TULSA, Okla. – Caden Bogenpohl slugged two-run homers in each of the first two innings and Kaleb Thomas threw four scoreless innings of relief to earn the victory as the Bears topped Oral Roberts by a 10-6 final for their seventh win in the last eight tries at J.L. Johnson Stadium.
Bogenpohl put the Bears up 2-0 after four pitches, launching his first MSU hit well over the right field wall after Logan Chambers was hit by a pitch to open the contest. Zack Stewart doubled and later scored on a sac fly from Cody Kelly to make it 3-0.
Tyler Epstein led off the second inning with a double and scored on Bogenpohl’s second round-tripper, and the Bears (3-1) tacked on three more in the fourth. Jake McCutcheon began that rally with a single, Bogenpohl walked, Taeg Gollert drove in a run with a ground out, and Stewart hit an RBI single and later scored on a Jahlani Rogers sac fly.
Epstein led off the fifth with a homer and Gollert added a sac fly later in the frame for a 10-0 lead, with Thomas (1-0) doing his work on the mound by throwing a shutout in innings 2-5 with two hits and four strikeouts.
Another freshman, Curry Sutherland, tossed a scoreless sixth for the Bears before ORU struck in the seventh, reaching eight consecutive hitters safely with two out and plating six unearned runs for what ultimately became the 10-6 final score, though the Golden Eagles (1-3) did load the bases to get the tying run to the plate with two out in the ninth.
Bogenpohl also singled and walked twice to reach safely in all five plate appearances, while Epstein, Stewart and McCutcheon each registered two-hit games.
Missouri State continues its eight-game road trip this weekend with a series at Southern Miss. Friday’s first pitch is 6 p.m., with 1 p.m. starts on Saturday and Sunday.
