Missouri State swept a doubleheader from Memphis Sunday afternoon, rallying from a two-run deficit for a 7-4 victory in game one, before scoring five first-inning runs en route to an 8-7 decision in the night cap at FedExPark.
Spencer Johnson and Hunter Steinmetz combined for 10 hits in the doubleheader, and Bryan Young saved both ends of the twin bill to help the Bears post their 12th win in 14 games this season. With the three-game sweep of the Tigers (5-10), Missouri State also improved to 7-0 in true road games to start the 2016 season.
The Bears would erase a 4-2, eighth-inning deficit in game one thanks to Jake Burger’s sixth home run of the season — a two-run shot to left that followed Johnson’s leadoff single.
With the score even entering the ninth, MSU mounted a three-run rally in the deciding frame after Alex Jefferson bounced a base hit through the left side, and Jeremy Eierman doubled to set the stage. A passed ball allowed Jefferson to score the go-ahead run, and Steinmetz added a sacrifice fly to make it a 6-4 game. Back-to-back walks to Johnson and Burger kept the rally alive, and Justin Paulsen made the Tigers pay, lacing an RBI single to left to account for the final run.
Young worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning to notch his MSU career record 19th save, following strong performances from starter Dylan Coleman and reliever Jake Fromson (1-0). The trio combined to retire the final nine Tigers of the game in succession to allow the Bears offense time to catch fire with five runs over its final two turns at bat.
Coleman struck out eight batters over his 7.0 innings, matching his career-best total. The freshman scattered four runs on four hits, allowing a pair of two-out, two-run doubles to account for Memphis’s scoring. Fromson followed with a pair of strikeouts in the eighth, before Young fanned the first two hitters he faced, then coaxed a game-ending bouncer to first to pass Shaun Marcum for sole possession of the top spot on the Bears’ all-time saves list.
Steinmetz matched a career high with three hits in the game, while Burger and Johnson each finished 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.
MSU wasted little time in seizing control of the second game, striking for five first-inning runs after a critical two-out Memphis error opened the door. Six straight Bears would reach base during the early rally, highlighted by Matt Fultz’s two-run single, and run-scoring hits by Blake Graham and Eierman.
The home club would chip away at the deficit, scoring in three straight innings to pull to within two runs. MSU starter Andy Cheray allowed singles to Brandon Grudzielanek and Trent Turner in the second, and struck out Corey Chafin to nearly escape danger. But Jake Overbey singled home both runners, before Memphis capitalized on a defensive miscue in the third to pull to within 5-3. In the fourth, Grudzielanek doubled to start the inning, then came around on Chafin’s fielder’s choice grounder.
Johnson provided some much-needed breathing room with his seventh homer of the season in the fourth to momentarily extend the Bears’ lead to three runs once again. Reliever Sam Perez (2-0) took control of the proceedings by retiring the first seven batters he faced after taking over for Cheray with two out in the fifth. The senior right-hander struck out four over his 2 2/3 innings, but ran into trouble in the eighth after Johnson’s two-run double in the top half of the inning extended the lead to 8-4. Memphis put its first two runners aboard via a walk and a hit batsman, and Chris Carrier chased both runners home with a one-out triple to left-center field. A balk call against Young allowed Carrier to score, cutting the MSU lead to one run.
But Young fanned two of the three batters he opposed in the eighth to extinguish the threat, then promptly dispatched the first two Tigers in the ninth via strikeouts as part of another perfect inning.
Johnson’s 3-for-5 effort in game two led the way, while both Steinmetz and Aaron Meyer chipped in with their second multi-hit performances of the day.
Up next, the Bears return to Springfield to open their longest home stretch of the season Tuesday (March 15) with a 3:05 p.m. contest against Western Illinois at Hammons Field. MSU will play a two-game midweek series against the Leathernecks, before hosting Arkansas State (March 22) and three-game weekend series with Iowa (March 18-20) and Minnesota (March 25-27).
