CARBONDALE, Ill. – Jeremy Eierman’s three-run homer in the top of the 11th inning lifted Missouri State to a 7-4 victory that completed the Bears’ three-game Missouri Valley Conference sweep of Southern Illinois Sunday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium
Eierman’s 18th home run of the season snapped a 4-4 deadlock, and Bryan Young capped a string of eight consecutive scoreless innings by MSU hurlers with a scoreless home half of the 11th to extend the Bears’ perfect start to the 2017 MVC season with their 18th straight regular-season Valley win overall.
Young (1-1) earned the victory with 2 2/3 hitless innings, working around potential game-ending SIU threats in both the ninth and 10th innings to keep the game tied. His outing followed a scoreless 1 1/3 innings from Austin Knight and a strong start from Doug Still, who retired 14 of the final 16 hitters he faced after allowing a three-run homer to Jake Hand in the third inning.
The win further solidified the Bears (33-14, 14-0 MVC) hold on the top spot in the Valley standings, as MSU will enter its two league series with a five-game advantage in the loss column over second-place DBU and Indiana State.
After drawing a total of 17 walks in the first two games of the series, the Bears once again took advantage of some goodwill from SIU pitching to seize an early lead in game three. Hunter Steinmetz coaxed the first of five walks from SIU starter Joey Marciano in the top of the first, as MSU would send nine men to the plate and score three times to chase the Saluki hurler after just 2/3 of an inning.
Eierman, who finished the afternoon with three runs scored and three RBIs, delivered the first run for the Bears with a soft liner that narrowly eluded the reach of second baseman Connor Kopach to bring in Steinmetz. Battling his command, Marciano then issued four consecutive free passes, including two to Drew Millas and Landan Ruff with the bases loaded to hand MSU a 3-0 lead.
Nick Hutchins doubled to start the SIU second, then swiped third ahead of Will Farmer’s bouncer to first that produced the first Saluki run of the afternoon.
Still allowed back-to-back one-out singles to Ryan Smith and Greg Lambert to set up another scoring chance in the third. Hand would flip the scoreboard with one swing, launching his second three-run homer of the series that gave SIU its lone lead of the game at 4-3.
SIU reliever Jamison Steege gave the Bears all they could handle for most of the afternoon, allowing just four hits over his 6.1 innings. The left-hander kept MSU at bay until the fifth, when walks to Eierman and Jack Duffy would come back to haunt the Salukis yet again. Landan Ruff’s hot shot to third arrived at the bag at the same time as a sliding Eierman, who would come home with the tying run when the ball caromed into foul ground.
Steege worked into the eighth, before a John Privitera double forced a call to the SIU bullpen. Closer Ryan Netemeyer (1-1) issued a walk to the first batter he faced, but worked his way out of the jam by inducing a pair of pop ups from Paulsen and Burger.
After taking over for Still to start the eighth, Knight dispatched the first four SIU hitters he faced, including three straight via strikeouts. But a Farmer single and a walk to Ryan Sabo put the potential go-ahead run at second with one out in the ninth, prompting the Bears to summon their own closer into the fray. Young coolly froze Dyllin Mucha on a called third strike for the second out, then retired Kopach on the next pitch with a sharp grounder to third.
Young also maneuvered around two walks in the 10th, fanning Hutchins to end the threat with the winning run stranded at second once again.
In the 11th, Eierman drove Netemeyer’s 2-1 offering over the wall in left after back-to-back walks to Justin Paulsen and Jake Burger started the deciding rally for the Bears.
Graham produced the lone multi-hit effort for MSU, going 2-for-5 with a walk, while Hand (2-for-5), Sabo (2-for-3) and Smith (2-for-4) all registered two-hit performances for the Salukis (23-26, 6-9 MVC), who dropped their sixth straight decision.
Up next, the Bears return to Springfield for their final regular-season home series of the season, opening the three-game MVC set with Indiana State Friday (May 12) at 6:30 p.m.
