Life in the Valley

Murray State into Final After Holding Off UIC, 5-2

The top seed in the Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship has done nothing yet to show they don’t belong in that spot. The Murray State Racers downed 4th-seeded UIC, 5-2, Friday night to advance unblemished to the championship game.

Down 2-1 in the 7th inning, the Racers tied it when Nico Bermeo singled home Will Vierling. After a fielder’s choice scored Dan Taken to give the Racers (38-13) the lead, Carson Garner hit a 2-run homer to left to give the Racers their 3-run advantage. It was Garner’s 16th home run of the season, tying him with Jonathan Hogart for the team lead. Garner has now driven in 53 runs on the season, 3rd on the Racers behind Hogart (56) and Tauken (66), who has 6 RBIs in the tournament so far.

After Murray State got the lead, Jacob Hustedde did the rest. Taking over for starter Kane Elmy in the 7th inning, Hustedde got the final 7 outs, giving up 0 runs with 1 hit, along with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts on 40 pitches. Elmy was credited with the win in the boxscore, though it should have in fact been Hustedde, as he struck out A.J. Taylor to end the 7th, while the Racers were still down 2-1. Though Elmy was solid in his own right, giving up just 2 runs and 5 hits in 6 2/3 innings, with 0 walks, on 80 pitches – an excellent 4 pitches per out.

Brandon Bak went 6 innings plus for the Flames (22-32) and pitched well, but took the loss, taking responsibility for 4 runs on just 3 hits with 5 walks and 5 strikeouts. But perhaps most important, UIC only needed to use 2 bullpen innings and 28 pitches in the loss, setting them up well for today’s opening elimination game against Missouri State (2 p.m. Central). The loser of that game will see its season end, while the winner will move into the final later Saturday against Murray State, needing to beat the Racers twice (once tonight and once tomorrow) to win the MVC title.

Bears Double Up Bruins: 2nd-seeded Missouri State needed just 7 innings to dispatch Belmont, 20-10, earlier Friday. Nick Rodriguez went 2-for-6 with a run, 2 RBIs, and a homer, to extend his school-record hitting streak to 40 games. Carter Bergman hit a grand slam, while Caden Bogenpohl hit a 2-run homer to finish off the scoring for the Bears.

The final score might have been a bit of a rout, but the game itself wasn’t. Belmont (26-34) fell behind, 5-1, early, as the Bears (29-24) surged in front thanks to Rodriguez’s 2-run homer in the 1st, then a 2-run single from Dylan Robertson and an RBI knock by Jake McCutcheon.

But Belmont rallied for 4 in the 3rd on a 3-run double by Blake Barton and run-scoring two-bagger by Landon Godsey. In the 4th, Godsey doubled in another run, Mike Sprockett singled home one, and Barton’s sac fly scored Godsey to make it 8-5 Bruins. Godsey finished 4-for-4 with 2 runs and 3 RBIs, with 3 doubles. Barton drove in 4 runs.

But by the time the Bruins scored again, on Michael Lareau’s solo homer in the 6th, the game was out of reach. Missouri State scored 13 straight runs to take command – Bergman’s grand slam coming as part of an 8-run 4th. Bergman’s sac fly brought another run home in the 5th, while Robertson’s single knocked in 2.

Bogenpohl scored 5 runs for Missouri State; McCutcheon 4. Robertson drove in 4. Bogenpohl and McCutcheon each had 3 hits.

Flames Put Bears in the Loser’s Bracket: In the first game Friday, UIC surprised Missouri State, 11-5. Up 6-3 in the 8th, the Flames extended the lead when Lucas Smith tripled home Luke Nowak. In the 9th, 4 more runs scored, one each on singles by Taylor and Vidal Colon (3-for-5, 2 RBIs), and one each on doubles by James Harris and Nowak to make it 11-3.

UIC’s Zack Milsap came on in the 6th inning and got the final 11 outs to pick up his 5th save. He walked 2 and struck out 2, throwing 57 pitches, but allowing the rest of the bullpen to get the game off. UIC used just 3 relievers over 2 games on the day. Dillon Schueler pitched 5 1/3 innings and got the win, improving to 5-7 on the season.

Thomas Curry and Jackson Bassette homered for UIC. Brant Kragel and Robertson went yard for the Bears. Nick Rodriguez extended his hitting streak to 39 games with a 3-for-5 performance, all singles. Bogenpohl drew 4 walks.

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.