TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Missouri State opened the Missouri Valley Conference season in style Friday, extending its win streak to eight games with a pair of one-run victories over Indiana State at Bob Warn Field. Connor Sechler saved the 4-3 victory in game one, then turned in 3 1/3 innings of one-hit relief to earn the victory in the 5-4, 11-inning win in the nightcap to help the Bears lock up their 11th MVC opening series in the last 13 seasons.
Missouri State (19-6, 2-0 MVC) rode a strong performance from Dylan Coleman in game one, taking a two-run lead on Matt Brown‘s two-out double before the Bears bullpen closed out the victory with 2 1/3 shutout innings. Ben Whetstone‘s 11th inning squeeze bunt put the Bears on top for good in game two, as Sechler held off several Sycamore threats late in the contest to help set up MSU’s decisive rally.
Hunter Steinmetz logged a pair of two-hit games and drove in two runs in the game two victory to lead the Bears, who also extended their win streak in the series to seven consecutive victories over the Sycamores (14-8, 0-2 MVC).
Game 1 – MSU 4, Indiana State 3
Coleman (5-1) turned in his sixth quality start in seven outings this season, holding the Sycamores to three runs on a pair of home runs over 6 2/3 innings, while the MSU offense rode two-run doubles from Jeremy Eierman and Matt Brown to post its seventh straight victory.
Coleman struck out seven and scattered four hits—two of which left the yard and accounted for the only Sycamore runs of the afternoon to notch his 19th career mound victory. The junior right-hander also moved past a pair of former first-round MLB Draftees in Jon Harris and Ross Detwiler on the Bears’ all-time strikeout list, before Jake Fromson and Sechler worked out of potential game-changing rallies in each of the last three innings.
Brown’s two-out, two-run double just inside of the third-base bag broke a 2-2 tie in the sixth, before Dane Giesler launched a one-out solo shot in the home half of the inning to pull ISU to within one run. The Sycamores mounted a threat in the seventh as well, getting a one-out single from Max Wright and a two-out walk to Jarrod Watkins to force a call to the MSU bullpen.
With the potential tying and go-ahead runners aboard, Fromson would need just one pitch to squash the rally, as Chris Ayers skied the reigning MVC Pitcher of the Year’s first offering to center to strand both baserunners.
ISU starter Tyler Ward (4-2) was in full command down the stretch, retiring the final 10 Bears of the game in succession to give his club a chance to mount a comeback. The Sycamores would do just that in the eighth, drawing back-to-back walks from Fromson to start the inning, before Sechler would enter the contest and record a critical strikeout of C.J. Huntley for the second out. The freshman plunked Brandt Nowaskie to load the bases, but induced a bouncer to first to escape the inning with the one-run lead intact.
Sechler turned out the lights on one final ISU threat in the ninth, working around a leadoff single by Jake Means to lock up his second save as a Bear. After Watkins moved the runner into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, Sechler blew a third strike past Ayers for the second out, then coaxed a fly ball to center off the bat of Clay Dungan to wrap up the win.
Jack Duffy turned in a 2-for-4 performance that included a key two-out single to keep the Bears’ decisive rally in the sixth alive. Prior to Brown’s clutch hit, Eierman gave the Bears a 2-0 lead in the third with a two-run double of his own. ISU answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning, as Means launched a two-run homer to left-center to even the score.
Ward suffered the tough-luck loss, despite working a complete game and striking out 10 Bears. Means finished the day 2-for-4 with his fourth homer of the year and two RBIs to pace the ISU offense.
Game 2 – MSU 5, Indiana State 4 (11 innings)
The see-saw battle came down to the last pitch, as the two clubs traded the lead on three separate occasions before the Bears’ two-run rally in the top of the 11th ultimately decided the outcome. Sechler (4-1) worked out of jams in each of the final four innings, finally securing the victory by retiring Dungan on a come-backer with the potential tying run in scoring position.
Ryan Skalnik‘s one-out double started the 11th-inning surge for MSU, and Brown added a base hit to put runners on the corners. Whetstone then bunted for a hit, squeezing home pinch runner Logan Geha to hand the Bears the lead for good. Steinmetz added what would prove to be a key insurance run with a two-out single to right, giving MSU a 5-3 advantage.
ISU used a hit batsman and a Huntley single to set up one final rally in the home half, and Luke Fegen’s grounder to second brought in Means to cut the MSU lead to one run. But that would be the only run the Sycamores would post in 5.0 combined innings against Sechler, who struck out five and allowed just two hits on the day.
Each team broke into the scoring column with two-out rallies in the third inning, as Steinmetz’s triple to right-center chased home Privitera for a 1-0 Bears lead, and ISU answered with a two-out hit, coupled with an MSU error to claim a 2-1 lead in the bottom half of the frame.
Another two-out hit—this one from Privitera—pulled the Bears even in the fifth, after Whetstone singled off ISU starter Triston Polley with one out and moved to second on a ground ball. The game would remained tied at 2-2 until the seventh, when Brown led off with his third home run of the season to put MSU in front, 3-2.
ISU responded immediately with yet another two-out tally, taking advantage of a triple by Means and a pinch-hit chopper through the right side of the Bears’ infield from Huntley.
Sycamore reliever Ethan Larrison (1-1) dominated the late innings, retiring 11 straight MSU hitters—including five consecutive strikeouts—until Skalnik’s double to left ignited the Bears’ offense in the 11th.
But first, the MSU bullpen had to navigate its way out of harm’s way in the eighth, ninth and 10th innings to be able to extend the game. The Sycamores put their first two batters aboard in the eighth and had runners at second and third with only one out, before Nate Witherspoon and Sechler posted back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat.
A pair of walks and two wild pitches put two more Sycamores in scoring position in the ninth, but Sechler got Huntley to look at a called third strike, then fanned Fegen for the final out. Two more hit batsmen with two out in the 10th opened the door once again for the home team, but Sechler retired Roberto Enriquez on a mile-high infield pop-up to once again strand a pair of baserunners.
In all, the Sycamores stranded 11 men on base—including eight over the final five innings.
Means, who scored three of the Sycamores’ four runs, reached in three of his four trips to the plate and finished the day 3-for-6 with three runs scored and a pair of RBIs for ISU.
For the Bears, both Brown and Whetstone added two-hit efforts, while Privitera singled and walked twice in his five plate appearances. Freshman starter Ty Buckner struck out a career-best seven hitters, while allowing just one hit and two runs (one earned) over the first 5.0 innings for the Bears.
The Bears and Sycamores are scheduled to conclude their series Saturday (March 31) with another Noon (CDT) contest, weather permitting.
