Life in the Valley

Bears Take 2 at SIU to Capture Lead After 3 Weekends

As the Missouri Valley Conference baseball season really starts to take shape, with 3 of 9 conference weekends in the books, it’s time to look at where everyone stands and what’s going on around the conference. So it’s time to bring back The Monday 9!

Ed, it’s Tuesday.

Yes, I know. Spouting off the Monday 9 on Monday didn’t make much sense yesterday with 4 big games on the docket thanks to crazy weather in the Midwest over the weekend. So for this week, I postponed it to today. So without further ado … it’s the Tuesday 9!

1. Bears Take First, but SIU Avoids Sweep: John Lemm put Southern Illinois on his back late Monday, keeping the Salukis from what would have been a crushing home sweep at the hands of visiting Missouri State. With SIU having lost 12-1 on Sunday, then dropping a 9-5, 10-inning decision to the Bears in Monday’s first game, the Salukis needed something – anything – to get them going. But they were down 7-3 in the 7th inning. Matt Schark (more on him later) cut one off that deficit with an RBI single to score Michael Mylott and make it 7-4. Gabe Petrucelli followed with a single, moving Schark to third and brining up Lemm. Moments later, the game was tied, as Lemm took a 3-2 pitch deep to right center for a 3-run homer.?
   
   It was still 7-7 in the 9th when Missouri State loaded the bases with 1 out. But Tyler Timmerman wasn’t rattled. He struck out Carter Bergman for the 2nd out, then got Dylan Robertson to foul out to end the threat. Lemm immediately reward Timmerman’s big-time escape, leading off the 9th with a solo homer to left, a walk-off shot that gave SIU an 8-7 win. Lemm, a junior catcher from Australia by way of South Suburban Community College, broke a streak of 14 plate appearances without a hit with game-tying homer. Lemm is 2nd on the Salukis (22-9, 6-3 MVC) with 9 homers and has 28 RBIs. Despite a modest .261 batting average, he’s carrying a 1.055 OPS thanks to 14 extra-base hits and 22 walks. SIU now has 56 homers as a team in 31 games, while allowing just 27. The win allowed SIU to stay within 1 game of Missouri State for 1st place in the Valley.
2. Rodriguez is a Hit Machine: Amid several Valley teams who are adept at hitting the ball and scoring runs, Missouri State 2B Nick Rodriguez is almost a full hitting army himself. A senior from Tampa, Rodriguez hit .330 last season with 14 homers, 49 RBIs, and 49 runs. He seems destined to crush those numbers in 2025. Rodriguez, currently on a 17-game hitting streak, went 8-for-12 in the SIU series with 7 runs, 7 RBIs, 4 homers, and 3 doubles. He raised his average 31 points over the weekend, from .351 to .382.
   
   During the hitting streak, which began March 9 at Wichita State (think about it, Rodriguez has gone almost a full month getting a hit in every game), Rodriguez is hitting .434 (33-for-76), with all 8 of his homers, 24 RBIs, and 28 runs. He went 5-for-6 with a double, 2 homers, and 5 runs in Missouri State’s 14-13, 10-inning win at #2 Arkansas on March 25. He has 16 multi-hit games this season, including 6 of his last 8. Rodriguez was hitting .298 when the streak started, a difference of 84 points.
   
   Rodriguez is 10 hits away from 200 for his career and 3 walks away from 100 free passes during his time in Springfield.
3. And at #3, It’s Valpo!: Beacons (8-9, 3-6) 2B Aidan Thaxton made SportsCenter Sunday with an acrobatic tag to retire Illinois State’s Kyle Gibson trying to steal the base. Thaxton leaped to catch the throw by catcher Liam Patton and … well, you should just see it for yourself!

Valpo won the game, 3-2, walking it off in the bottom of the 10th inning when Kevin Denty singled home Kade Reinertson with the winning run. Valpo fought back in the 9th (they always do!) to tie it when, with the bases loaded, Case Sullivan was hit by a pitch, scoring Thaxton. Adam Guazzo pitched 3 innings of scoreless relief to end the game and get the win for the Beacons.

