TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Fueled by a seven-run seventh-inning outburst and big games from a quartet of seniors, Missouri State rallied for its second come-from-behind win of the day to keep its MVC Championship hopes alive with a 13-3 decision over Bradley Friday evening at Bob Warn Field.
Making his first start since April 26, senior Andy Cheray (2-2) gave the Bears all they could ask for on the mound, totaling a career-high eight strikeouts, while limiting the Braves to three runs on seven hits over his complete-game 8.0-inning effort.
After battling back from a 2-0 deficit, the Bears (37-20) unleased the full force of their offense to score 11 times over the seventh and eighth innings. Senior outfielder Spencer Johnson clubbed his 22nd and 23rd home runs, including a game-tying solo shot in the sixth before unleashing a laser-shot, two-run clout as part of the Bears seven-run seventh. Fellow senior Eduardo Castro also got into the power act, going 3-for-4 with a run-scoring double and his fourth home run of the season, also in the seventh inning.
Senior Matt Dezort, who went 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and three RBIs, came through with key hits in each of the Bears’ two late rallies, including a three-run triple as part of their four-run eighth. In all, the Bears’ three senior position starters combined to go 7-for-13 with three homers and eight runs batted-in on the night.
On the heels of an 11-4 comeback win over Indiana State earlier in the day, the Missouri State victory sets up a winner-take-all deciding 2 p.m. (CDT) game with Bradley (29-20) Saturday (May 28) for a spot in the MVC title game against Dallas Baptist at 6 p.m. (CDT).
The Bears’ late scoring bonanza came on the heels of a sluggish offensive start that saw BU starter Brent Stong (2-2) hold the Bears to a single run over the first five frames. The left-hander scattered five hits before Johnson unloaded on a 1-2 offering for the equalizing home run in the sixth.
A day after scoring five times over the first two innings vs. the Bears in their eventual 10-0 victory, the Braves once again seized the upper hand with the benefit of a key two-out hit. Leadoff man Luke Mangieri, who went 3-for-5 and sparked a pair of early BU rallies Thursday, got the ball rolling for Bradley with a one-out single, before a two-out walk to Tyler Leffler. Paul Solka came through with a line-drive just inside the bag at third to chase home both baserunners for a 2-0 Braves advantage.
The Bears responded in the top of the fourth, getting a clutch two-out double of their own to slice the deficit in half. After a one-out walk to Johnson handed MSU an opening, Castro laced a two-bagger to left to bring his fellow senior all the way around from first and make it a one-run affair.
Cheray kept the Braves in check following their two-run third, fanning a pair in the fourth, before working around a walk and an error in the fifth to keep it a 2-0 contest.
MSU’s big inning started with a Justin Paulsen single off the right-field wall, kicking off a string of five consecutive hits to begin the seventh. Singles by Aaron Meyer and Alex Jefferson loaded the bases, before Hunter Steinmetz lined a two-run double down the right-field line to put MSU in front, 4-2. Dezort followed with an infield hit, and Burger stretched the lead to three runs with a sac fly to left.
After a wild pitch brought in Steinmetz, Johnson then uncorked a laser-shot over the left-field wall to make it an 8-2 contest. Castro’s third hit of the game—a home run to left—completed the scoring rally.
A pair of walks and a Landan Ruff base hit set up Dezort’s bases-clearing triple in the eighth, before Burger drove in the final tally with a double to left.
Cheray then finished off the first complete-game effort for a Bears pitcher in 2016 by working around three consecutive BU hits to start the home half of the eighth.
In addition to big efforts from its group of seniors, Meyer went 3-for-3 with a walk and a pair of runs scored.
