SPRINGFIELD – Hayden Minton tossed Missouri State’s first complete game of the season Friday, scattering five hits and striking out six Belmont hitters to lead the Bears to a 5-1 victory at Hammons Field.
Minton’s complete game was the first by a Bear since Forrest Barnes did it against Southern Illinois in last season’s Missouri Valley Conference tournament, and gave MoState (21-16, 10-4 MVC) its eighth consecutive league victory. The Bears last won eight conference games in a row in late 2018 and had a streak of 22 straight Valley wins over the course of the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
It wasn’t until 21 batters into the game that a hitter reached safely for either side, that a Belmont single off Minton with two outs in the fourth.
Nick Rodriguez led off the bottom of the fourth with a single to become the first Bear to reach, Mason Hull walked, and Cody Kelly launched his 11th homer of the season and fifth in the last five games for a 3-0 MSU lead.
Cam Cratic hit the first pitch of the fifth inning over the wall in right-center to make it 4-0, and Spencer Nivens and Hull connected on consecutive doubles in the eighth for the 5-1 final.
Belmont (20-20, 5-9) scored an unearned run on a leadoff error and two-out triple in the sixth, the only blip on Minton’s way to throwing just the fourth complete game in the MVC this season.
The Bears go for their third consecutive series sweep at 10:45 a.m. Saturday at Hammons Field.
