Missouri State opened its nine-game home stand in style Tuesday afternoon, building a big early lead before cruising behind the pitching of Austin Knight to a 13-4 victory over Western Illinois at Hammons Field. In his first collegiate start, Knight held the Leathernecks hitless over the first six innings, while the Bears offense gashed WIU pitching for 17 hits, including the second four-hit performance of the season from Jake Burger.
The duo of Burger and Spencer Johnson combined to go 6-for-8 with four RBIs and five runs scored, as MSU matched its best offensive showing of the season by scoring 13 times in the first five innings of the contest. Johnson’s eighth home run of the season — a three-run shot — set the tone in a five-run fourth that saw the Bears stretch their lead from four runs to a comfortable 9-0 margin.
Both Burger and Justin Paulsen homered to account for all the scoring in a four-run fifth, as the Bears recorded 16 hits before the Leathernecks would get to Knight for their first safety of the day in the seventh.
Knight (1-0) was virtually unhittable throughout the first six innings, retiring 18 straight WIU hitters after issuing a four-pitch walk to start the game. The sophomore fanned three and allowed just two runs (one earned) on three hits over his 7.0 innings to pick up his first win as a Bear.
MSU jumped on WIU starting pitcher Aaron Michel (0-3) with a pair of first-inning tallies, taking advantage of three walks and the first of Aaron Meyer’s three hits on the day – a run-scoring single to left – to grab the early 2-0 lead. Three more walks and another Meyer single led to another two-run rally in the third, as Jeremy Eierman drew a bases-loaded walk, before Paulsen plated a run with a sacrifice fly to center for a 4-0 MSU lead.
Matt Dezort led off the fourth with his second hit of the game, continuing a recent hot streak that has seen the senior record nine hits in his last 12 at-bats. Burger followed with a base hit, before Johnson lofted a three-run blast that caromed off the auxiliary scoreboard in left field for a 7-0 cushion. Eduardo Castro kept the hit parade going with a double to right-center and Meyer singled for the third straight time to set up an RBI grounder from Eierman and the a run-producing single by Blake Graham.
Burger’s seventh long ball of the year kicked off the fifth, before Johnson singled and Eierman reached via a hit-by-pitch. Paulsen then launched his second round-tripper of 2016 over the wall in right-center to increase the MSU advantage to 13 runs.
Knight faced little opposition from the Leathernecks until Adam McGinnis led off the seventh with a gap shot to left-center. With one out, Mark Garton singled to center before Conner Currier’s grounder to second snapped the shutout bid. The Leathernecks added another run on a single and an error, then scratched out a pair of ninth-inning tallies to close the final margin to nine runs.
Graham came off the bench to go 3-for-4, extending his personal hit streak to a career-best 13 games, while Johnson stretched his string of consecutive games reaching base safely to 30 in a row, dating back to May 9, 2015. Dezort reached base safely in each of his three plate appearances, going 2-for-2 with a walk, while Paulsen equaled his career high with four RBIs.
Missouri State (13-2) and Western Illinois (2-12) conclude their two-game series Wednesday (March 16) with another 3:05 p.m. contest at Hammons Field.
