Indiana State and Illinois State sit atop the league standings with a 7-2 mark in Valley play headed into week four of the conference slate.
For the first time during league play, the home teams tallied more wins than the visiting teams, combining for nine during the third week of Valley action. UIC and Illinois State each pulled off three-game sweeps at home against Southern Illinois and Valparaiso, respectively. Evansville, Indiana State and Missouri State each recorded series wins on the road.
Illinois State is riding a conference-best seven-game win streak heading into this week's slate of contests. The Redbirds' seven-straight victories marks the longest win streak in the Steve Holm era and the longest for Illinois State since April 2014. Illinois State swept its second-straight conference opponent this weekend, outscoring Valparaiso, 20-2, in the three-game set.
Indiana State continued to climb in the latest RPI report, jumping to No. 12. Murray State and UIC also moved upward, checking in at No. 59 and No. 71, respectively. Missouri State is right at spot No. 100 while Belmont is just outside the top 100, sitting at No. 102.
Six of the league's 10 teams are above .500 on the year while Indiana State (23) and Murray State (20) have each reached 20 wins on the season. The Sycamores are tied for 17th nationally with a .767 win percentage, sitting at 23-7 on the year.
Evansville ranks third nationally with 84 doubles, averaging nearly three a game (2.71). Virginia, the nation's leader, has 93 on the year. The Purple Ace trio of Harrison Taubert, Brent Widder and Mark Shallenberger have 12 doubles apiece, sitting inside the top 50 in NCAA Division I in the category.
Southern Illinois' Aiden Foeller ranks 13th in NCAA Division I in strikeouts per nine innings (14.38) with 57 total on the year. In league games, Foeller joins this week's MVC Pitcher of the Week, Tanner Perry, as the only two to record double-digit strikeout performances in Valley outings this year.
Belmont BRUINS
- Belmont went 2-2 last week. The Bruins earned the 9-5 win against rival Lipscomb on Tuesday and collected a 12-0 victory on Sunday in the series finale against Evansville.
- Michael Lareau and Mason Landers led the Bruins with five hits each. Lareau had a season-high three hits in Sunday’s rout against Evansville. Landers hit two home runs and drove in three runs during the week.
- Jack Rando crushed three home runs, including a grand slam on Tuesday against Lipscomb.
- Joe Ruzicka pitched a complete-game shutout on Sunday. The sophomore allowed three hits and struck out three batters. Ruzicka held the Purple Aces hitless through five innings.
- Blake Ciuffetelli struck out seven batters in four innings of work on Tuesday against Lipscomb.
BRADLEY BRAVES
- After 25 games on the road to start the season, Bradley finally opened its home slate with a three-game series against Missouri State, picking up the 10-2 series finale win.
- In the victory, Brayden Marks pitched five complete innings for the Braves, fanning five Bears while allowing zero runs.
- Six of Bradley's 10 runs against the Bears on Sunday were scored by doubles, including the first four tacked on the board by the Braves.
- Timmy O'Brien led the way for Bradley in the win, going 3-for-4 from the dish with four RBI. As a team, Bradley put 16 hits on the board marking the third-most in a game this season and most in a Valley game by the Braves.
EVANSVILLE PURPLE ACES
- Evansville continues to rank third in NCAA Division I baseball with 84 doubles this year. UE is currently nine doubles behind Virginia for the national lead entering this week’s action.
- Evansville collected doubles in all four contests this week, to run its streak to 16-consecutive games with at least one double this season. Overall, UE has knocked at least one double in 29 of its 31 games on the season.
- Thanks to a three-run fifth inning on Tuesday against Austin Peay, Evansville surpassed the 50-run mark in the fifth inning for the season.
- So far this year, UE has out-scored the opposition 53-20 in the fifth inning of games, just 31 games into the season. Last year, UE had only two innings in which it totaled 50 or more runs on the year.
- Redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Shane Harris was nearly untouchable in two relief outings this week against both Austin Peay and Belmont, as he did not allow a hit or a walk in 5.0 scoreless innings on the mound.
UIC FLAMES
- The Flames earned their first MVC series sweep of the season and third all-time over the weekend, as UIC topped SIU at Curtis Granderson Stadium.
- With the three wins, the Flames jumped five spots in the Valley standings, sitting at No. 3 in the league.
- Zane Zielinski continues to rank among the best in the MVC offensively, cracking the top 10 in batting average (.368), slugging percentage (.632), and doubles (10).
- Flames closer Reece Lawler ranks second in the Valley with six saves after shutting the door in the series opener against SIU on Friday. Lawler also closed the door in a non-save situation to help secure the sweep on Saturday.
ILLINOIS STATE REDBIRDS
- Illinois State secured back-to-back series sweeps for the first time since April 2019, when the Redbirds defeated Missouri State at home and Southern Illinois on the road. Over the weekend, Illinois State's pitching staff held a team ERA of 0.72, giving up two runs and 12 total hits to the Beacons.
- The Redbirds are on a seven-game win streak, marking the first time an Illinois State team has won seven straight since April 2014. As part of the 2014 win streak, ILS defeated Missouri State on the road (twice), Illinois Wesleyan on the road, MacMurray at home, and took a home series sweep over Southern Illinois.
- Cameron Mabee recorded another quality start on Friday. The senior went seven innings and struck out three Beacons, improving his record to 4-1, in the 11-1 series opening win over Valparaiso.
