Baseball

MVC Baseball Weekly Notebook (April 20)

ST. LOUIS -- The Missouri Valley Conference announced its baseball weekly honors on Monday. 

Player of the Week: Reid Haire, Evansville
Pitcher of the Week: Nic Schutte, Murray State
Newcomer of the Week: Troy Shepard, Southern Illinois
Freshman of the Week: Ridge Harvey, Belmont

Conference News & Notes
  • Three of the four Conference series this past weekend were won by virtue of a sweep. Both Murray State and UIC used walk-off wins in their series finales to remained tied atop the MVC standings with 10-5 ledgers. Southern Illinois earned its first series sweep of the year, picking up a trio of road wins at Bradley. 
  • Kainen Jorge lined a two-out, walk-off single up the middle in the ninth inning to cap a five-run comeback as Murray State completed a series sweep of Illinois State with a 6-5 victory Sunday at Johnny Reagan Field. The Racers scored six unanswered runs after falling behind 5-0 in the sixth. The victory marked Murray State’s third sweep in MVC this year. 
  • UIC secured its second-consecutive MVC sweep of the year after freshman Sean Cody delivered the walk-off RBI single in the 12th inning of Sunday’s finale against Valparaiso. For the fifth time during league play, the Flames recorded double-digit runs, after scattering a season-high 17 hits in Saturday’s shutout victory.   
  • The Salukis picked up their first series sweep of the season, taking all three game over Bradley on the road. After Friday night’s contest was suspended due to inclement weather, SIU used a dominate performance on the mound by Troy Shephard, who carried a no-no into the ninth inning, to take the series, before finishing the sweep with a 13-5 win on Sunday. The 13 runs marked the first time SIU had scored in double digits multiple times in the same weekend this year.
  • Evansville earned its fourth-consecutive MVC series on Sunday afternoon, defeating Belmont in the finale, 6-1. Kenton Deverman picked up his second win of the season on the mound, striking out a season-high nine batters, while Chris McCormack dominated in relief, picking up a nine-out save with six strikeouts. 
  • The first of two league-selected games for ESPNU will air nationally on Sunday, April 26, as Murray State wraps up its three-game series at Southern Illinois. First pitch between the Racers and the Salukis is slated for 3 p.m. CT.
  • Starting pitchers in The Valley combined for 133 strikeouts this weekend in Conference play, while four starters recorded career-high single-game performances. Belmont rookie Ridge Harvey and Illinois State redshirt sophomore Carson Cormier each registered 13 strikeouts. Southern Illinois’ Troy Shepard carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning, finishing with 12 punchouts, while Murray State’s Nic Schutte tallied 11 in the series opener against Illinois State. 
  • Indiana State battled for a series sweep of Wright State during their MVC-bye weekend. Friday’s 14-inning win marked the longest game played by Indiana State since April 17, 2012, when the Sycamores topped Valparaiso in a 16-inning contest. Carter Beck extended his on-base streak to 24 games while Caden Miller is currently riding a 19-game streak. 
  • Illinois State’s Michael Addari (1.52) and Southern Illinois’ Andrew Evans (1.81) each carry an ERA below 2.00 this season, ranking inside the Top 20 nationally in the category.
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Reid Haire, Evansville
Junior | Outfielder | Hudson, N.C. (Charlotte)
Evansville’s Reid Haire recorded four multi-hit games, as the Purple Aces went 2-2 on the week. Haire helped Evansville earn its fourth-straight series win over Belmont, going 8-for-14 in the three-game set, including a 4-for-4 performance with a double and a home run in the series finale. For the week, Haire went 10-for-18 (.556) with a trio of homers and three doubles, slugging 1.222 with an .619 on-base percentage. He scored in every game, finshing the week with seven runs scored, while adding seven RBI. 

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Nic Schutte, Murray State
Senior | RHP | Louisville, Ky. (Motlow CC)
Murray State’s Nic Schutte was lights out against the Redbirds on Friday night. He went 7.1 innings before the game was suspended to Saturday, giving up just five hits ane one walk in the season-long outing. Schutte struck out a career-high 11 batters in the performance, becoming the second Racer pitcher to reach double-digit strikeouts this season. 

NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
Troy Shepard, Southern Illinois
Senior | LHP | Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho (Washington State)
Southern Illinois’ Troy Shepard delivered his best performance of the season in Saturday’s 6-2 win over Bradley. The Washington State transfer tallied a Division I career-high 12 strikeouts and carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning, officially ending the game with just one hit allowed. The southpaw is tied for third in the MVC with 56 strikeouts, second in opponent batting average (.198) and ranks fourth in strikeouts per nine innings (9.45). 

FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Ridge Harvey, Belmont
Freshman | LHP | Collierville, Tenn. (Collierville HS)
Belmont’s Ridge Harvey turned in a career performance to help the Bruins take the second game of the series from Evansville on Saturday. The rookie tossed a season-high 7.0 innings, giving up just five hits, while holding the Purple Aces to just .192 at the plate. Harvey posted a 0.00 ERA and didn’t issue a walk while striking out a career-high 13 batters in the outing.