Illinois State Drubs Illinois; Indiana State Defeats Purdue
Missouri Valley Conference baseball teams and fans always relish a chance to match up against Power-4 opponents – but especially when those teams are nearby rivals from the Big Ten. There were 2 such matchups Tuesday and Valley teams won them both, as Illinois State run-ruled Illinois, 14-4, while Indiana State rallied from a 4-run deficit to knock off Purdue, 9-8 in 10 innings. Missouri State also played a Power-4 opponent on Tuesday, but suffered a 12-2 loss at Kansas State.
Illinois State 14, Illinois 4 (8): In Normal, the Redbirds scored 10 runs in the first 3 innings and rolled to a 14-4 victory, scoring a run-rule triumph in the 8th inning when Daniel Pacella doubled in Kyle Gibson and Shai Robinson to give the Redbirds a 10-run lead. Pacella also singled in a run in the 1st and walked with the bases loaded to score Luke Stulga in the 3rd. The 4-RBI night saw Pacella reach 153 RBIs for his Illinois State career. Pacella went 4-for-5 and scored 2 runs. A leading contender for Valley Player of the Year, Pacella is now hitting .407 with 14 doubles, 10 homers, 34 runs, and 36 RBIs this season. The 4 hits Tuesday gave him 50 for the season in 31 games. Pacella has other career milestones in reach – he’s 1 double away from 40 and 2 homers away from 40. In 134 college games, Pacella has hit .338 with 38 HRs, 153 RBIs, and 122 runs. He has a career 1.046 OPS and a 1.260 OPS this season.
Gibson also had 4 hits for Illinois State (15-16), scoring twice. Brayden Bakes doubled and went 3-for-3 with 3 runs, 2 RBIs, and 2 walks. Graham Mastros and Josh Outlaw had 2 hits and 2 RBIs each. MacCallan Conklin pitched 1 1/3 innings in relief to get the win and improve to 2-0.
Indiana State 9, Purdue 8 (10): Down 7-4 in the 8th inning, Indiana State scored 4 runs in the top of the 8th inning, then scored a single run in the 10th to down the Purdue Boilermakers, 9-8. Carter Beck and Nomar Garcia had the big hits in the 8th, as each laced 2-run doubles to give the Sycamores (16-16) the lead. Purdue tied it in the bottom of the 8th, however, on a sac fly. In the 10th, Garcia reached on a fielder’s choice, and an error allowed Jordan Austin to score the eventual winning run. Ty Brooks pitched a scoreless 9th and 10th to get the win.
Garcia and Carlos Pena homered for Indiana State, which outhit Purdue, 13-8. Garcia went 3-for-6 with 3 RBIs; Mason Roell had 3 hits; and Jeremy Martinez, Beck, and Pena all had 2 hits each.
Kansas State 12, Missouri State 2 (7): It got late early for the Bears in Manhattan, Kan., where Kansas State scored 8 runs in the first 4 innings, then 4 more in the 7th to run-rule Missouri State, 12-2. Dee Kennedy, Bear Madliak (2 homers), and Sam Flores all homered and drove in 3 runs each for the Wildcats. K-State’s bats packed a big punch Tuesday, as the Wildcats finished with 5 doubles and 5 homers – they only had 2 singles in the game.
Nick Rodriguez homered to extend his hitting streak to 18 games for Missouri State (16-16). Caden Bogenpohl also went deep in the loss. The Bears were held to 5 hits.
Murray State 10, Bellarmine 0 (7): Carson Garner hit majestic homers to left field in each of his first 2 at-bats Tuesday, giving Murray State a 4-0 lead and a clear path to victory in a 10-0 rout of visiting Bellarmine. In the 1st inning, Garner hit a solo shot to open the scoring. In the 3rd, he came to the plate with Jonathan Hogart and Nico Bermeo on base and hit another long drive to left for a 3-run homer. Hogart later drove in 2 with a single in the 6th, then Kingsley Guthrie and Bermeo had RBI singles in the 7th to push the Racers’ (20-8) lead to 10 and end the game via run-rule. Bermeo went 3-for-4; Guthrie and Hogart had 2 hits each.
Jacob Hustedde and Graham Kelham limited Bellarmine to 3 hits with 2 walks and 9 strikeouts on 108 total pitches.
Belmont 7, Tennessee-Martin 6: Charlie Davis drove in the tying and winning runs in Belmont’s 7-6 victory over UT-Martin Tuesday. With the Bruins down 6-5 in the 8th, Davis reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Michael Lareau to draw Belmont level. In the 9th, Davis was the man again, as his sac fly scored Kaden Galason to win it for the Bruins (14-20). Belmont has won 5 of its last 7 games.
Pete Daniel went 4-for-5 in the win, while Lareau was 2-for-3 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs. Owen Marsh pitched a scoreless 9th to get the win.
Southern Illinois 7, Southeast Missouri State 3: Down 3-1 to a tough SEMO squad in Carbondale Tuesday, Southern Illinois rallied for 6 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning and beat the Redhawks, 7-3. The rally started in painful fashion for the Salukis (23-9), as Gabe Petrucelli was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to cut the SEMO lead to 1. Kaleb Hall followed with his 5th triple of the season, scoring Petrucelli, Tim Simay, and John Lemm to give SIU a 5-3 lead. Hall then scored on a wild pitch before Lemm singled to drive in Cecil Lofton with the final run.
Hall’s 5 triples put him just 1 off the national lead of 6, shared by Tyson Drake (Tarleton State), A.J. Soldra (Seton Hall), Brendan Summerhill (Arizona), and Connor Westenburg (McNeese). Hall leads the Valley in triples and has 14 total extra-base hits this season.
Hall was 3-for-4; Lofton had 2 hits. Tanner Gerdes, Dylan Petrey, and Sam Frizzi pitched 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to keep SIU in the game until the 8th-inning heroics won it.
Butler 17, Evansville 5: Facing a Butler team that had allowed double-digits runs in 19 of 31 games entering Tuesday, Evansville had the stat turned around as the Bulldogs erupted for a 17-5 road win. Butler scored 17 runs on just 10 hits, but drew 10 walks and benefited from 2 UE (11-21) errors. Cal McGinnis had 2 hits and 2 RBIs for the Purple Aces, while Ty Rumsey stole 2 bases to give him 21 for the season. He’s only been caught 3 times in 2025. Rumsey is tied for 20th nationally in steals with Daniel Bucciero of Fordham. Rumsey’s 21 steals lead the Valley.
Today on Valley Diamonds: There’s 3 games on the slate today as mid-week action continues (NIU at UIC was canceled). As always, all times Central, all games weather permitting, and all streaming information is subject to change.
Belmont at North Alabama, 3 p.m. (at Rickwood Field in Birmingham)
Kentucky State at Murray State, 5
Western Illinois at Bradley, 6, ESPN+
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.
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