Life in the Valley

Illinois State, Belmont, Murray State Also Earn Wins Friday

Indiana State powered its way to a 6-0 lead after 2 innings and 8-1 after 4, then held on for a 9-7 victory over visiting Southern Illinois Friday night in a matchup of contending Missouri Valley Conference teams. Both teams are now 6-4 in the conference.

SIU turned to Tyler Timmerman for the Friday start, but the Sycamores (17-16) chased him after just 1 inning. Timmerman hit Jeremy Martinez with the bases loaded to force in the 1st run. Jackson Taylor followed with a 2-run single to make it 3-0. SIU turned to Dylan Petrey in the 2nd, but the Indiana State run parade continued. Nomar Garcia’s bunt single and a subsequent error scored Thomas Emerich and Carter Beck to make it 5-0. A fielder’s choice then scored Garcia and it was 6-0.

Down 8-1 in the 5th, the Salukis (23-10) closed with in 1 run, boosted by a 2-run double from Jaxon Holder and sac flies from Jordan Bach and Matt Schark. But Gavin Morris shut SIU down from there, and the Sycamores added an insurance run in the 8th on Taylor’s bunt that scored Keegan Garis.

Taylor went 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs. Martinez had the rare 0-for-4 with 2 RBIs box score. Beck had 2 hits and 2 runs. Garis scored 3 times. Holder went 1-for-2 with 2 runs, 2 RBIs, and 2 walks for SIU. Max McEwen got the win for Indiana State, improving to 4-2. With the loss, Timmerman fell to 5-2.

Bears Keep Clear Lead: Missouri State downed Valparaiso in a back-and-forth affair in Springfield Friday, 5-4. Zack Stewart homered in the bottom of the 9th to win it for the Bears, who improved to 8-2 in the Valley (17-15 overall). Valpo fought back late, as the Beacons always do, when Aidan Thaxton homered in the top of the 9th to tie the game at 4. Earlier, the Beacons (8-20, 3-7) rallied from 2 down to take the lead in the 5th on Connor Giusti’s 3-run homer. Missouri State had taken a 2-run lead in the 3rd on Nick Rodriguez’s homer – which extended his hitting streak to 19 games. Rodriguez has also homered in 4 straight games and has 5 total in that span.

Carter Bergman had 2 hits for the Bears. Connor Lockwood was a workhorse once again for Valparaiso, going 8 innings and allowing 4 runs on 6 hits (a good night against Missouri State’s stacked lineup), with just 2 walks and 7 strikeouts. Lockwood threw 108 pitches. Missouri State freshman Michael Yusypchuk went 5 innings, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts. Jackson Holmes worked the last 2 innings to get the win (4-3).

Redbird Roll to Keep Pace: Illinois State scored in each of the first 6 innings and pounded out 17 hits en route to a 17-8 win over visiting Evansville Friday. Fourteen of the Redbird hits were singles, and Illinois State also stole 3 bases in improving to 15-16 on the season, 7-3 in the Valley – 1 game back of first-place Missouri State.

UE took the lead early, however, going up 3-1 in the 2nd inning on an RBI double by Drew McConnell, then a grounder off the bat of Drew Howard that caused 2 runs to score after an error. But the 3-1 lead was the highlight of the game for the Purple Aces (11-22, 5-5), as the Redbirds’ deep lineup touched up Kenton Deverman and Max Hansmann for 12 runs (8 earned) on 13 hits with 5 walks in 4 1/3 innings. Fortunately for the Purple Aces, Jack Wills was able to throw 2 scoreless innings at the end to limit UE to 4 pitcher used (Parker McCauley went 1 2/3 innings). So perhaps the bullpen isn’t too taxed.

But the Purple Aces will need all hands on deck to hold off Illinois State’s offense. Brayden Bakes, Graham Mastros, and Daniel Contreras each had 3 hits – with Contreras driving in 5 runs and scoring 4. All this while hitting 7th in the lineup, which tells you everything you need to know about the Redbirds’ offensive attack. Shai Robinson and Judah Morris combined to draw 7 walks and score 5 runs. Daniel Pacella went 2-for-5 with 2 runs and an RBI.

Ty Rumsey went 2-for-3 with a steal for Evansville, his conference-leading 22nd of the season in 25 attempts. Matt Flaherty had 2 hits and drove in 2 runs.

Murray State Wins Low-Scoring Affair vs. Flames: Doubles were the key for Murray State in its 3-1 win over visiting UIC, as Dom Decker doubled in the Racers’ first run in the 4th inning, then Will Vierling brought home another run with a double in the 5th. Carson Garner’s sac fly gave Murray a 3-0 lead after 5.

UIC got a run back in the 7th on a failed pickoff attempt but was unable to get any closer.

Vierling had 2 hits for Murray State. Kane Elmy was strong over 7 innings for the Racers (22-8, 6-4), giving up just 1 run on 2 hits on 80 pitches. Dylan Zentko earned the save with 0 hits, 0 runs, and 0 walks.

UIC fell to 8-23, 4-6.

Belmont Blanks Bradley: Moving up from his normal Saturday spot in the rotation where he had been pitching well, Belmont’s Joe Ruzicka got the Friday call this week and delivered, throwing 7 shutout, 1-hit innings with 2 walks and 8 strikeouts as the Bruins shutout Bradley, 3-0. Ruzicka needed 102 pitches to get the 21 outs. Ethan Harden blanked the Braves for the final 2 innings to get the save.

Ruzicka, a junior from Webster Groves, Mo., lowered his season ERA to 3.65 with the effort – his second straight scoreless appearance after shutting down Indiana State for 7 innings last Saturday in a 1-0 Belmont win. Ruzicka is 3-1 on the season with 43 strikeouts in 44 1/3 innings. Friday’s performance was Ruzicka’s 4th this season where he allowed 2 runs or less. Landon Godsey, Pete Daniel (2-for-4), and Mike Sprockett drove in runs for the Bruins (15-21, 5-5).

Bradley’s Travis Lutz had his best pitching outing of the season, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits with 9 strikeouts in 7 innings. The 9 strikeouts are a season high for Lutz and the 2 runs allowed were the lowest for Lutz since a 5-inning scoreless effort vs. Siena on February 22.

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.