SPRINGFIELD – Max Knight’s go-ahead home run capped a five-run seventh inning for the Bears Tuesday in a back-and-forth game at Hammons Field that ended in the bottom of the eighth inning due to lightning and resulted in a 9-7 MoState victory.
After Saint Louis (5-7) clubbed a three-run homer in the first, MoState (5-6) played catch-up the rest of the way until Knight’s round-tripper handed the Bears a third consecutive win.
For the second straight game and fifth time in his career, Caden Bogenpohl led off with a home run, SLU answered with a solo shot in the second, and Bogenpohl walked and scored on Jake McCutcheon’s ground out in the third for a 4-2 score.
Taeg Gollert walked with the bases loaded in the fourth to make it 4-3, and the Billikens answered right back with a single and RBI double.
William Zareh got the Bears within a run again at 5-4 with a solo homer in the sixth, but SLU countered the next half inning with two more for a 7-4 advantage.
In the seventh, Gollert opened with a single before the Bears unleashed a barrage of extra-base hits. Nick Rodriguez doubled, Zack Stewart hit a two-run double, Dylan Robertson added an RBI double and Knight launched the go-ahead homer to left center for the 9-7 lead.
Knight also threw 2.1 innings in the relief and gave way to Kaleb Thomas (1-0) in the seventh, who struck out two SLU batters to earn the winning decision. Dalen Stewart threw a scoreless eighth in his season debut for what turned out to be a save in the weather-shortened game.
Lightning struck in the area in the bottom of the eighth after Nick Rodriguez doubled and Tyler Epstein reached on a sacrifice bunt that wasn’t fielded cleanly by the SLU defense.
The MSU offense drew nine walks and clubbed eight extra-base hits, while six different pitchers recorded a strikeout for 12 in total.
The Bears head to Kansas this weekend to renew a long-time rivalry with Wichita State. Game times from Eck Stadium in Wichita are 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 11:30 a.m. Sunday.
