Life in the Valley

Illinois State, Belmont Advance with 1st-Round Wins

Hosts Illinois State, the 5th-seed, and 6th-seeded Belmont both advanced out of the single-elimination round of the Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship. The Redbirds downed Indiana State in 8 innings Tuesday night, 14-4, scoring 6 runs in the bottom of the 8th to end the game. That game was delayed several hours by rain, causing the second game between Belmont and Bradley to be moved to this morning. The Bruins prevailed in that contest, 11-7. Indiana State and Bradley, the 7th and 8th seeds in the tournament, respectively, are eliminated.

Illinois State moves on to take on the 2nd seed Missouri State Bears today in Normal, while Belmont will take on the top-seed Murray State Racers tonight, weather permitting, of course.

In today’s second game, just underway, 3rd-seeded Southern Illinois is taking on the 6 seed UIC Flames.

Last night, Indiana State actually got off to the perfect start, with Carlos Pena leading off the game with a home run. The Sycamores scored 2 in the first but that lead didn’t last long. Brayden Bakes tied the game with a 2-run double in the bottom of the 1st, then Daniel Contreras gave the Redbirds the lead for good with a 2-run single. The teams traded runs in the 3rd and 4th, respectively, leaving Illinois State with a 5-3 lead after 4.

Then, the pitchers took over. Indiana State reliever Gavin Morris, who came on with 2 outs in the 2nd, worked into the 7th before the Redbirds were finally able to get to him. Morris retired 11 of 12 batters at one point, only interrupted by Shai Robinson’s 5th-inning walk. But in the 7th, Daniel Pacella led off with a triple and scored on Judah Morris’ single. With 2 outs and 2 on, Josh Outlaw’s single scored Morris to make it 7-3 and Morris’ day was done. Despite being charged with 4 runs on 6 hits, he got 15 outs on 83 pitches and kept the Sycamores in the game if their offense could respond.

Unfortunately for Indiana State, Redbirds starter Tyrelle Chadwick wasn’t going to let that happen. After Nomar Garcia’s RBI double with 2 outs in the top of the 4th made it 5-3, Chadwick gave up just 1 hit through the end of the 7th inning. He gave up a run in the 8th, but that kept the Redbirds in front, 8-4.

Chadwick’s teammates made sure there would be no decision needed about letting him pitch the 9th. Noah Smith scored on a wild pitch, Pacella trotted home on Robinson’s bases-loaded walk, with Morris doing the same when Contreras drew a free pass. Up 11-4, Josh Outlaw put Illinois State on the brink of victory with a 2-run single to right, as Bakes scored then Robinson came home on an error. Kyle Gibson followed with a single to center, allowing Contreras to score the 14th and final run for the Redbirds (28-26).

Gibson and Outlaw each had 3 hits for the Redbirds, who totaled 15. Pacella and Robinson scored 3 runs each, while Contreras drove in 3. Illinois State scored its 14 runs without a homer.

Chadwick threw 121 pitches, walking 4 and striking out 7. But more importantly, he gave the Illinois State bullpen a night off, and they are now well set up for the double-elimination portion of the tournament.

Carter Beck went 3-for-3 with a run and a walk for the Sycamores, who finished their season 24-31. But given a coaching change and the need to remake the roster from the last couple seasons, this was a productive campaign for Indiana State and the Sycamores should have something to build on moving forward.

Belmont Bounces Bradley: The Bruins scored in every inning but the 2nd and 7th en route to an 11-7 win over Bradley. Landon Godsey was the spark the Belmont offense needed, bashing 2 doubles, a triple, and a homer while going 4-for-5 with 4 runs and 4 RBIs (it’s not often you miss hitting for the cycle by not getting the single). Teammates Blake Barton and Mike Sprockett also had 3 hits each, as the Bruins outhit the Braves, 16-7. Sprockett also doubled and homered.

Like Indiana State the night before, Bradley took the lead in the 1st, as Mason Breidenbach scored on Bobby Atkinson’s 20th double of the season. But like the Sycamores, that lead didn’t last long, either. Godsey tied the game with an RBI double in the bottom of the 1st, and Barton made it 2-1 Belmont with a single, as Godsey scored on an error.

But unlike the previous game, the Bruins wouldn’t stay in the lead. In the 2nd, the Braves answered right back, tying the game on Jackson Smith’s RBI double, then going ahead 4-2 when Cole Smith singled in 2 runs.

Belmont, however, just wouldn’t stop scoring. The Bruins added 2 in the 4th and 1 in the 5th to extend the lead to 8-4. All 3 runs came on homers, with Godsey’s 2-run shot in the 4th and Sprockett hitting a solo blast in the 5th. The Braves put up one last rally in the 56th, also via the long ball, as Cole Luckey hit a 2-run homer and Hosie launched a solo shot that got Bradley (16-35) back within a run at 8-7.

But that’s as close as the Braves could get. Sprockett reached on an error in the bottom of the 6th that allowed Michael Lareau to score. Barton then scored on a ground out to make it 10-7. In the 8th, Sprockett and Godsey combined again, this time with Sprockett’s double scoring Godsey to make it 11-7.

Joe Ruzicka went 6 innings on 103 pitches to get the win, improving to 6-4 on the season. Ruzicka, who was named Monday as the MVC Pitcher of the Year, struck out 6. Andrew Perry worked the final 3 innings for his first save, also leaving the Belmont bullpen in good shape heading into tonight’s game vs. Murray State.

Bradley, meanwhile, may have ended its season with just 16 wins, but given where the Braves were at one point – 4-26 overall and 0-11 in the conference – their run to end up 12-15 in the conference and make the tournament was amazing.

Keep up with the blog and the X feed for more tournament updates as the day goes along.

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.