NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Jason Schaaf fired the first shutout by a Missouri State pitcher in three years and the Bears picked up their fifth run-rule victory of the Missouri Valley Conference season Sunday afternoon with a 12-0 win over Belmont at E.S. Rose Park.
Schaaf (3-2) faced one batter over the minimum and did not allow a Bruin beyond first base in the masterpiece, which was the first complete-game shutout by an MSU hurler since Matt Russell at Evansville on April 17, 2021. The sophomore struck out four and allowed three singles and one walk in the gem, throwing a career-high seven innings.
The offense got going in the fourth with an RBI single from Logan Chambers followed by a run-scoring on a double play to make it 2-0.
Nick Rodriguez led off the fifth with his 11th home run of the season, Caden Bogenpohl and Dylan Leach walked, and Zack Stewart launched a three-run bomb for a 6-0 lead, making him the 11th Bear to hit 20 home runs in a season. Bogenpohl’s walk was his 45th of the year, the most by a freshman in MSU history.
The Bears (20-31, 9-15) poured it on with five more in the seventh coming on a Rodriguez two-run single and Bogenpohl three-run homer, his 17th of the season.
Chambers then led off the seventh with MSU’s fourth homer and 100th as a team, becoming the fourth club in school history to reach triple digits.
Rodriguez extended his reached base streak to 32 games with the three-hit day, and Cody Kelly walked to run his streak to 20 games. Stewart also doubled twice and joined Rodriguez and Bogenpohl with three RBI.
Belmont fell to 24-27 and 11-13 in MVC as the Bears out-scored the opposition for a sixth consecutive league series and picked up a double-digit win against a sixth different league opponent.
The victory, combined with other results around the league, secured the Bears a spot in the MVC Tournament in Evansville in two weeks.
The Bears will play their final four regular season games at Hammons Field, beginning with a 6:30 p.m. Tuesday contest against Oral Roberts.
