Here is your Missouri Valley Conference Recap for May 25th.
#5 Southern Illinois 5 – #8 Bradley 1
OMAHA, Neb. – Junior pitcher Cameron Maldonado threw a complete game to lead the Southern Illinois baseball team to a 5-1 win over Bradley on Wednesday at TD Ameritrade Park in an elimination game in the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
Maldonado’s complete game is the first by a Saluki in the Valley Tournament since Bryan Rueger threw an eight-inning complete game in a 5-4 loss to Indiana State on May 27, 2005.
The Salukis (23-33) now move on to face the loser of Wednesday night’s game between Creighton and Missouri State. SIU’s second-straight elimination game is scheduled for Thursday at 12:30 p.m.
#3 Illinois State 4 – #7 Evansville 3
OMAHA, Neb. – OMAHA, Neb. – An eleventh-inning sacrifice fly by Kevin Tokarski that drove home Zach Amrein proved to be the difference, as Illinois State held off Evansville, 4-3, at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday.
With the eleven-inning victory, the No. 3 Redbirds (36-17) set a school record for single-season wins, surpassing the previous mark of 35 established by the 1999 team. With the loss, No. 7 Evansville was eliminated from the conference tournament, ending the season at 28-25 overall.
Kenny Long (4-1) earned the victory, pitching the final 3.2 innings without allowing a run and striking out one with just two walks. Peter Spear (0-1) suffered the loss for the Purple Aces. Amrein led the Redbirds offensively with one RBI and one run in a 1-for-4 effort.
#2 Wichita State 7 – #6 Indiana State 3
OMAHA, Neb. – OMAHA, Neb. – Wichita State rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to beat the Indiana State Sycamores, 7-3 to advance in the 2011 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference tournament at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb. The Shockers will next play on Thursday at 4 p.m. against the winner of the Indiana State/Illinois State game, which will be played at 9 a.m. on Thursday.
Chris O’Brien blasted a two-run homer run to right field in the eighth inning to give the Shockers a 7-3 lead and put the game away. O’Brien finished 1-for-4 with four RBIs with two runs scored and he extended his career-best hitting streak to 26 games.
Left-hander Brian Flynn tossed five innings to earn the win for the Shockers and he improved his record to 6-4 on the season. The redshirt sophomore allowed three runs on five hits and struck out four and walked four. TJ McGreevy went four innings to earn his third save of the season.
#4 Missouri State 10 – #1 Creighton 3
OMAHA, Neb. – The Missouri State baseball team scored five runs in the third inning Wednesday and five more in the seventh on the way to a 10-3 victory over top-seeded Creighton at the State Farm MVC Tournament in Omaha, Neb.
Heavy rains within miles of TD Ameritrade Park miraculously held off all day, allowing the Bears (33-21) and CU (40-14) to play a fifth game of the day and get the tournament back on schedule from a Tuesday postponement, beginning the contest at 9:40 p.m. and ending at 12:26 a.m. Thursday.
The Bears knocked 13 hits in another balanced effort as nine players recorded a hit, eight scored a run and seven had an RBI. Missouri State is batting .375 in two tournament games.
