SPRINGFIELD – Louisiana Monroe scored seven runs in the ninth inning Friday afternoon at Hammons Field to hand Missouri State a 9-8 loss in its 2025 home opener.
The Bears (2-6) led 6-2 entering the final inning when the Warhawk (5-3) bats caught fire, with ULM hitting for the team cycle in addition to drawing three walks to plate seven for a 9-6 lead.
Jake McCutcheon hit a two-run home for the Bears in the ninth for the 9-8 final.
MoState got another solid start from freshman Michael Yusypchuk, who allowed two runs on six hits in six innings while striking out nine, the most for an MSU pitcher since Jake Eddington whiffed 10 Murray State batters in the 2023 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
ULM scored on a sac fly in the first inning after a leadoff triple resulted from a fly ball lost in the sun, and Taeg Gollert tied it in the bottom half with a solo homer to center field.
Curry Sutherland homered in the fourth and ULM smacked a solo shot in the sixth for the 2-2 score.
The Bears scored twice in the seventh on a Caden Bogenpohl RBI single and Nick Rodriguez sac fly, then twice more in the eighth on Carter Bergman’s double for a 6-2 advantage.
Bergman, McCutcheon and Gollert each recorded two hits, and Rodriguez reached three times via walk.
Kaleb Thomas tossed scoreless seventh and eighth frames before running into trouble in the ninth, and Jake Syverson (1-1) took the loss in relief.
Game two of the series is set for 2 p.m. Saturday.
