 5. Beau Durbin went 3-for-6 with 2 runs. Mason Breidenbach went 1-for-4, but was on base 4 times thanks to 3 walks. Starter Drew Politte probably deserved a better fate after a 7 1/3-inning effort that saw him allow 4 runs on 6 hits with 1 walk and 5 strikeouts. Gavin Thompson took the loss (0-3), but pitched all the extra innings, keeping Bradley in the game until the 14th.

Bradley hosts SIU this weekend.

Boilers Stay Hot; Beat Beacons: The Beacons (5-15) gave a strong Purdue club a good battle on Tuesday before falling 6-3. Valparaiso took the early lead in the 2nd when Austin Amburgey scored on a wild pitch. But Purdue (20-4) posted single runs in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings to make it 4-1. Connor Giusti homered to make it 4-2 in the 6th, and the Beacons got within one run in the 8th on Kade Reinertson’s sac fly. But in the bottom of the 8th, Purdue got a run on an error and another on a sac fly for the 6-3 final.

Aidan Thaxton led Valpo with 2 hits. Nine Valpo pitchers held Purdue to 9 hits – notable since the Boilers have 2 regulars hitting at least .420 and they’re batting .316 as a team, averaging more than 10 runs per game. While not a win, it should be a confidence-building effort for the Beacons pitching staff.

Hard to Top the ‘Toppers: Speaking of strong offensive teams off to great starts this season, Western Kentucky kept rolling Tuesday with a 13-3 win at Evansville. The Hilltoppers (22-3) scored 3 runs in the 2nd and 3 more in the 4th. Leading 7-0 after 7, Western poured it on late, adding 2 in the 8th and 4 in the 9th to pull away. Leadoff hitter Carlos Vasquez had 3 hits and 2 RBIs for the Hilltoppers. UE’s B.J. Peart had 3 hits and a run in the loss, while Cal McGinnis and Matt Flaherty had 2 hits each. Western Kentucky stole 8 bases in the win, including 3 by Caleb Niehaus. WKU is 4-1 against Valley teams this season, with the only loss coming to Murray State.

Jack Wills threw 2 innings of scoreless relief for Evansville, which slid to 7-17 overall. Evansville hosts Valpo in conference play this weekend. The Purple Aces and Hilltoppers will meet again in Bowling Green on April 22.

Lipscomb Prevails Over Nearby Rival: Down 5-0 in the 6th inning, Belmont’s rally wasn’t quite enough, as the Bruins scored 4 runs but were unable to draw level in a 5-4 loss. Separated by roughly 2 miles in Nashville, the teams split this season’s 2-game set, with the road team getting the victory each time. Belmont won at Lipscomb, 14-9, on February 25.

On Tuesday, Ty Allen’s RBI double got Belmont (9-17) on the board in the 6th before Mike Sprockett hit a 3-run homer to cut Lipscomb’s (9-14) lead to just 5-4. But three Lipscomb pitchers combined to hold Belmont off the board over the final 3 innings. Trey Maeker, Andrew Perry, and Ethan Harden worked the final 3 innings for the Bruins, keeping the deficit at 1 run. Allen doubled in the 8th with 1 out, and Sprockett walked with 2 outs. But Jake Maddox struck out. In the 9th, a leadoff walk and hit by pitch put two more Belmont runners aboard, but a double play ball ended the Bruins’ hopes.

Belmont is at Missouri State this weekend.

Today on Valley Diamonds: A light Wednesday with action already underway. All times Central, all games weather permitting, all streaming information subject to change.

UIC at Northern Illinois, underway, (NIU Huskies website streaming)
Illinois State at SIU-Edwardsville, 4 p.m., ESPN+
UT-Martin at Southern Illinois, 6 p.m., (no video streaming)

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.