Baseball

MVC Baseball Weekly Notebook (April 6)

ST. LOUIS -- The Missouri Valley Conference announced its baseball weekly honors on Monday. Indiana State's Mason Roell (Player of the Week), Caleb Niehaus (Newcomer of the Week) and Colin Sander (Freshman of the Week) were all recognized, while Southern Illinois' Andrew Evans was tabbed the MVC Pitcher of the Week. 

Conference News & Notes
  • Despite a pair of setbacks, Murray State remains in first place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with a 7-2 ledger. Indiana State jumped into second, entering this week’s action with a 6-3 record in MVC play, while Evansville moved into third in the league standings at 4-2. Illinois State (5-4) and Southern Illinois (3-3) round out the top half of the MVC standings.
  • With a doubleheader sweep of the Racers, Belmont skipper Dave Jarvis eclipsed 800 wins in his illustrious 29-year career at the helm of the Bruins. 
  • UIC’s Thomas Curry, who has started all 28 games this season for the Flames, was one of 50 mentioned on the 2026 Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award midseason watch list, released last Wednesday. 
  • MVC teams combined for four wins over Big Ten opponents last week, including a walk-off win by Evansville over Indiana in extra innings on Tuesday. The Valley is 8-9-1 against Big Ten foes this season, as Indiana State leads the way with a 5-1 ledger against the Conference.
  • Indiana State’s Carter Beck has pieced together a 13-game hitting streak, as the Sycamores earned the series win over UIC this weekend. Beck’s second-inning grand slam in the series-clinching win marked his third grand slam of the 2026 season and Indiana State’s seventh overall as a team.
  • Evansville combined powerful hitting at the plate with strong pitching on the mound to bounce back and earn the series over Bradley. A trio of Purple Aces recorded 6-strikeout performances in the pair of wins, while Charlie Longmeier and Ryan Seddon registered multi-hit outings. 
  • Southern Illinois’ Andrew Evans set the tone as the Salukis earned the series win over Illinois State. The right-hander struck out a career-high 11 batters in 8.0 innings of work, scattering just two hits, four walks and no earned runs in the opener, before the Salukis powered past the Redbirds, 9-1, in the second game of the series. 
  • Valparaiso captured the 4-2 victory in its series finale at Washington. This marked Valpo’s third win over Big Ten competition in the last two seasons, as they beat Illinois and Ohio State last season. In Brian Schmack’s time as head coach, the team has wins over five different Big Ten opponents – Ohio State, Michigan State, Illinois, Purdue and now Washington.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Mason Roell, Indiana State
Sophomore | Infielder | West Bend, Wis. (West Bend East HS)
Mason Roell once again powered the Sycamore offense on the weekend hitting .529 with a .600 on-base percentage and a 1.235 slugging percentage in pacing Indiana State to a 3-1 record on the week. Roell homered three times and doubled three times while driving in eight RBI and scoring eight runs overall. He opened the week going 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored in the midweek 12-4 win over Purdue. Roell exploded in Thursday’s Valley series opener against UIC going 4-for-5 with two home runs and a double, while driving in four and scoring four runs in the 20-10 win over the Flames. He led off Friday game with a solo home run in another multi-hit effort, before finishing the Saturday contest with an RBI double to continue an eight-game hitting streak.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Andrew Evans, Southern Illinois
Redshirt Junior | RHP | Olathe, Kan. (Kansas State)
In the midst of an already spectacular season, Andrew Evans put together his best performance of the 2026 campaign in Southern Illinois’ 4-3 win over Illinois State Friday night. The right-hander hit career-high marks with 8.0 innings pitched and 11 strikeouts while allowing zero earned runs in the process. Evans currently leads The Valley with 50 strikeouts on the season and ranks second with a dazzling 1.47 ERA.

NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
Caleb Niehaus, Indiana State
Senior | Utility | Newburgh, Ind. (Western Kentucky / Southern Indiana)
Caleb Niehaus hit a team-high .571 from the plate posting eight hits, a team-high 11 RBIs, and recording two doubles, a triple, a home run, and three stolen bases in leading Indiana State to a 3-1 week with wins over Purdue and a series win over UIC. He posted a team-leading .625 on-base percentage and a 1.071 slugging percentage, while moving around the field playing both second base and left field due to Indiana State in-game injuries.Niehaus opened up the week going 2-for-5, driving in five RBIs on a pair of run-scoring doubles in the 12-4 win over Purdue. The senior got the offense going with a bases-clearing three-run double down the third base line in the fourth inning expanding the Indiana State lead to 6-2, and then followed up in the seventh with a two-run double to the wall in left center to essentially clinch the game as the Sycamores built the 12-3 lead. Niehaus followed up in the series opener against UIC on Thursday night going 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs, while also stealing a base in the 20-10 win over the Flames. Niehaus drove in his first run on an RBI single in the sixth inning to make it a 12-9 lead, before connecting on a three-run home run in the seventh inning to break the game open and stake Indiana State to the 17-9 advantage. He followed up with another timely hitting performance in Friday’s 10-3 series-clinching win, going 3-for-3 from the plate with a triple, stolen base, and a walk in reaching base safely in all four plate appearances. His two-run single in the bottom of the third inning put Indiana State ahead 7-3, and he scored runs in both the second and eighth innings in the win. Niehaus added a hit-by-pitch and a sacrifice bunt in the series finale on Saturday.

FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Colin Sander, Indiana State
Freshman | Infielder | Louisville, Ky. (Trinity HS)
Colin Sander hit safely in all four games, recording three multi-hit contests as the Sycamores went 3-1 this past week competing against both Purdue and UIC. Sander opened the week going 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored against the Boilermakers in Indiana State’s midweek 12-4 win as the Sycamores improved to 5-1 against the Big 10 this season. He followed up on Thursday going 2-for-5 with four RBIs, three runs scored, and a home run in Indiana State’s 20-10 win over the Flames. His solo home run in the third inning was a part of a three-homer inning for the Sycamores, while his two-run single in the eighth was the walk-off hit. He added a single and scored two runs in Friday’s win, while wrapping up the week going 2-for-2 and reaching base in all three plate appearances on Saturday afternoon against the Flames.