NOTEBOOK (PDF)

Beginning Friday, the first three series of the MVC conference season will take place with Missouri State hosting Indiana State, Valparaiso heading to DBU and Bradley welcoming Evansville.

Quick Starts Crucial
If your team has plans on sitting atop the MVC standings heading into the league’s postseason tournament, you might want to get off to a good start as all but one team that has won the MVC regular season has won at least 15 games since 2010, the first year of a 21-game conference schedule.

In the last nine seasons, Indiana State is the only league team to win the MVC regular season title with fewer than 15 league victories, as the Sycamores won the Valley with a 14-7 record in 2012.

MVC Magic
Missouri State enters conference play this week looking to extend a string of unprecedented success against its Valley foes. The Bears went 18-3 during league play last spring en route to their second-straight MVC regular-season crown, running their two-year MVC mark to 36 wins in 40 total conference games. Coupled with their 4-0 week at the 2019 Valley Tournament, the Bears have won 43 of their 49 total contests against MVC foes over the previous two seasons.

Elite Company
Indiana State is off to a 19-2 start on the season, marking the best in program history.  The Sycamores are one of just three teams nationally to have two or fewer losses on the season, joining NC State (23-1) and Arizona State (22-1). 

Hot at Home
SIU went 3-1 at Itchy Jones Stadium last week, improving to 10-2 at Itchy Jones Stadium this year. The hot home start is the best for the program since also starting 10-2 at home in 2008. The Salukis are 4-0 at home in one-run games after going 3-0 in one-run games last week. Overall, SIU is 11-2 in its last 13 games against unranked teams.   

Glowenke Extends Streak
Jimmy Glowenke extended his reached-base streak to 52 games, posting a .545 OBP against Oklahoma State and Air Force, including an active three-game hit-by-pitch streak. The sophomore shortstop is 17 games short of Jason Krizan’s program record of 69.

Bell's Big Day
DBU redshirt junior Austin Bell led the Patriots with six hits and nine RBI in Sunday’s 30-7 rout of Air Force. Bell reached base in all seven plate appearances and scored five times Sunday while collecting three doubles and a home run.  The six hits are tied for the most in a single-game in the NCAA this year, where his nine RBI are the second-most in a game this season. 

NCAA RPI Update
This week’s NCAA RPI rankings continue to have the Missouri Valley Conference ranked as the No. 5 conference in league RPI. 

Top 5 RPI
1. SEC
2. Pac 12
3. Big 12
4. ACC
5. Missouri Valley

The Valley also has six teams ranked in the RPI’s top-100, led by Indiana State (15), Illinois State (25), DBU (29), Bradley (87), Evansville (98) and  Southern Illinois (100).  Missouri State narrowly misses at No. 106 this week.

Wins Over Power Five
Entering this week’s action, the MVC has earned 16 wins over members of Power Five conferences.  The Valley sits 1-0 vs. the Pac-12, 2-0 vs. the ACC, 8-9 vs. the Big Ten, 3-5 vs. the Big 12 and 2-6 vs. the SEC. 

Last year, the MVC totaled 18 wins over Power Five teams, while only having 15 in 2017.

Five of the eight MVC teams have earned wins against the Power Five.  DBU leads the league with five Power Five wins. Evansville and Indiana State have four Power Five wins each, while Missouri State has a pair of wins. Illinois State has one.   
Against the Field
The MVC holds a winning record against 12 leagues in non-conference play (ACC, Atlantic Sun, Conference USA, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Ohio Valley, Pac 12, Southern, Southland and Summit), and at least a .500 record against another two leagues (Colonial and Mountain West).

This week's Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Player/Pitcher of the Week are Indiana State's Clay Dungan and Southern Illinois' Sam Grace, respectively.

MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Clay Dungan, Sr., SS, Indiana State
Indiana State shortstop Clay Dungan started all four games this week for the Sycamores, collecting 11 base hits for a .611 batting average. The senior finished a double short of the cycle in midweek action against Indiana, collecting a pair of home run and a triple. For the week, Dungan went for a 1.056 slugging percentage while recording a .632 on-base percentage. Dungan also finished 2-for-2 on the stolen base attempts and a perfect 18-of-18 fielding his position. 
 
Other Notable Performances: Luke Shadid (BRAD); Austin Bell (DBU); Danny Borgstrom (UE); Aiden McMahan (SIU)    

MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PITCHER OF THE WEEK:
Sam Grace, Fr., RHP, Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois freshman Sam Grace pitched eight innings of two-hit shutout baseball out of the bullpen for the Salukis in their 3-1 week. Grace struck out seven and did not issue a walk, limiting opponents to just two singles and an .077 batting average on the week. In his most impressive outing of his young career, Grace pitched six innings of one-hit shutout baseball against Morehead State, who entered the weekend among the nation’s top-12 offenses in batting average and scoring.   

Other Notable Performances: MacGregor Hines (DBU); Alex Weigand (UE); Brett Wicklund (ILS); Triston Polley (INS); Colin Fields (VALPO)