Life in the Valley

Illinois State takes on Indiana; while Belmont Battles Bradley

If familiarity breeds contempt, and you combine that with 2 teams playing a single knockout game to keep their seasons alive, then you have a recipe for must-see TV (well, streaming) at 1:30 p.m. Central today when 5th-seed Illinois State takes on 8th-seed Indiana State in the first game of the MVC Baseball Championship.

The Redbirds just took 2 of 3 from the Sycamores when the teams met last weekend in Terre Haute. With Saturday’s 12-1 win to close the regular season, Illinois State had hoped it would jump up to the 4-seed, but UIC’s win over Belmont ended those hopes as the Flames rose up to grab the 4 seed, and with it a bye out of this single-elimination round.

The series featured 3 one-sided games, as along with the 12-1 win, Illinois State won the opener on Thursday, 11-4. In between, Indiana State rolled to a 17-3 victory that clinched its berth in this tournament, though Saturday’s loss combined with Bradley’s win over Evansville dropped the Sycamores to the 8th and final seed. Bradley, the 7 seed, will take on #6 Belmont in Tuesday’s 2nd game.

The teams will be reseeded after this round, with #1 Murray State and #2 Missouri State waiting on the winners, while also on Wednesday, third-seeded Southern Illinois takes on UIC.

Let’s take a look at the 4 teams and these matchups.

#5 Illinois State (27-26, 15-12): Much of the talk this season when it comes to the Redbirds has been about the hitting of Daniel Pacella and Judah Morris, and rightfully so, given the duo combined for 107 runs, 108 RBIs, 39 homers, 35 doubles, and 77 walks. Pacella led the MVC in hits (79), slugging percentage (.741), and OPS (1.184). Pacella’s 20 homers were 3 behind SIU’s Matt Schark for the conference lead and top-50 in the country. Morris hit 19 homers, finished tied for 3rd in the MVC in walks (47) and was tied for 3rd in OPS at 1.157. But the Redbirds’ lineup has danger elsewhere, too. Brayden Bakes hit .305 with 39 runs and he had a 3-homer game this season. Kyle Gibson was 2nd on the team with 69 hits. Graham Mastros stole 18 bases (5th in the Valley), while Shai Robinson hit 10 homers and drew 43 walks.

On the mound, the Redbirds got a solid season from Tyrelle Chadwick, who finished 4th in the conference in ERA (4.28) in a strong bounce-back campaign. Tanner Perry made 14 starts, had 2 complete games, and fanned 72 in 67 2/3 innings. Carter Monke allowed just 4 homers in 55 innings.

Joe Husak was 2nd in the conference out of the bullpen with 7 saves in 19 appearances. Matthew Donnison went 4-2 in 21 appearances with a 4.76 ERA and 11.57 Ks/9 innings. MacCallan Conklin was 3rd on the club with 18 appearances.

#6 Belmont (24-32, 13-14): The Bruins arrive at the MVC Tournament having been a streaky team of late, in both directions. Unfortunately for Belmont, that includes a 4-game losing streak to end the regular season, with a midweek loss at #17 Tennessee before getting swept at UIC to end the conference schedule. Belmont got outscored in that UIC series, 46-20.

Not long before this recent skid, Belmont won 7 in a row, taking a mid-week game against UT-Martin before sweeping conference foes Valparaiso and Evansville, neither of whom qualified for the MVC Tournament. That span was preceded by a 5-game losing streak – one that started when the Bruins dropped a 15-4 decision to today’s opponent, Bradley. After a loss to Middle Tennessee, the Bruins then dropped 3 at Southern Illinois.

For Belmont to succeed this week, the Bruins will have to find a second starter and go deep into a game to add another arm beyond Joe Ruzicka (5-4, 3.36 ERA, 1.21 WHIP). Zane Brown has shown flashes of being that guy, throwing a no-hitter against Valparaiso. Jake Timbes has also had some good outings. The Belmont bullpen is led by Ethan Harden, who in 26 innings has 27 strikeouts, a 2.77 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, and 6 saves. Andrew Perry has given the Bruins some good innings of the pen recently, as well, and he can go multiple innings, having thrown 43 innings in 18 appearances.

