Life in the Valley

Murray State’s Run to Omaha Capped Awesome Year of #ValleyBall

Another season of Life in the Valley has come to a close. The curtain fell on the 2025 campaign on Monday, when Murray State lost to Arkansas, 3-0, and the Racers were eliminated from the College World Series in their first appearance.

In the 3 seasons since I founded this blog in February 2023, the Missouri Valley Conference has produced not just a College World Series participant, but 3 Super Regional teams, a Regional host, and lots of tremendously fun baseball. And that last part for me is the main takeaway from the ’25 season. This march to Omaha was fun throughout.

There were pinball-like scores, no-hitters, impressive hitting performances, upsets, and resurgences. Just when we thought we had the league figured out, the next weekend would throw us a curve ball and give us something new to look forward to the following weekend.

We knew from the start that the Valley was behind the 8-ball in terms of national reputation, RPI, and at-large fate come Selection Monday. Once conference play began, the race for MVC Tournament seeding took on added importance knowing that whomever won the conference in the postseason would be the league’s NCAA Tournament representative.

There was no dominant team that fell short in the MVC tourney, like Indiana State a season ago, which earned an at-large bid while Evansville took the auto bid. Everybody knew the stakes going in. Finish 1st through 4th, avoid the first round. Finish 5th through 8th, you’re in the MVC Tournament, but you’re playing a knockout game right away. Come in 9th or 10th, sorry, the tournament only invites 8 teams.

All of that drama went to the final day, as Bradley pipped Evansville for the final spot in the MVC Tournament, earning the 7th seed, while Indiana State did what it needed to on the final weekend to get the 8th spot, knocking out the Purple Aces one season after it came within 1 win of going to Omaha themselves. Such is life in a competitive conference.

The battle for 4th also went to the final day, as UIC rose up to grab the 4th spot, joining Southern Illinois, Missouri State, and Murray State in advancing straight to the double-elimination round. UIC battled through an insane non-conference road schedule through February and March, before going 16-11 in the conference.

Speaking of Murray State and Missouri State, they gave us what amounted to a tremendous pennant race down the stretch, culminating in what was supposed to be a winner-take-all series between the 2 on the final weekend. Murray State won the opener, but the final 2 games were never played due to rain and field conditions, leaving both teams at 17-8 but the Racers as the #1 seed in the MVC Tournament. I think everyone wanted to see a rematch in the postseason and we got it, with the Racers prevailing again on their way to the title.

We spent much of the last half of the season following Missouri State’s Nick Rodriguez, who rode a 40-game hitting streak, a school record and one of the longest in NCAA history. Rodriguez earned MVC Player of the Year honors.

We had to check every game day to see if Southern Illinois’ Matt Schark homered again, and how many RBIs he’d picked up. He authored two 7-RBI games and finished with 24 homers and 80 runs knocked in – which at regular season’s end put him almost at the top of the country in that stat.

We got to enjoy Evansville’s Ty Rumsey rule the base paths and learned of brighter days for the program in the future thanks to alum Kyle Freeland.

We watched Timmy O’Brien and Bobby Atkinson power the Bradley Braves back from an 0-11 conference start to the Valley Tournament.

We enjoyed the Illinois State duo of Daniel Pacella and Judah Morris dominate at the plate, while pitcher Tyrelle Chadwick had one of the best comeback seasons in the conference.

We saw Valparaiso fight on no matter the score, suffer through an offensive slump, then rise up on the final weekend to take 2 of 3 from SIU, including a 24-14 win in the penultimate game of the Beacons’ season.

Belmont’s Joe Ruzicka evolved from a solid Saturday night starter to the Friday ace en route to being named MVC Pitcher of the Year. His teammate, Zane Brown, joined UIC’s Brandon Bak in authoring no-hitters.

We admired Indiana State head coach Tracy Archuleta in his first season in Terre Haute, crafting almost an entirely new roster and keeping the Sycamores competitive throughout the season. That included wins over NCAA Tournament teams Northeastern, Bethune-Cookman, and Murray State.

We grumbled as the RPI picture developed, and wondered when even national coverage at the mid-major level omitted mentions of the Valley. We tried to tell folks over and over that there’s good baseball here. Even with the scheduling challenges and the disadvantages faced by smaller programs around the country now in the NIL and transfer portal eras.

It didn’t seem like anyone was listening for a while, even with the success Indiana State had in 2023 and what Evansville did in 2024. Still, we persisted.

And then, on a Monday night in Oxford, Miss., holding on to the last little scrap of what had been a 9-run lead, Murray State slammed the door on the Ole Miss Rebels, taking 2 out of 3 from the hosts while also beating the ACC regular-season champs Georgia Tech in the process, capturing a Regional title.

But, but, but … they said … this group who hits pretty well doesn’t have enough to go to an ACC school and win a Super Regional. Yet there was Luke Mistone, fielding a grounder, spinning and stepping on first for the final out on another memorable Monday night when the entire college baseball world was watching. Oh yes, Murray State could not only compete with Duke and the ACC, but they prevailed. Once again, the Valley had “America’s Team,” only this time, the door to Omaha was kicked off the hinges.

And yes, head coach and National Coach of the Year Dan Skirka’s troops went 0-2 in Omaha. It happens to even great teams, which is what this Racers bunch was. Regardless of how the final game played out with Arkansas’ Gage Wood tossing a no-hitter and fanning 19 in a 3-0 win, I’d take the Racers lineup any time if I had to win 1 game. And I’d take Issac Silva, who nearly matched Wood pitch for pitch for 6 innings.

My only regret in seeing Murray State fall, beyond the fact they can’t advance further in Omaha, is that there’s no more Valley Ball this season. From Valentine’s Day to Monday, we got a thrill ride that at first, seemed one that only we were appreciating. Now, I hope people recognize what the Valley has to offer.

The MVC has had a winning record in the NCAA Tournament each of the past 3 seasons. In total, the Valley is 14-11 in NCAAs from 2023-25. That’s not an accident and it’s not a fluke. People that cover the sport on a much better, higher, and more resourced fashion than I do need to recognize what Valley Ball has to offer.

It’s more than just big scores and smaller programs trying to make it big. It’s damn good baseball. And we want teams that play damn good baseball playing in the NCAA Tournament.

Congrats to Murray State on keeping the MVC’s run of postseason success going, and to Indiana State and Evansville before them for showing what our league can do.

There’s 240 days until Opening Day. Let’s commit this offseason to continuing to spread the gospel of Valley Ball. And maybe, just maybe, some folks will put more respect on the MVC’s name from the start in 2026.

Murray State’s trip to Omaha, and those who crashed Supers in the recent past, have earned us that much.

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.