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Eric Doennig (MSU Sports Information) SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Austin Knight turned in seven shutout innings to help Missouri State snap a two-game losing streak with a 7-2 non-conference victory over New Orleans Tuesday afternoon at Hammons Field. The Bears (14-6) scored four times over the first four innings, then broke the contest wide open with a three-run seventh to conclude their four-game home stand on a high note.
Knight (2-0) scattered five hits over his 7.0 innings and worked his way out of trouble in three consecutive innings after the Privateers (13-8) put their first two hitters aboard. The junior right-hander kept the visitors at bay thanks in large part to three double-play balls en route to picking up his second victory of the season.
Justin Paulsen led the Bears’ offense with a 3-for-5 day at the plate, driving in a run as part of Missouri State’s two-run second inning, then scoring one of his own in the seventh. With 13 hits, MSU matched a season high, as five different Bears turned in multi-hit performances.
Missouri State jumped out to a 1-0 lead thanks to a first-inning hit parade that saw five of the first six Bears hitters reach base safely. Hunter Steinmetz and Alex Jefferson recorded back-to-back hits to lead things off, before Jake Burger’s sacrifice lineout to left brought in the game’s first run.
A leadoff walk to Logan Geha, followed by a Jack Duffy base hit ignited a second-inning rally that would see the Bears stretch their advantage to three runs. Geha would trot home from third on a two-out wild pitch, before Paulsen’s base hit plated Duffy for the second tally of the frame.
After a 1-2-3 first inning to start the day, Knight ran into trouble in the second after Tristan Clarke’s leadoff double set the table for UNO. But Clarke ran into an out at third on John Cable’s grounder to short, and a pair of fly balls extinguished the threat for good.
The Privateers would put their first two batters aboard in both the third and fourth innings, but Knight induced rally-killing double-play balls each time. The Bears also turned a 4-6-3 twin-killing to end the fifth after Jay Robinson’s one-out hit put a man on base for the fourth straight inning.
Knight would face the minimum nine hitters over his final three innings, finishing his day by retiring nine of the final 11 batters he faced.
Burger, who drove in a fourth-inning run with a two-out double to right, singled to kick off a string of four-consecutive hits to start the MSU seventh. Aaron Meyer’s two-run single made it a 6-0 game, before another wild pitch produced the final Bears tally.
UNO would break up the shutout bid on Hezekiah Randolph’s leadoff homer in the eighth, before adding a second run courtesy of Samuel Capielano’s two-out single.
Burger finished 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, while Meyer also drove home two with a two-hit effort. Jefferson and Jeremy Eierman each finished with a pair of hits for MSU as well.
Up next, the Bears are slate to embark on a three-game road trip to Central Michigan this weekend, beginning with a 2 p.m. contest Friday (March 24) at Theunissen Stadium in Mount Pleasant, Mich.
