SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Missouri State used big offensive days from Jake Burger and Jeremy Eierman to overcome an early two-run deficit en route to a 10-6 victory over Evansville Saturday afternoon at Hammons Field. The duo accounted for the Bears’ first five runs via key home runs, combining to go 4-for-8 and drive in seven of MSU’s 10 runs in the contest.
Burger belted a three-run shot in the first inning to negate a two-run rally by the Aces, before Eierman’s long ball with a man aboard in the fourth snapped a 3-3 tie and put Missouri State in control for good. Eierman, who has homered five times in the Bears’ 12 April contests, added a two-run single as part of MSU’s three-run fifth, matching a career-high with four RBIs, and Justin Paulsen added a two-run double in the sixth to help ice the victory.
Dylan Coleman (6-2) notched the victory for the 16th-ranked Bears with 5.0 strong innings, over which the right-hander outdueled fellow freshman Brandon Gomer (1-5). Coleman surrendered five runs on five hits before MSU’s shutdown combo of Sam Perez and Bryan Young secured the win by holding the powerful UE lineup to one run over the final four innings.
The Aces (22-15, 5-3 MVC), who battered MSU pitching for 14 runs in their opening-game victory Friday, picked up right where they left in game one, using a pair of walks, a hit batsman and a two-run single by Josh Jyawook to grab a 2-0 lead in the first against Coleman.
But Missouri State (28-9, 3-4 MVC) had an immediate answer, getting a line-drive single off the bat of leadoff man Hunter Steinmetz to ignite a first-inning rally of its own. Spencer Johnson, who would finish 1-for-3 with three runs scored, singled to left-center, before Burger unloaded on an 0-1 offering from Gomer for his 16th home run of the season on a towering drive that narrowly cleared the wall in center field for a 3-2 MSU lead.
UE scratched out the tying run in the fourth when back-to-back singles by Jyawook and Jonathan Ramon started the inning. Shain Showers RBI single to right-center brought home Jyawook, but Coleman escaped the inning without incurring further damage by inducing a double-play bouncer to short off the bat of Spencer Nelson.
Paulsen coaxed a four-pitch walk to kick off the home half of the fourth, and Eierman cashed in on the Aces’ generosity, lifting a towering drive onto the berm in left-center to hand the Bears a 5-3 advantage. A hit batsman and a sharp single past third by Burger spearheaded another MSU scoring chance that was capped by Blake Graham’s run-scoring single ahead of Eierman’s two-run single to center that made it an 8-3 game.
The two clubs traded two-run rallies in the sixth, as Showers plated two more runs with his base hit to right after a pair of walks got the ball rolling for UE. Perez shut down the threat with a pair of strikeouts, preserving a three-run edge for the Bears. MSU’s two-out rally started with a walk to Johnson and another hit-by-pitch, before Paulsen lined Austin Allinger’s first offering into the right-field corner to chase home both baserunners for a 10-5 Bears lead.
Trey Hair’s two-out double in the eighth brought home the final UE run, closing the gap to 10-6. But Young closed out the inning with a strikeout of Boomer Synek, then worked a scoreless ninth to finish the MSU victory—its 18th in 22 home games this season and its 14th come-from-behind win in 2016.
Jyawook, who went 3-for-6 with three RBIs in Friday’s game, continued his hot streak with a 2-for-4 day, while Showers drove in a total of three runs with his two-hit game. Gomer suffered the loss for the Aces after allowing eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits over his 4.1 innings.
Up next, the Bears and Aces will meet in the rubber match of the series Sunday (April 24) at 1:05 p.m
