LAKE CHARLES, La. – Missouri State used a pair of four-run rallies and six strong innings from Doug Still in his Bears debut to build a 9-1 lead over Rhode Island before heavy rains forced the suspension of play in the bottom of the seventh inning.
MSU scored four times in the opening frame thanks to four consecutive walks and a key three-run double by Justin Paulsen. Aaron Meyer coaxed a free pass with the bases loaded to force home the first run of the day, before Paulsen delivered the Bears’ lone hit of the inning with a line drive into the right-center field gap to clear the bases for a 4-0 MSU cushion.
Wilson briefly recovered to retire four batters in a row, including the first two MSU hitters of the second. But Alex Jefferson and Jake Burger again drew walks to chase the left-hander from the game, and Jeremy Eierman drove a run-scoring single through the left side of the infield to stretch the margin to five runs.
Still, meanwhile, flirted with trouble in each of the first three innings, but escaped each without incurring critical damage. Hunter Steinmetz turned in a pair of highlight-reel diving catches in center to help keep the Bears in command. He stalled a potential big inning by hauling in a soft liner with a runner on and nobody out in the first, then dove headfirst in deep center to rob the Rams of a run in the second.
Rhode Island would break through for its lone run in the third, capitalizing on a leadoff single by Mike Foley and a one-out walk, before Sonny Ulliana’s two-out, hit-and-run single to left cut the MSU lead to 5-1.
Despite building the early lead, the Bears were held to two hits through five innings after URI reliever Mark Silvestri gave up just one hit in 3 1/3 innings.
But Logan Geha opened the sixth by drawing the 10th MSU walk of the game, kicking off another offensive barrage that saw the first five hitters reach safely. Steinmetz drilled a double into the right-field corner, and Jefferson lined a single into shallow right-center to plate another run. Burger put an exclamation point on the rally with a laser-shot that cleared the wall in left-center for a 9-1 Bears advantage.
Ultimately, Still scattered five hits and retired 10 of the final 12 batters he faced before yielding to Jake Fromson, who worked a perfect seventh prior to the suspension of play.
The 2017 season opener for both clubs will be completed Saturday (Feb. 18), following the conclusion of the Bears’ scheduled 11 a.m. match-up with Stony Brook.
