Life in the Valley

UIC, SIU, Illinois State All Win as Valley Sweeps Wednesday Card

It’s always good to get a touchdown on your first possession.

And while that saying may mostly apply to football, UIC made it applicable to baseball Wednesday, scoring 7 1st-inning runs en route to a 13-5 win at Northern Illinois.

UIC scored 3 runs in the inning on bases-loaded walks drawn by A.J. Taylor, Pambos Nicoloudes, and Terrick Thompson-Allen. After the 3 walks, Luke Nowak’s 2-run single gave the Flames a 6-0 lead. Lucas Smith came on for the extra point, as his RBI single scored Thompson-Allen with the PAT.

The game was pretty quiet from there, with the Flames (5-18, 1-2) holding an 8-1 advantage until the 7th. UIC scored 5 runs in the final 3 innings to pull away. Brady Patterson capped the scoring with a 2-run homer in the top of the 9th to give UIC a 13-2 lead. Northern Illinois got a 3-run homer in the bottom of the last inning to finish the scoring.

Smith went 3-for-5 with 3 runs for the Flames. Taylor drew 4 walks and scored twice. UIC drew 13 walks as a team to go with 11 hits. Patterson was 2-for-2 with his homer, 2 runs, and 2 RBIs. Flames starter David Cox pitched 6 innings to get a win in his first decision of the season. He gave up just 1 run on 2 hits with 4 walks and 2 strikeouts on 84 pitches.

UIC resumes conference play this weekend with a home series against Indiana State.

SIU Makes Short Work of Skyhawks: After a 9-3 road win on Tuesday, Southern Illinois came back home Wednesday and once again downed Tennessee-Martin, this time buy a 10-0 score in a 7-inning, run-rule win. SIU scored in every inning except the 2nd and got homers from Matt Schark (he homers every game, doesn’t it seem like he homers every game? ) and Jaxon Holder. Gabe Petrucelli tripled again and scored a run. Holder’s homer was a grand slam in the 5th inning that gave SIU an 8-0 lead.

Three Saluki pitchers combined on the shutout. Al Holguin started and went 4 innings, allowing just 2 hits with 8 strikeouts on 64 pitches. Matt Irvine pitched 2 scoreless, no-hit innings before Tanner Gerdes finished it off. Schark (3 RBIs), and John Lemm each had 2 hits for SIU, which is now 17-7 (2-1) and carries a 4-game winning streak into its weekend conference series at Bradley.

Redbirds Win 3rd Straight: Illinois State went on the road and downed SIU-Edwardsville, 9-3, on Wednesday. The Redbirds (10-13, 2-1) scored all 9 runs in the opening 4 innings to build a 9-0 lead for Ryan Weaver, who got his first win of the season with a 6 2/3-inning effort that featured 7 strikeouts and just 2 runs and 5 hits allowed on 94 pitches.

Josh Outlaw homered for Illinois State, while the Redbirds also bashed 4 doubles – 2 from Brayden Bakes, who drove in another run to continue his tear. Leadoff man Kyle Gibson went 3-for-5 with 2 runs, an RBI, and a walk. Shai Robinson walked 3 times, had a hit, and scored twice. Judah Morris doubled and drove in 2. Illinois State also stole 3 bases.

The Redbirds play in perhaps the biggest conference series of the weekend starting Friday, as Illinois State hosts Murray State in a battle that could feature a lot of offense.

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.