HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Thanks to a five-run second inning and 15 strikeouts from the pitching staff, Missouri State took game three and the series victory at Sam Houston Sunday afternoon with a 9-3 win at Don Sanders Stadium.
Sophomore lefty Tyler Charlton (1-0) turned in a strong start by scattering a run on four hits in 5.1 innings with a career-high seven strikeouts. Kaleb Thomas fanned a pair in 1.1 innings after Charlton, and Max Knight struck out six Bearkats (1-2) while recording the final seven outs.
The Bears (2-1) sent 10 batters to the plate in the second inning and scored five times on RBI singles from Curry Sutherland, Knight, Nick Rodriguez and a two-run single from Taeg Gollert as part of his three-hit day.
William Zareh led off the fourth with a triple and scored on a Jake McCutcheon ground out for a 6-0 lead, and SHSU doubled twice in the bottom half for its first run.
Dylan Robertson walked and scored on a Sutherland double for a 7-1 advantage in the fifth, and Caden Bogenpohl and Robertson each drove in runs with productive outs in the ninth for the Bears’ final two tallies.
The Bearkats plated single runs in the seventh and ninth frames.
MoState’s 15 strikeouts were the staff’s most since May 26, 2023, and the Bears have fanned 12 or more batters in three consecutive games for the first time since February 2023.
Rodriguez reached safely three times and has now gotten on base in 41 consecutive games. Sutherland went 2-for-4 to join Gollert with multi-hit days
Up next for the Bears is a 3 p.m. Tuesday game at Central Arkansas, weather permitting.