Offensively, the Bruins are dangerous but for reasons different than many of their league counterparts. Belmont has some power. The Bruins hit 53 homers this season but 31 of them came from 3 players – team leader Landon Godsey (11), and 10 each from Ty Allen and Mike Sprockett. Chaos is more the style the Bruins prefer. Their 99 stolen bases led the conference and only 1 other team in the Valley (SIU) attempted more (102) than Belmont successfully swiped. Charlie Davis led the way with 24 steals, while Pete Daniel hit a team-high .370 and stole 20 bases. The Bruins also have 6 players in doubles, led by Godsey’s 16.

#7 Bradley (16-34, 12-15): As the Valley season neared its mid-point, there weren’t many people suspecting Bradley would even make the MVC Tournament, let alone be something other than the #8 seed if the Braves did squeak in. Bradley was 0-11 in the conference on the morning of April 13, when the Braves finally rose up and downed Belmont, 15-4. Far from a one-off upset, Bradley then swept Illinois State on the road. After dropping a 2-1 series to UIC, the Braves took 2 of 3 over Indiana State, swept Valpo, and won 2 of 3 to end the season at Evansville, clinching their tourney berth. When Bradley beat UE on the final day, 23-11, that combined with Indiana State’s loss to Illinois State gave the Braves the 7 seed via a tiebreaker. In the end, Bradley went 12-4 in the conference to end the season.

Which makes them dangerous, especially in a single-elimination game today. The Braves aren’t the conference’s most offensive team; they hit just .267 with a .794 OPS. But that doesn’t mean the lineup doesn’t have some quality spots. Bobby Atkinson hit .333 with 19 doubles and 45 runs. He also drew 32 walks. Mason Breidenbach led the team with 38 walks, hit .311, and had 13 doubles. Timmy O’Brien has a 3-homer game to his credit this season and finished with 17. That’s a third of the team total of 51.

On the mound, the Braves struggled to an 8.43 ERA and a 2.04 team WHIP. They have to score runs to win. But one bright spot has been the work of receiver Reece Clapp, who, now that Bradley is winning games, has shown what kind of closer he can be, earning 6 saves in 21 appearances to with a 4.70 ERA for the season. Clapp hasn’t allowed an earned run in 4 of his previous 5 outings, a span of 14 1/3 innings. Clapp didn’t pitch against Belmont this season.

#8 Indiana State (24-30, 12-15): This was always going to be a season of change for Indiana State and seeing the Sycamores as the 8th seed, with losing overall and conference records, is definitely a change. Indiana State dominated the conference the past 2 seasons, reaching an NCAA Super Regional in ’23 and coming up 1 game short of Regionals last season. But then head coach Mitch Hannahs left for USF, and almost the entire Sycamores roster entered the transfer portal. New coach Tracy Archuleta arrived from an 18-year stint at Southern Indiana. He had a tremendous rebuild to pull off and despite the record, the Sycamores ended up with a pretty talented team.

Carlos Pena led the Sycamores in hitting (.328) and homers (14), while Carter Beck drove in 56 runs to go with a .326 average and 11 homers. Beck also led Indiana State with 15 doubles. Keegan Garis has a 3-hit game to his credit. Jackson Taylor has more walks (24) than strikeouts (18).

MAX McEwen was the lone pitcher to qualify for the conference ERA race, finishing 5th in the league at 4.63. McEwen struck out 64 in 58 1/3 innings and allowed just 3 home runs. Opponents batted only .223 against him. However, McEwen hasn’t pitched since May 3. Ty Brooks (3-4, 6.04) and Breyllin Suriel (0-6, 7.59) also made 10 starts each for Indiana State. Gavin Morris is 6-3 out of the bullpen with 4 saves in 22 appearances.

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.