4. Look on the Bright Side of Life: By any account, it’s been a rough season for Bradley. Of to an 0-9 start in Valley play and 3-24 overall, the Braves carry an 11-game losing streak into Wednesday’s non-conference matchup vs. visiting Western Illinois. A series at home vs. Belmont follows this weekend as the Braves seek to break into the Valley win column.

The road to this point hasn’t been easy. Bradley’s first 3 conference series have been against teams expected to be in the upper half of the league if not contending for the title in Missouri State, Southern Illinois, and Murray State. Facing those offfenses on consecutive weekends has been taxing to the Bradley pitching staff, as seen by the group’s 13.44 ERA in conference play.

But all isn’t lost. Mason Breidenbach continues to have a fine season offensively, leading the team with a .351 average and .892 OPS. He’s also the team leader in hits (33) and walks (18). While he hasn’t hit for power, he has clubbed 8 doubles, 1 behind Bobby Atkinson for the team lead. Timmy O’Brien has 8 homers on the season and is slugging .516. Cole Smith leads the team in runs with 20. On the mound, Travis Lutz has fanned 36 batters in just 34 1/3 innings.

5. Valley Pitchers are Going to Need a Bigger Boat: Back to SIU, where Matt Schark has struck fear in the hearts of Valley pitchers and is setting the pace for an SIU offense averaging 8.6 runs per game. Schark has 12 homers and 45 RBIs on the season to go with a team-leading .357 average (no small accomplishment in an order with 4 regulars hitting at least .333). Schark’s 45 RBIs have him tied for 13th nationally and he leads the Valley in that stat. His 12 HRs are tied for 21st nationally, and are also tops among Valley players. Schark has hits in 10 straight games, batting 16-for-44 (.364) in that span with 12 runs scored, 23 RBIs, including back-to-back 5-RBI performances vs. Bradley in late March. He homered and drove in 4 runs in Monday’s doubleheader vs. Missouri State.

6. Speaking of Pitching: A couple weeks ago, I wrote about how prolific the Valley offenses were, and how many runs we were seeing in conference play. It seems some Valley pitchers took that personally, if you gander at some of the efforts we’ve seen from pitchers recently. To wit:

Bradley’s Gavin Thompson pitched 5 scoreless, hitless relief innings in a 3-2 loss to Murray State Monday. … In a 2-1 loss to Illinois State, Valpo’s Connor Lockwood went the distance, allowing just 2 runs on 7 hits with 1 walk and 6 strikeouts (120 pitches). Not to be outdone in that same game, Redbirds starter Thomas Harper pitched 6 scoreless innings and gave up only 1 hit. … Missouri State freshman Michael Yusypchuk threw a 7-inning complete game in State’s 12-1 win over SIU, giving up 1 run on 4 hits with 4 strikeouts on 93 pitches. It was his 2nd straight CG and 3rd straight win. … UIC’s Dillon Schueler and Evansville’s Kenton Deverman matched wits Friday, with the Flames winning, 4-2. Schueler allowed 2 runs on 5 hits in 8 innings with 3 strikeouts (102 pitches). Deverman, despite the loss, pitched a complete game, and only 2 of the 4 runs he allowed were earned. He also only walked 1 and fanned 7 (99 pitches). … Murray State (19-8, 5-4) pitchers blanked Bradley in consecutive games. Nic Schutte fanned 10 in 8 innings with 0 runs and 2 hits in Game 1, with Dustin Mercer working a quiet 9th in his first career pitching appearance. In Game 2, Issac Silva went 6 shutout innings with 2 hits and 5 strikeouts, while Derek Lebron worked the 7th in a 12-0 run-rule win. … Belmont’s Joe Ruzicka befuddled Indiana State on Saturday, allowing 0 runs on 2 hits with 9 strikeouts as the Bruins upended the Sycamores, 1-0. Ethan Harden worked the final 2 innings and got the win when Pete Daniel scored on Ty Allen’s ground out in the 8th. State’s Ty Brooks was stellar, as well, giving up 0 runs on 3 hits over 6 1.3 innings with 6 strikeouts. Both starters got no-decisions. … Speaking of the Sycamores, Game 1 starter Max McEwen (Max, Max, his name is Max, not Mike) struck out 11 Bruins in 7 innings as Indiana State rolled, 15-3 (8 innings). McEwen improved to 3-2 on the season.

