Life in the Valley

Bruins Sweep Series Without Allowing a Run

There’s simply no other way to start the Monday 9 in this Kentucky Derby week other than to talk about Belmont’s weekend on the mound.

And … we’re off!

1 – Zippy Chippy: In this modern era of college baseball, where there seem to be more home run balls in the air than passenger jets at times, what the Belmont Bruins accomplished this weekend was truly remarkable.

Obviously the most notable achievement is Zane Brown’s no-hitter on Saturday, Brown walked just 2, hit 2, and struck out 9, retiring the last 13 men he faced to secure the no-no on his 115th pitch of the afternoon. You can read more about Brown’s no-hitter here.

But as it turned out, that was the middle game of an astounding pitching weekend for the Bruins (20-26, 9-9 MVC), who swept Valparaiso without even allowing a run. Moreover, Valpo batters were limited to 6 total hits. Friday starter Joe Ruzicka worked an 8-inning complete game shutout in a 10-0, run-rule win, giving up just 1 hit. On Sunday, Jake Timbes started and worked 5 scoreless innings, allowing 4 hits, before 3 relievers – Owen Marsh, Andrew Perry, and Ethan Harden – combined to throw 4 scoreless innings on just 1 hit.

For the series, Belmont pitchers recored 21 strikeouts to just 4 walks, allowed 6 total hits, and threw just 313 pitches in 26 innings – an absurd 4.01 pitches per out for an entire staff over 3 games. This from a squad which entered the series with a 6.98 team ERA (which seems high, of course, but was 6th in the Valley entering the weekend).

Perhaps the more amazing part? On Saturday and Sunday, Belmont pitchers needed to be that good. Ruzicka had the luxury of some run support in the 10-0 win on Friday. Brown, Timbes, and the relievers had no such margin for error in the final 2 games. The lone run Saturday scored in the 3rd inning when Pete Daniel homered. On Sunday, the Bruins didn’t take the lead until the 8th, when Mike Sprockett, who caught the no-hitter, singled to left to score Charlie Davis.

And there’s the silver lining of a tough weekend trip for the Beacons (8-30, 3-15). Saturday and Sunday starters Harry Deliyannis and Spencer Boynton combined to throw 13 innings, allowing just 1 run on 8 hits with only 1 walk and 7 strikeouts. There’s something to build on.

2 – Bears Continues as Valley’s Bold Ruler: Missouri State stayed atop the Valley standings over the weekend, taking 2 out of 3 at home vs. Evansville. The Bears improved to 13-5 in the Valley and 23-18 overall, but missed out on a possible sweep when UE rose up and downed the Bears, 16-11, on Sunday. Nick Rodriguez had hits in all 3 games to extend his hitting streak to 29 games. Rodriguez is now hitting .376 on the season with 14 homers, 54 runs, 49 RBIs, and 19 doubles.

In Friday’s opener, Missouri State held a 3-o lead entering the 5th, only for UE (14-27, 8-10) to take the lead with a 4-run rally, capped by Cal McGinnis’ RBI double. But tied at 4-4 in the 7th, Rodriguez’s RBI single proved to be the game-winning RBI in a 6-4 Bears victory. Missouri State won again Saturday, 7-2, this time erasing a 2-1 deficit with a 4-run 5th inning, including a solo homer from Carter Bergman and a run-scoring singles from Jake McCutcheon and Taeg Gollert. Max Knight homered and pitched the final 4 innings in relief, striking out 9 with 0 runs and 1 hit allowed.

Evansville’s bats woke up Sunday, as Ty Rumsey doubled, homered, stole a base, scored 2 runs, and drove in 2, while Charlie Longmeier (3-for-4, 3 runs, 3 RBIs also homered in the UE win. The Purple Aces roughed up 7 Bears pitchers for 16 runs on 17 hits, while drawing 6 walks and getting hit twice.

For the season, Missouri State has now hit 85 homers (tied-7th nationally) and 103 doubles (9th) and carries a .966 team OPS.

3 – Salukis Avoid Regret, Rally to Win Series: After dropping a tough 11-9 decision to visiting Illinois State Friday, Southern Illinois (30-13, 12-6) kept pace with Missouri State, just a game back, by winning the final 2 games of the weekend to clinch the series. After a comprehensive 14-5 SIU victory on Saturday, both teams went into Sunday knowing how important a series victory would be.

