NOTEBOOK (PDF)
MVC Roundup
With just three weekends remaining in regular-season league action, Missouri State (10-2 MVC) maintained its lead atop the MVC standings with a series win over Bradley (8-4 MVC) last weekend, while Southern Illinois (7-5 MVC) made the most significant jump in the league race after the Salukis earned a sweep over Evansville (1-11 MVC).
DBU (9-3 MVC) sits in second place in the standings after claiming two out of three at fifth-place Valparaiso (5-7 MVC).
This weekend's schedule is highlighted by a matchup of league leading Missouri State traveling north to fifth place Valparaiso. The Bears have won five of seven, while the Crusaders enter the series coming off a win over second place DBU.
Southern Illinois enters the weekend as the hottest team in the MVC, riding a four-game win streak. The Salukis will host Indiana State (4-8 MVC) in an important series for both teams.
In other MVC action this weekend, Evansville travels to DBU , while Bradley welcomes rival Illinois State (4-8 MVC).
Live On ESPNU
The DBU vs. Evansville game on Saturday, May 5 (8:00 p.m. CT) will be televised nationally on ESPNU. The Patriots vs. Purple Aces game is the second game this season to be featured on ESPNU after Missouri State’s contest with Oregon State on April 13.
Winning in Tough Places
Indiana State became just the second team in the last three season to go to Louisville and win a non-conference game against the Cardinals. Only Texas Tech and Indiana State have won games inside Jim Patterson Stadium over the last three seasons as the Cardinals are 90-16 during the stretch.
Moving up the List...
Southern Illinois closer Ryan Netemeyer ranks third on the NCAA active career saves leaders chart entering this week’s contests. On Saturday at Evansville, Netemeyer’s 36th career save broke a tie with Missouri State’s Bryan Young for second in Missouri Valley Conference history.
NCAA Active Leaders, Career Saves
1. Dylan Moore, Louisiana 38
2. Chris Rivera, Long Beach St. 37
3. Troy Montemayor, Baylor 36
Ryan Netemeyer, Southern Ill. 36
MVC Career Saves List
1. Marc Bluma, Wichita State 44
2. Ryan Netemeyer, Southern Ill. 36
3. Bryan Young, Missouri State 35
Hitting .400
DBU’s Devlin Granberg boast the top batting average (.405) in the Missouri Valley Conference and is looking to become the first Patriot to hit .400 or better since Jason Krizan hit .413 in 2011. He is currently one of 15 players nationally hitting over .400 this season (ranks 10th). Granberg is also seeking to set the all-time career batting average record at DBU. In two seasons as a Patriot, Granberg owns a .381 average, which is currently nine percentage points better that Krizan, who holds the current record with a .372 average.
National Honors
Bradley’s Mitch Janssen was selected by Collegiate Baseball as one of its national players of the week Monday, after allowing only one run on three hits in a pair of starts last week.
Tossing Blanks
Southern Illinois ranks 7th nationally with six shutouts this season. The Salukis added two blank slates this week, beating SEMO and Evansville by 2-0 scores. Currently, UCF holds the national lead with nine shutouts this spring.
Road to Success
The Bears locked up another road series win in conference play this past weekend, taking two of three games from Bradley in Peoria. Missouri State has proven to be hard to stop on the road over the past four seasons, logging a 61-36 (.629) record in such contests. Including their 20-6 record in neutral-field games over the same stretch, the Bears have gone 81-42 (.659) away from Hammons Field since the start of the 2015 season.
Four in RPI’s Top-85
Four league teams continue to rank in the top-85 of the RPI, led by DBU (No. 42), Missouri State (No. 51), Bradley (No. 70) and Indiana State (No. 83).
Another three teams, Illinois State (No. 101), Southern Illinois (No. 134) and Valparaiso (No. 170), also rank in the RPI’s top-175.
Valley RPI Ranks No. 10
According to the latest RPI update from WarrenNolan.com (April 30), the Missouri Valley Conference ranks No. 10 amongst 31 leagues. Four of the Power-Five conferences (SEC, Big 12, ACC and Pac-12) hold four of the top five positions, while the American sits third. The Big Ten, Atlantic Sun, Sun Belt, Mountain West and MVC round out the top 10.
Wins Over Power Five
Entering this week’s action, the MVC has 17 wins over members of Power Five conferences. The Valley has a .500 record vs. the Big 12 (6-6), while going 3-4 vs. the Pac-12, 6-12 vs. the Big Ten, 2-6 against the ACC and 0-9 vs. the SEC.
Seven of the eight MVC teams have earned wins against the Power Five. Southern Illinois has one Power Five win, while Bradley, Indiana State and Missouri State have two, Illinois State and Valparaiso three and DBU four.
This week’s schedule features three games against Power Five teams. On Tuesday, Southern Illinois will travel to Illinois. DBU will face TCU in Fort Worth on Wednesday, while Missouri State will play host to Kansas.
Projected Field
Baseball America continues to have two MVC teams in the projected NCAA field of 64 as of April 25. The publication has DBU as a No. 3 seed in the Austin (Texas) Regional and Missouri State as a No. 3 seed in the Stanford Regional. The Bears are also currently listed as one of the “Last Four In”.
This week's Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Player/Pitcher of the Week are SIU's Alex Lyon and Bradley's Mitch Janssen, respectively.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Alex Lyon, Jr., IF, Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois’ Alex Lyon went 8-for-18 (.444) with five RBI and five stolen bases during SIU’s 4-0 week. He had two doubles and a triple to post a .667 slugging percentage and scored four runs in wins against SEMO and Evansville. He was a perfect five-for-five stealing bases and played flawless defense for the Salukis, and he added a sacrifice fly. In Sunday’s sweep of Evansville, Lyon went 2-for-4 with four RBI, with a double and a triple.
Other Notable Performances: Devlin Granberg (DBU); Owen Miller (ILS); Dane Giesler (INS); Chad Jacob (VALPO)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PITCHER OF THE WEEK:
Mitch Janssen, Jr., RHP, Bradley
Janssen made two starts during the week, helping the Braves to two of their three wins during the week. In his two outings, Janssen was 1-0 with a 0.87 ERA, working a combined 10.1 innings and allowing just one run on three hits (.091 BA) with three walks and 14 strikeouts. He began the week by working the first 3.2 innings at Illinois, where he exited after 72 pitches with a 3-1 lead after allowing the lone run on one hit with two walks and four strikeouts. The Braves went on to win Tuesday’s game against the Illini, 5-4, in 11 innings. In an emergency start Saturday and working on just three days rest, Janssen responded with a career-best 10 strikeouts while holding Missouri State scoreless on two hits and a walk in his 6.2 innings. After Jeremy Eierman singled and was promptly thrown out trying to steal for the second out of the first inning, Janssen retired 18 straight Bears before allowing a two-out double by Drew Millas in the seventh. He retired 10 of those 18 consecutive batters by strikeout .
Other Notable Performances: Trevor Conn (DBU); Matt Walker (ILS); Weston Rivers (INS); Ty Buckner (MSU); Michael Baird (SIU): Wes Gordon (VALPO)