Missouri State cashed in on a balanced—and timely—offensive attack to post a 12-4 victory over host Indiana State Wednesday evening in opening-round action at the MVC Championship at Bob Warn Field. The Bears delivered 10 different two-out, run-scoring hits, including two apiece from the tandem of Spencer Johnson and Jake Burger, with each belting his 20th home run of the campaign in MSU’s best offensive showing at the Valley Tournament in 14 years.
MSU (35-19) recorded 13 of its 15 hits and totaled 11 of its 12 runs with two outs, while the top four hitters in the Bears’ lineup accounted for nine hits, led by Hunter Steinmetz’s 3-for-5 night.
On the mound, junior Jordan Knutson (7-6) limited the Sycamores to four runs on five hits while striking out five over his 6 1/3 innings to give the MSU offense time to click. Sam Perez closed out the victory with 2.2 no-hit innings, adding five more strikeouts to his MVC-leading season total (98).
In all, the Bears touched up five different ISU hurlers for 15 hits, six of which went for extra bases. Burger drove in three runs with his fifth-inning homer and an eighth-inning triple, and Steinmetz scored twice and plate two more, in addition to swiping his 14th base of the year.
After ISU freshman right-hander Tyler Ward easily dispatched the first five MSU hitters of the game, Jeremy Eierman’s single through the left side of the infield started a two-out chain reaction for the Bears. Eierman swiped his sixth base of the season, before Alex Jefferson drew a walk and emergency sub Eduardo Castro lined a double up the left-field line to score both baserunners. Next, Aaron Meyer delivered the third of MSU’s four two-out hits in the inning, this one falling in front of the ISU centerfielder to bring in Castro for a 3-0 Bears cushion.
The Sycamores (34-20) scratched out single tallies in the third and fourth frames to cut the deficit to one run. Andrew Gutierrez walked to start the third, moved over to third on a sac bunt and a ground ball to left side, before Hunter Owen’s soft liner to center settled in to put ISU on the board for the first time. Back-to-back one-out singles by Tony Rosselli and Tyler Friis sparked another scoring rally for the home club in the fourth, as Dane Tofteland’s fielder’s choice grounder to short was enough to bring in the second Sycamore run of the game.
But the Bears’ power duo of Johnson and Burger answered the Sycamores with back-to-back solo shots with two out in the fifth, becoming the first MSU hitters to reach the 20-homer mark in a season since 1999. First, Johnson launched a 1-0 Ward offering over the center-field fence, before Burger lifted a 2-1 pitch out to left to re-establish the three-run margin.
Given a little breathing room, Knutson quickly retired all three ISU hitters in the home half of the fifth, before the bottom portion of MSU’s lineup once again ignited a key rally. With one out in the sixth, Jefferson drove a double to right-center and Castro coaxed a walk, and a failed pickoff attempt moved both runners up a base to set up another run-producing plate appearance from Meyer in the No. 9 slot. The junior brought in Jefferson with a sac fly to center, before consecutive run-scoring hits by Steinmetz and Johnson—the fifth and sixth two-out, RBI hits of the game—extended the Bears’ lead to 8-2.
A two-run homer by Rosselli momentarily pulled ISU back to within four runs, but the shutdown relief work of Perez, and another two-out rally in the eighth proved to be too much for the Sycamores to overcome. After Perez took over for Knutson with one out in the seventh, the senior promptly struck out the next two hitters, before two additional two-out hits scored three more MSU runs in the top of the eighth to hand the Bears their biggest lead of the night.
Burger’s two-run triple narrowly missed leaving the yard, glancing off the top of the right-field wall to chase home both Meyer and Steinmetz, who reached via walks from Damon Olds. Paulsen tacked on an insurance with a chopper to third that brought in Burger, before Steinmetz completed the scoring with yet another two-out hit in the ninth that scored Jefferson for the third time.
The Bears’ 12 runs represented their biggest offensive effort at the MVC Championship since beating Wichita State by a 12-8 score in 10 innings at the 2002 conference tournament.
Missouri State advances to a Thursday (May 26) meeting with Bradley at 6:34 p.m. (CDT), while Indiana State will meet Wichita State in an elimination contest at 12:34 p.m.