7. Where We Stand: After 3 weekends, it’s Missouri State on top of the Valley standings at 7-2 (16-14 overall). SIU’s late win Monday leaves the Salukis (22-9) at 6-3 in the league, tied with Illinois State (14-16) for 2nd place. Three teams, however, sit just 2 games back of the Bears, as Murray State, Indiana State (15-16), and Evansville (11-20) are all tied for 4th. UIC, which won the finale from UE Sunday to keep the Purple Aces from winning 3 straight series to start the conference season, sits tied for 7th with Belmont (13-20) at 4-5. Valpo is alone in 9th at 3-6, with Bradley 10th.

8. Mid-Week Madness: With March Madness now behind us (congrats, Florida), there’s even more time now to focus on mid-week matchups, which become a bit more meaningful as the season goes along now that rotations are set and coaches have a better idea of who is earning playing time and the quality of the opponents they’re facing.

Speaking of quality opponents, 3 Valley teams face Power-4 competition tonight, including Missouri State, who seems to face a Power-4 team every week these days. Tonight, the Bears are in the Little Apple – Manhattan, Kan., to take on Kansas State (20-11, 8-4 Big 12). Missouri State already has wins this season over Arkansas and Oklahoma State and is 2-3 vs. Power-4 teams this season. After today, the Bears still have 2 matchups with Missouri, and home games vs. Arkansas and UCF.

Elsewhere, Indiana State is on the road at Purdue, where the Boilermakers got off to a 20-4 start, but have dropped 7 straight and are 3-9 in the Big Ten. But, the Boilers won in Terre Haute on March 4, 14-4. Tonight’s return date is in West Lafayette. Illinois State, meanwhile, is home today against state-rival Illinois. The Fighting Illini (18-11, 7-5 Big Ten) have won 6 of 7, including a sweep of Maryland over the weekend. The teams just met last week in Champaign, with Illinois winning, 8-2.

The rest of the today’s non-conference slate features:

• Murray State is at home looking to continue its winning ways against Bellarmine, which just won 2 of 3 vs. North Alabama to end a 5-game skid.
• Evansville is home tonight against long-time rival Butler. The Bulldogs are 31 games into their season (10-21) but just started conference play in the Big East, dropping 3 to another former Midwestern Collegiate Conference foe, Xavier. Butler has given up double-digit runs 19 times this season.
• Belmont is at home today vs. Tennessee-Martin. The Skyhawks are 0-3 vs. the Valley this season, but are 2-1 since a 6-game losing streak. The teams meet again in Martin on April 22.
• SIU hosts Southeast Missouri today. The Redhawks are 6-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference and 3-3 against MVC competition, having split 4 with Indiana State and 2 with Evansville. This is also the first of 2 meetings between the teams (the other is April 22 at SEMO.
• Bradley looks for a badly needed win tonight vs. Lindenwood. The Braves have dropped 11 in a row and 21 of their last 22. Bradley lost a tough 12-11 decision at Lindenwood on March 25. The Lions have won 6 of 8, with one of the losses being to SIU, 3-0 on April 1.

9. Looking Ahead to the Weekend: A solid slate of Valley ball awaits this weekend, including 2 series that feature teams with winning records in conference play battling each other. One of those includes Evansville going on the road for the 2nd straight weekend, this time to Illinois State. Top UE starters Deverman and Kevin Reed will have their work cut out for them against a very good Redbird lineup. In Terre Haute, Indiana State welcomes Southern Illinois. The task is similar for Sycamore pitchers, who must keep the big Saluki bats in the park in order to take the series. Conference leaders Missouri State are back home in Springfield vs. Valparaiso this weekend, looking to win games and take advantage of the aforementioned teams beating up on each other. But there’s no quit in these Beacons, as several teams have already found out. Murray State is home this weekend for a battle against UIC, the teams separated by just 1 game in the Valley standings. Bradley is at home to welcome Belmont, looking to start earning some wins to find a way into the MVC Tournament. Only the top 8 teams in the standings advance to Normal, Ill., for this year’s event, hosted by Illinois State.

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.