Illinois State (20-21, 10-8) got out of the gates best, taking a 4-1 lead after 4 innings thanks to RBI doubles from Daniel Contreras and Luke Stulga, and a Graham Mastros homer. But in the 7th, the whole picture changed. SIU got within 4-3 after the Stretch, then took the lead in the 8th when a run scored on Tim Simay’s ground out, then Tate Lewis’ RBI double scored Cecil Lofton with the eventual winning run. Al Holguin and Sam Frizzi combined to throw 5 2/3 innings of scoreless, 1-hit relief to keep the Salukis in the game long enough to make the comeback. Tanner Perry got a hard-luck no-decision for the Redbirds after allowing 3 runs on 6 hits with 7 strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.

SIU enters the week tied with Murray State for 2nd in the Valley, a game behind Missouri State. Illinois State is 10-8 and for now, holds the all-important 4th spot in the table, a game ahead of Indiana State, Belmont, and UIC.

4 – Wise Dan Guides Racers to Another 30-Win Season: It’s a fifth straight 30-win season for Murray State head coach Dan Skirka, who saw his Racers prevail by a nose in a tough a 2-1 game Sunday at Indiana State to take an important series victory against another top-4 Valley contender. The Racers (30-10, 12-6) needed just one big hit to get the winning runs home, as Carson Garner’s 5th-inning double scored Jonathan Hogart and Conner Cunningham to make it 2-0 Racers. Indiana State (21-22, 9-9) got one back on Keegan Garis’ RBI single in the 7th, but Racers reliever Graham Kelham shut the door, getting the last 7 outs without allowing a baserunner.

In his 7th season at Murray State (6th full campaign when you discount the 2020 COVID season), Skirka has turned around a Murray State program that suffered through 8 straight losing seasons before he returned to Murray after having previously been both an assistant coach and recipient of a Masters Degree from the school. After a 24-30 campaign in 2019 and 10-7 record when the 2020 season was canceled, Skirka’s Racers have rolled off 161 wins since the start of the ’21 season, with totals of 33, 30, 31, and 37 the past 4 seasons. Murray State has finished 2nd in the final Valley standings twice, going 18-12 in 2021 and 17-10 last season.

Murray State still has weekend series left against Southern Illinois, Missouri State, and Belmont, so the run in won’t be easy. but 8 wins in the Racers’ final 10 regular-season games and potential postseason games would give Skirka his winningest overall season at Murray. At present, however, after Tuesday’s matchup at Southeast Missouri, all eyes will be on SIU’s visit to Murray next weekend, with the teams tied for 2nd in the Valley standings.

5 – Sycamores Need Spectacular Bid to Get Back in Valley Race: To say it’s been an up-and-down conference slate for Indiana State is an understatement. The Sycamores, under first-year head coach Tracy Archuleta, and featuring a revamped lineup and pitching staff, have yet to sweep any of their 6 Valley opponents this season, but they also haven’t been swept. Series wins over Valpo, UIC, and SIU have been paired with losses to Belmont, Evansville, and Murray State – with all 6 series ending 2-1.

So he we are, with Indiana State currently 9-9 in the Valley. The Sycamores get Bradley on the road this weekend, then they have to travel to Missouri State in the penultimate conference weekend of the season. Indiana State will hit the Valley finish line at home against Illinois State. With 6 games against teams in front of them in the standings, the Sycamores may be looking at needing a 6-3 or 7-2 finish to make it into the top 4 and avoid having to play in the single-elimination round on the first day of the MVC Tournament. And that’s if fellow 9-9 squads Belmont and/or UIC don’t surpass the Sycamores along the way.

Those likely to lead the charge for Indiana State? Jackson Taylor is hitting .403 in MVC play with a 1.000 OPS. Carter Beck has 22 RBIs in 18 MVC games, with a .342 average, 6 doubles, and a .961 OPS. Carlos Pena has been the power source, hitting 6 conference homers, driving in 16 runs, and hitting .324. He leads qualifying Sycamores in conference play with a 1.110 OPS. Reliever Gavin Morris has appeared in half of Indiana State’s conference games, going 3-1 with 2 saves and a minuscule ERA and WHIP of 1.46 and 0.74, respectively. Starter MAX McEwen has fanned 39 batters in 33 2/3 innings in his conference starts.

