CARBONDALE, Ill. – Missouri State won its sixth weekend series in eight tries on the season and took over sole possession of first place in the Missouri Valley Conference Monday with a doubleheader split at Southern Illinois.
The Bears (16-14, 7-2 MVC) won the opener 9-5 in 10 innings before SIU (22-9, 6-3) salvaged the finale 8-7 with a walk-off homer in the ninth.
Nick Rodriguez went 6-for-9 with three homers and two doubles to lead the Bears, who continue their road trip with a 6 p.m. Tuesday game at Kansas State (20-11,8-4 Big 12).
Game 1 Recap (Missouri State won, 9-5 in 10 innings)
Rodriguez homered twice and hit the go-ahead double in the 10th inning to lead the Bears to their sixth series win in eight weekends on the season.
SIU scored in each of the first three innings for a 4-1 lead, with Rodriguez’s solo homer in the third accounting for the MoState run.
The Bears tied it at 4-4 in the fifth on a Rodriguez sac fly followed by a two-run homer from Jake McCutcheon, his 10th of the season, and Rodriguez led off the seventh with a solo shot for a 5-4 lead and his fourth career multi-homer game.
The Salukis push across an unearned run in the seventh and each team made solid defensive plays with runners in scoring position in the late innings to get it to extras.
In the 10th, Rodriguez lined a two-run double to left center for a career-high five RBIs, and Carter Bergman added another two-run double for the 9-5 lead.
Tyler Charlton gave MSU five innings in the start and retired the last eight hitters he faced before handing the ball to Max Knight (2-2), who went a career-long four innings for the win.
Owen Slater came in to close out the 10th and struck out the first two batters before SIU loaded the bases, prompting Jackson Holmes in from the bullpen for the final strikeout and his second save.
Game 2 Recap (Southern Illinois won, 8-7)
SIU’s John Lemm led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a walk-off home run to help SIU overcome a 7-3 deficit for an 8-7 victory in the series finale.
The Bears jumped ahead 3-0 in the second after Logan Dunn knocked a two-run triple and Logan Fyffe follow with an RBI double for his first collegiate hit.
SIU scored once in the fourth and the Bears countered when Rodriguez opened the fifth with a double and McCutcheon followed with this 11th homer of the year and third in as many games for a 5-1 advantage. Rodriguez’s double extended his hitting streak to 17 games, tying for the 16th-best in school history and longest since Drake Baldwin hit safely in 21 straight in 2021.
The Salukis added a two-run homer in the sixth, and MSU starter Jason Schaaf finished the inning with a career-high eight strikeouts in a solid start.
Rodriguez struck back in the seventh with a leadoff homer – his fourth in the series – and Carter Bergman added an RBI single to make it 7-3.
SIU rallied in the bottom half, sending 10 to the plate and scoring four times for the 7-7 tie.
The Bears loaded the bases with one out in the ninth but came up empty, setting the stage for Lemm’s game-winner.
Caden Bogenpohl walked three times for MSU and has now reached safely in 43 consecutive games.
