PEORIA, Ill. — For the second game in a row, Missouri State used big offensive performances from the duo of Spencer Johnson and Jeremy Eierman to extend its hot streak, as the Bears began the defense of their Missouri Valley Conference crown with an 8-3 victory over Bradley Friday at Dozer Park.
Johnson belted his MVC-leading 13th home run of the season to help build a two-run MSU lead in the second inning, then drove home a key insurance run with a ninth-inning double that turned a 4-3 lead into a two-run cushion. The senior outfielder, who blasted three home runs in Wednesday night’s win over Kansas, went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, while Eierman scored two runs and drove home three more with his 2-for-4 effort.
Jordan Knutson (5-1) kept the Braves in check with 6 1/3 strong innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits while fanning seven batters. Senior right-hander Sam Perez then locked down his first save of the season by squashing the Braves’ seventh-inning rally and retiring the final seven hitters of the game in order.
Missouri State (25-5, 1-0 MVC) notched its eighth win in nine road games this spring after building a 4-1 lead via a two-run rally in the second and single tallies in the fifth and sixth frames. Justin Paulsen started the second with the first triple of his MSU career, lining a Matt Dennis offering off the top of the wall in right-center, then scoring on Blake Graham’s RBI grounder to second. Johnson followed with a screaming line drive that cleared the center field fence for an early 2-0 MSU lead.
BU would threaten the lead in the bottom of the second, as Andy Shadid’s wind-aided fly ball to right fell in for a leadoff triple. Knutson buckled down, however, striking out the next three hitters to strand the runner at third and preserve the two-run advantage. The Braves would break the scoring seal in the bottom of the fourth, using a solo shot from Evan Gruener to slice the deficit in half.
Eierman promptly negated the BU run with his second home run as a Bear – a two-out, solo shot that caromed off the batter’s eye in center that made it a 3-1 contest. The following inning, Alex Jefferson helped manufacture another MSU run, as the junior led off with a single, then moved all the way to third on a Dennis wild pitch. Graham came through in the clutch again to extend the lead to three runs, driving a two-out single to center to bring in Jefferson.
The Braves (14-10, 0-1 MVC) mounted their biggest challenge in the seventh, getting a leadoff walk to Zach Fairchild, a wild pitch and a sac bunt by Carson Weber to initiate a scoring opportunity. Perez came up with a strikeout of DJ Gasso, then induced a routine grounder to second for what would have been the final out, but Aaron Meyer’s throw to first was off target, allowing pinch runner Nick Green to score and trim the margin to 4-3.
But Perez would silence the Bradley offense from there, ending the inning with a pop-up on the infield, then setting down all three BU hitters in the eighth.
MSU gained some breathing room with a four-run rally in the ninth that was aided by a pair of defensive miscues and two key doubles by Johnson and Eierman. A throwing error on Graham’s bouncer to short started the inning, before Johnson’s liner to left fell in safely to drive in the runner from first. Matt Fultz added a base hit, but BU gunned down a runner attempting to score on Meyer’s ground ball to first. Eierman delivered, however, plating both Fultz and Meyer with his eighth double of the season, before another error allowed the freshman to score from third.
Another 1-2-3 inning from Perez closed out the victory, giving the Bears their 10th victory in their last 11 MVC openers, as well as their sixth-straight win overall.
Dennis (5-2) was saddled the loss after allowing four runs on six hits to go along with seven strikeouts over 7.0 innings of work. Gaa was the lone Brave to register a multi-hit performance, going 2-for-4 to lead BU’s six-hit attack.
The Bears will shoot for a series-clinching victory against the Braves Saturday (April 9), when the two clubs engage in game two of the series at noon.