- Daniel Pacella posted a .500 batting average with a .538 on-base percentage against Valparaiso’s pitching in the series sweep of Valpo. Pacella was one of two Redbirds with six hits on the weekend, totaling four RBI, four runs scored, a double, and a walk. He went 3-for-4 in Friday’s 11-1 win, with two RBI and a double. He followed it up on Saturday with another multi-RBI game with two RBI.
- Pacella ranks first in the MVC with 41 RBI and is top-10 in slugging percentage (.467) and batting average (.355).
INDIANA STATE SYCAMORES
- Indiana State’s pitching staff has completely shut down the opponents hitting over their three MVC series to date in the 2024 season.
- The Sycamore staff has propelled the Sycamores to a 7-2 record in conference play and 13 consecutive conference series wins dating back to the end of the 2022 season.
- The Sycamores limited Missouri State (.186), UIC (.209), and Murray State (.179) between 60-100 points below their season batting averages at the plate. This past weekend against Murray State, the Sycamores allowed just 19 hits (four extra-base) over the three-game series including just nine hits in Saturday’s doubleheader sweep.
- Nine Sycamore pitchers have posted sub .250 opponent batting averages in conference play against multiple opponents with starters Brennyn Cutts (.154) and Luke Hayden (.231) starting the efforts on the mound.
- The Sycamores lead the Valley in total strikeouts (316), strikeouts looking (102), ERA (4.42), and opponent batting average (.241) over the first 30 games of the season.
MISSOURI STATE BEARS
- Missouri State tossed consecutive shutouts to begin the series at Bradley over the weekend, the first time the Bears held the opposition off the scoreboard in consecutive games since throwing three shutouts in a row in early 2017.
- In the first game, Brandt Thompson (7.0), Kaleb Thomas (1.0) and Stephen Schissler (1.0) combined for the 9-0 win, while Jason Schaaf (5.0) and Hunter Day (2.0) threw the second game, a 14-0 victory.
- Dylan Leach batted .412 with five extra-base hits, six RBI and eight runs scored over five games last week. The senior has at least one hit each game and reached safely 12 total times for a .522 on-base percentage and .951 slugging figure. Leach doubled and had an RBI in each midweek game, and had a hit and an RBI in Friday’s series-opening win at Bradley. Saturday, Leach reached in all four plate appearances in game one, scoring three times and driving in two runs. In the second game of the doubleheader, he hit a pair of solo home runs.
- Thompson tossed seven shutout innings Friday at Bradley, scattering three singles and five total runners in the win. Thompson let just two Braves as far as second base while leading the Bears to their first shutout of the season. In three Valley starts, Thompson boasts a 0.95 ERA and .167 opponent average in 19 innings.
Murray State RACERS
- Entering a midweek clash with Ole Miss on Tuesday, Murray State is among the top five in the conference in walks drawn (159), team batting average (.289), ERA (5.42), base hits (318), hits allowed per nine innings (9.65), home runs (51), runs scored (245), slugging percentage (.489), stolen bases (36), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.45:1), strikeouts per nine innings (8.7), triples (5), WHIP (1.47) and walks allowed per nine innings (3.56).
- Junior Carson Garner is 16th nationally with 33 walks drawn this season, while also sitting amongst the top 75 players in the country in home runs, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.
- Jacob Pennington tossed a career-high nine innings in his start against Indiana State on Saturday, allowing just one run on three hits, three walks and striking out six batters. The Murfreesboro, Tennessee, native was the first pitcher at Murray State since 2022 to throw nine innings in a single game and just the third player to do so since 2013.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SALUKIS
- SIU is 58-65 on stolen bases this season, including 1.81 steals per game to rank first in the MVC. Nine players have multiple stolen bases led by Mathieu Vallee who is 12-for-13. Jake Allgeyer is 11-for-11 on steals while Hesston Gray is 7-of-8.
- The Salukis have shown patience at the plate, ranking tops in the MVC and 12th nationally after drawing 199 walks in 32 games (6.21 walks per game).
- SIU has nine players that have earned 10 or more walks led by Jake Allgeyer’s 30 free passes.
- The Salukis lead the Missouri Valley Conference in runs (258) and scoring per game (8.06). Southern has scored 10 or more runs in 12 games this season, scoring 13 or more in seven games.
- Aidan Foeller put together another career day on the mound Saturday afternoon at UIC. The right-hander struck out a career-high 12 batters in six complete, allowing two runs -- only one earned -- in the loss.
- Saluki outfielder Mathieu Vallee led the team with a .357 average over the last week, collecting five hits including a double. Vallee finished 3-for-4 on stolen base attempts, improving to 12-of-13 on the season. Vallee recorded a hit in each game while going 2-for-4 in game one of Saturday's doubleheader at UIC.
VALPARAISO BEACONS
- Valpo's Kyle Schmack is two hits away from 200 for his collegiate career. He is seven hits away from the program's career top-10 in hits. The Valpo left fielder already ranks in the top 10 in program history in the following career categories - home runs (third, 28), doubles (seventh, 42), RBIs (t-9th,116) and walks (90, eighth).
- Ryan Maka hit .300 for the week, accounting for three of the team's 12 hits in a three-game series at Illinois State. He drilled his first home run of the season, one of the team's two extra-base knocks this week.
- Junior Connor Lockwood did not allow any extra-base hits or walks but took a tough-luck loss despite a quality start in Saturday's 3-1 setback at Illinois State. All three runs against him came in the third inning. He scattered nine hits over his six innings while striking out five.