6 – Flames Skip Away from Braves: UIC cooled off Bradley over the weekend, taking the final 2 games to clinch the series and improve to 9-9 in conference. After playing a brutal non-conference slate in the early season that included road trips to then-#8 Georgia, Tennessee Tech, Louisville, and Purdue, it was hoped the Flames would be battle tested when it came time for Valley play. That hope has paid off, as UIC has now won back-to-back series over Missouri State and the Braves to keep themselves in the race for the 4th seed in the Valley Tournament.

UIC has Valparaiso, Illinois State, and Belmont left, with the series against the Beacons and Bruins both at home in Chicago. And even in the midst of the stretch run for the conference, the Flames (13-28, 9-9) are still testing themselves outside the league, playing a rare Monday non-conference game at home today vs. Washington, with Iowa scheduled to come to Granderson Field next week for a Tuesday tilt.

Sunday’s dramatic win over Bradley saw the Flames tie it at 3-3 in the 9th on Thomas Curry’s RBI single to score Lucas Smith. In the 10th, Nick Hosie singled to score Cole Luckey, giving Bradley (9-29, 5-13) a 4-3 lead. UIC wasn’t flustered, however, staying alive when Smith singled in Vidal Colon to tie it at 4. Finally in the 12th, with Colon at 3rd, Luke Nowak’s sac fly brought home the winning run. It was UIC’s first extra-inning win of the season and the Flames improved to 9-6 at home.

7 – Who Will Strike the Gold and Win MVC HR Race: The home run race in the MVC is officially bonkers. There are 11 players now with at least 12 home runs this season, which is good enough to be 4 back of the leader. Right now, there’s only one player at that level – Timmy O’Brien of Bradley, whose 16 homers lead by 1 over Southern Illinois’ Matt Schark. But while they are on their own in the top 2 spots, the picture below them gets complicated, as you can see below:

MVC Leaders – HR
1. O’Brien, Bradley, 16
2. Schark, SIU, 15
3. Pacella, Ill. St., 14
3. Rodriguez, Mo. St., 14
5. Pena, Ind. St., 13
5. Morris, Ill. St., 13
5. Garner, Murray, 13
5. Knight, Mo. St., 13
9. Hogart, Murray, 12
9. Lemm, SIU, 12
9. McCutcheon, Mo. St., 12

I love it. Will we see anyone get to 20? O’Brien already has a 3-homer game this season. Will we have a solo winner? At least for the regular season, that might be tough. Obviously there will be some extra games out there for whichever team wins the Valley Tournament and advances to NCAA Regionals. Also notable is how many teams have multiple players in the top 11. Missouri State has 3; while SIU, Murray State, and Illinois State have 2 each. Follow the homer tracker on our X feed each day for updates.

8 – On the Look Out for Mid-Week Power-4 Wins: As mentioned, UIC is in action right now at home vs. Washington. On Tuesday, 8 more games are scheduled, including 5 more battles between Valley teams and Power-4 conference opponents. Here’s the slate. Watch for times, streaming information, and preview capsules on our X feed:

#11 Arkansas at Missouri State
Indiana at Evansville
Illinois at Bradley
Illinois State at Iowa
Indiana State at #15 Vanderbilt
Lindenwood at Southern Illinois
Murray State at Southeast Missouri State
Valparaiso at Western Michigan

On Wednesday, Illinois State is home to Southern Indiana, while Bradley visits Western Illinois.

9 – Who’ll Be Atop the Valley Pulpit After this Weekend?: The top 4 in the Valley all play each other this weekend, with leaders Missouri State visiting 4th-place Illinois State, while the teams tied for 2nd place meet in Murray, with the Racers hosting Southern Illinois. Among the 3 teams tied for 5th at 9-9, somewhat amazingly, none play each other – and all are on the road! Indiana State visits Bradley; UIC is at Valpo; and Belmont goes to Evansville. You might think the matchups in the top 4 will give us some clarity going into the final 2 weekends, but if we’ve learned anything this weekend, it’s far more likely that chaos will ensue. And if any or all the 9-9 teams sweep? The top of the Valley standings could be more packed than the starting gate in Louisville just before 7 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.

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.