Life in the Valley

Bears Roll Past SEC Foe in Front of Large Crowd

Four multi-run innings helped power Missouri State past Missouri, 11-0, Tuesday night in Springfield. Caden Bogenpohl had 3 hits, including a double and a homer, to lead the Bears’ 13-hit attack, while Jake McCutcheon, Taeg Gollert, and Max Knight all had 2 hits each. Gollert tripled in the 7th, scoring McCutcheon and Nick Rodriguez to give Missouri State (21-18) a 9-0 lead. Knight followed with a 2-run homer that walked off the Tigers, as the Bears won by run-rule.

Rodriguez went 1-for-3 with 2 runs, an RBI, and a walk, extending his hitting streak to 26 games. Missouri State hit 3 doubles in the win, driving its season total to 97, which is tied with Murray State atop the conference and for 8th nationally, 13 behind leaders Georgia Tech.

Five Bears pitchers combined to shutout the Tigers on just 3 hits. Tyler Charlton, Knight, Jake Syverson, Brody McNiel, and Garrett Ferguson walked 2 and struck out 6, and got 21 outs on 104 pitches.

Prior to the game, flowers were placed at home plate and the number 4 was displayed to honor the memory of Todric McGee. McGee, a safety on the Missouri State football team, was killed over the weekend from what the Associated Press and NBC News’ Viola Flowers reported as injuries sustained in his home Friday.

Missouri State drew a crowd of 3,581 for the win.

Here’s a spin around the Valley for the rest of last night’s results:

Racers Keep Rolling: Speaking of Murray State, the Racers pounded out 5 doubles themselves in a 10-3 victory at North Alabama. Dustin Mercer had a pair of 2-baggers, along with doubles from Jonathan Hogart, David Stokely, and Conner Cunningham. Hogart now has 21 doubles on the season. Mercer went 3-for-4. Carson Garner homered and drove in 3 runs. The Racers scored 3 in the 5th inning to open the scoring, one on Hogart’s double and 2 on Garner’s homer. Seven Murray State (28-9) pitchers combined to hold the Lions to 3 runs on 6 hits.

Salukis Double Up Redhawks: Southern Illinois won its 4th straight game, rallying from 3-0 down after 4 innings to win at Southeast Missouri State, 12-6. SIU took the lead for good in the 5th inning thanks to Gabe Petrucelli’s 2-run single, Cecil Lofton’s 2-run double, and an RBI single by Michael Mylott, who later hit a solo homer in the 7th.

Petrucelli finished with 3 RBIs. Keeping with the doubles theme, SIU bashed 7 in the win, including 2 from John Lemm, who also tripled and scored 3 runs. Mylott and Tim Simay also had 3 hits for the Salukis (28-12).

Bruins End Skid: Belmont (17-26) ended a 5-game losing streak with a 12-5 victory at Tennessee-Martin on Tuesday. The game was tied at 5-5 in the 5th when Gardner Lawrence hit his second solo homer of the game to give the Bruins the lead for good. In the 7th, the Bruins piled on scoring 6 times, including Michael Lareau’s 3-run homer. Landon Godsey had 3 hits, while Charlie Davis, Blake Barton, Lawrence, and Lareau had 2 each. Belmont also had 6 doubles (it’s a theme!). Owen Marsh got the win, throwing 3 innings of scoreless relief.

Illinois 19, Indiana State 8 (7): Up 3-0 after 3, it certainly didn’t appear Indiana State was in for a bad fate Tuesday night against visiting Illinois. But the Fighting Illini turned things around with a quickness, scoring 7 runs in the 4th and 8 more in the 5th en route to a 19-8 win in 7 innings. Illinois pounded out 20 hits, including 2 Drake Westcott homers and 2 doubles from Jack Zebig. Fifteen of the Illini’s 20 hits were singles. Carlos Pena homered twice for the Sycamores (20-20), driving in 4 runs. His 2-run homer in the 1st opened the scoring. Indiana State starter Jacob Spencer pitched 3 scoreless innings with 3 strikeouts on just 44 pitches.

Hilltoppers Keep Rolling: Drew McConnell provided all the runs for Evansville Tuesday night, hitting a grand slam, but Western Kentucky was too much for the Purple Aces in a 14-4, 8-inning win. WKU 1B Kyle Hayes homered and drove in 6 runs in the victory, as the Hilltoppers’ dream season continues at 34-7. Western held UE (13-26) to 4 hits, including McConnell’s homer and Matt Flaherty’s double. It was McConnell’s 2nd homer of the season. The other came February 25 at Kentucky.

Beacons Drop a Tough One at Home: Northern Illinois scored 6 runs in the top of the 8th inning to erase a 4-2 deficit and beat Valparaiso, 8-6. The Beacons, as they always do, rallied in the 9th, getting 2 runs on a single by Thomas Cooper, but the 4-run deficit entering the inning proved too much to overcome. Cooper drove in 3 on the day and hit 1 of Valpo’s 2 homers – Case Sullivan blasted the other to tie the game at 1 in the 3rd inning. Aidan Thaxton, Cooper, Sullivan, and Spencer Warfield all had 2 hits for the Beacons (8-27). Valpo starter Nick Baffa pitched 3 strong innings, allowing 1 unearned run on 3 hits with 0 walks and 3 strikeouts.

Wildcats Walk-off Flames: Northwestern ‘s Jacob Hand hit a solo homer in the bottom of the 9th inning to give the Wildcats a 7-6 victory over UIC Tuesday. UIC (11-27) led 2-0, 3-2, and then tied the game at 6 in the 8th inning when A.J. Taylor hit a solo homer, Lucas Smith singled home a run, and Luke Nowak hit a sacrifice fly. Smith, Nowak, and Terrick Thompson-Allen all went 2-for-4. Thomas Curry had 2 RBIs in the loss. Nowak is now hitting .383 on the season. Owen McElfatrick and Ryan Kucherak each doubled and homered for Northwestern.

Today on Valley Diamonds: Just 1 game today, as Northern Illinois continues its trek through the Valley with game at Illinois State. The game starts at 5 p.m. and will be streaming on ESPN+. The Redbirds were one of two Valley teams idle Tuesday. Bradley was scheduled to play SIU-Edwardsville, but the game was rained out.

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.