CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Missouri State senior catcher Eduardo Castro homered twice to help the Bears score eight unanswered runs in an 11-4 victory over Austin Peay Sunday afternoon at Raymond C. Hand Park. Castro belted the go-ahead two-run shot as part of a three-run sixth-inning rally, then put the game on ice with a grand slam in the top of the ninth to help MSU get off to its third 5-1 start in the last four years.
After the Governors rallied from a 3-0 deficit to take a one-run lead in the fifth inning, Castro lifted an 0-2 pitch from APSU starter Zach Neff (0-2) over the wall in right-center field to put the Bears in front for good. Freshman Jeremy Eierman helped add to the lead with a single and a steal of second before coming home on Blake Graham’s pinch-hit single.
MSU reliever Sam Perez made sure the lead stood, taking over for freshman starter Dylan Coleman (2-0) in the home half of the sixth and followed with three perfect innings. The senior struck out six of the nine Governors he faced, including a stretch of five in a row over the seventh and eighth innings.
The Bears (5-1) broke the game open in the top of the ninth thanks to Castro’s second career slam, which came after Justin Paulsen and Aaron Meyer drew walks and Alex Jefferson singled to start the inning. Freshman Hunter Steinmetz, who recorded a hit in his sixth straight game, manufactured the final MSU run by reaching on an error before stealing second and third and trotting home on an errant throw by the APSU catcher.
Four different Bears logged three-hit games, led by their senior catcher’s career day. Castro finished 3-for-5 with career bests for hits and runs scored (3), and his six runs batted-in represented the best single-game total for a Bear since Brock Chaffin drove in seven runs vs. Indiana State on April 22, 2011. Matt Dezort recorded hits in all three of his trips to the plate, including a second-inning RBI single. Jake Burger tallied three hits as well, marking the sophomore’s fourth multi-hit game in six attempts this year, and Meyer went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.
MSU’s talented freshman class contributed to the victory in several key area as well. Steinmetz and Eierman combined for four steals in the game, while Coleman won his second consecutive start by striking out five and allowing four runs on eight hits over 5.0 innings.
The Bears’ third come-from-behind victory of the season followed a strong start that saw MSU score single runs in each of the first three innings. After Steinmetz doubled to lead off the game, Dezort and Burger followed with back-to-back hits to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. Dezort’s two-out hit the following frame plated Castro, who blooped a wind-aided single just inside the right-field foul line and moved into scoring position when Neff beaned Eierman. Spencer Johnson’s leadoff single and Meyer’s two-out double produced a third MSU tally in the third.
Coleman, meanwhile, worked his way out of trouble in two of the first three innings before the Governors finally got to the right-hander in the fourth. Coleman fanned four straight APSU hitters after a Garrett Copeland triple started the game, then received a big lift from his defense to limit the Governors to a single run in the fifth, as Jefferson’s diving catch in right with a man in scoring position started a 9-4-6 double play that ended the inning.
The Governors (4-3) touched up Coleman for three two-out scores in the interim, as Dre Gleason singled home a run to start a string of three-consecutive APSU hits as part of a three-run fourth. Josh Wilson followed with a double, and Ridge Smith leveled the score at 3-3 with a two-run single to right.
Copeland ignited a fifth-inning rally for APSU with his second hit of the game, then came around with the go-ahead run on Logan Gray’s double that immediately preceded Jefferson’s gem of a defensive play in right on a Cayce Bredlau line drive.
