Apparently a balk was called, and there was some debate over whether that counts as a ball on the batter. I do not know the exact college rule on this, but Arch was unsuccessful in changing their minds.
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2026 Baseball Season
- Thread starter eaglepride
- Start date
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From what took place over the weekend, two things become more crystal clear to me than ever before:
1. Our chances to win the Valley tourney are slim due to our lack of bullpen depth.
2. Arch and his staff should be commended for our success this season considering the limitation from No. 1. (I know he's the one who recruited the pitchers, and we'll get to that later.) Yeah, the one-out bunt was pretty dumb but that's not why we lost.
Thursday's game was magical. Well played by both teams. Friday's game was frustrating, at least for us. The relievers we sent out there had achieved very little success all year and that did not change. We had some chances in the late innings, but could never get a hit at the right time.
Saturday's game was also frustrating for many of the same reasons. We left 14 runners on base, and the only stat worse than that is that Belmont left 16.
I will say that Belmont appeared to be much better than the seventh-best team in the conference, and I am glad we will not have to play them in the conference tourney.
The loss of McEwen to rehab obviously hurt, as he's a quality pitcher. Karst was dominant once he got healthy, Brooks seemed to fade as the season progressed, and Spencer Johnsen also looked tired this weekend.
Seeman, Morse, and Hoff are the only relievers who can consistently get people out. Mitch's teams were good for many reasons, but one of those was that he recruited juco pitchers who had actually been relievers. They knew the mindset and skillset it takes to hold down that job. We need to start doing that with this regime. Every high school or transfer starter can't be made into a reliever, just like every reliever can't be made into a starter.
Our outlook beyond this year is pretty good on the field, as we only need to replace our regular first baseman, shortstop, and two outfielders. Ortiz should be one of the outfielders.
But, what the heck? Let's go to Murray and shock the world! There is no team in the field that I think we couldn't beat maybe some guys will step up and we can finish off what to me has been a good season. Go Trees!
1. Our chances to win the Valley tourney are slim due to our lack of bullpen depth.
2. Arch and his staff should be commended for our success this season considering the limitation from No. 1. (I know he's the one who recruited the pitchers, and we'll get to that later.) Yeah, the one-out bunt was pretty dumb but that's not why we lost.
Thursday's game was magical. Well played by both teams. Friday's game was frustrating, at least for us. The relievers we sent out there had achieved very little success all year and that did not change. We had some chances in the late innings, but could never get a hit at the right time.
Saturday's game was also frustrating for many of the same reasons. We left 14 runners on base, and the only stat worse than that is that Belmont left 16.
I will say that Belmont appeared to be much better than the seventh-best team in the conference, and I am glad we will not have to play them in the conference tourney.
The loss of McEwen to rehab obviously hurt, as he's a quality pitcher. Karst was dominant once he got healthy, Brooks seemed to fade as the season progressed, and Spencer Johnsen also looked tired this weekend.
Seeman, Morse, and Hoff are the only relievers who can consistently get people out. Mitch's teams were good for many reasons, but one of those was that he recruited juco pitchers who had actually been relievers. They knew the mindset and skillset it takes to hold down that job. We need to start doing that with this regime. Every high school or transfer starter can't be made into a reliever, just like every reliever can't be made into a starter.
Our outlook beyond this year is pretty good on the field, as we only need to replace our regular first baseman, shortstop, and two outfielders. Ortiz should be one of the outfielders.
But, what the heck? Let's go to Murray and shock the world! There is no team in the field that I think we couldn't beat maybe some guys will step up and we can finish off what to me has been a good season. Go Trees!
This is such an underrated part of building a pitching staff. Speaking from experience, in high school I had over 200 innings pitched - which is a ton. I pitched in relief maybe 5 or 6 of those innings and HATED it. As a starter I felt like it was my game, my game to win or lose, I was in control, etc. As a reliever I felt like a replacement part, like it was someone else’s game but they just needed me for some reason.
It’s hard to explain but it is very real the mindset difference needed between starting and relieving pitching.
Something important to be aware of regarding the MVC tourney...
We do not automatically play the winner of #3 Murray State vs #6 Illinois State.
If Illinois State wins their game, they will play UIC. And we would then play the winner of the #4 SIU vs #5 Evansville game.
We do not automatically play the winner of #3 Murray State vs #6 Illinois State.
If Illinois State wins their game, they will play UIC. And we would then play the winner of the #4 SIU vs #5 Evansville game.
You can throw the 6 schools in a hat and pick out a winner. It’s about as even of a tournament you can possibly have
I disagree, I think SIU and Evansville are the weakest of the six.
I'll be rooting for Illinois State to beat Murray State. And I think they will, at that. They are not the team I want to face for our first game of the tourney.
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Carter Beck MVC POY!
mvc-sports.com
MVC Announces 2026 Baseball All-Conference Teams
ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Valley Conference announced its 2026 baseball all-conference teams and specialty award winners on Tuesday.
mvc-sports.com
From the MVC website:
"Due to inclement weather in the area, the start of the 2026 Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship, presented by Credit Union 1 and the Murray CVB, has been altered.
All start times on opening day (Wednesday) have been pushed back two hours. No. 4 Southern Illinois will now face off with No. 5 Evansville at 1 p.m. CT. No. 3 Murray State is set to take on No. 6 Illinois State at 5 p.m. CT. The losers of both contests will play in an elimination game at 9 p.m. CT to wrap up the first day of games."
"Due to inclement weather in the area, the start of the 2026 Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship, presented by Credit Union 1 and the Murray CVB, has been altered.
All start times on opening day (Wednesday) have been pushed back two hours. No. 4 Southern Illinois will now face off with No. 5 Evansville at 1 p.m. CT. No. 3 Murray State is set to take on No. 6 Illinois State at 5 p.m. CT. The losers of both contests will play in an elimination game at 9 p.m. CT to wrap up the first day of games."
And now there's this:
"Due to inclement weather in the area, the start of the 2026 Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship has been altered.
Game 1 between No. 4 Southern Illinois and No. 5 Evansville has been pushed back to a 4 p.m. CT start time. The second opening-round game of the tournament between No. 3 Murray State and No. 6 Illinois State will begin at 8 p.m. CT.
The elimination game between the loser of games one and two has been moved to a 10 a.m. CT start on Thursday. With that adjustment, games originally scheduled for Thursday have been adjusted.
No. 1 UIC will play its first game at 1:45 p.m. CT, while No. 2 Indiana State will take the field at 5:30 p.m. CT. The winner of game three will play the lowest remaining seed in the loser’s bracket in an elimination game at 9:15 p.m. CT."
"Due to inclement weather in the area, the start of the 2026 Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship has been altered.
Game 1 between No. 4 Southern Illinois and No. 5 Evansville has been pushed back to a 4 p.m. CT start time. The second opening-round game of the tournament between No. 3 Murray State and No. 6 Illinois State will begin at 8 p.m. CT.
The elimination game between the loser of games one and two has been moved to a 10 a.m. CT start on Thursday. With that adjustment, games originally scheduled for Thursday have been adjusted.
No. 1 UIC will play its first game at 1:45 p.m. CT, while No. 2 Indiana State will take the field at 5:30 p.m. CT. The winner of game three will play the lowest remaining seed in the loser’s bracket in an elimination game at 9:15 p.m. CT."
Shows you what I know, Illinois State eliminated in two games.
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Lots of Mids are breaking into the Supers. Baseball stock has been rising but wouldn’t be shocked to see it really leap with all these Cinderella runs. Give it 4 more years until the little guy is squeezed out of the brackets like MMadness