MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Missouri State completed a perfect weekend at the Mule Mix Classic with a 5-0 blanking of Middle Tennessee Sunday afternoon at Reese Smith, Jr. Field. Dylan Coleman struck out eight hitters and limited the Blue Raiders to one hit over 7.0 innings, while Drew Millas drove in two of the Bears’ first three runs of the game to help lift MSU to its sixth win in seven games this season.
After being forced to rally for come-from-behind victories in each of their first three games of the week, the Bears (6-1) flipped the script Sunday, using a two-out, two-run rally to take command in the fourth. From that point, Coleman combined with relievers Jake Fromson and Bryan Young to shut down a Middle Tennessee offense that had scored 31 runs on 39 hits in its first two games of the weekend, holding the Blue Raiders to two hits on the day.
Justin Paulsen powered the Missouri State offense with a 3-for-4 day at the plate that included key hits in each of the Bears’ three scoring rallies. Millas, who belted the go-ahead homer in the 11th inning of Saturday’s win over Lipscomb, drove in the game-winning RBI against the Blue Raiders as well, doubling home MSU’s first run in the fourth, before adding a run-scoring ground ball in the eighth.
Coleman (1-0) worked his way out of trouble in two of the first three innings before picking up steam to record seven of his season-high eight strikeouts over his final five frames. A pair of defensive miscues and a walk set the table for the Blue Raiders in the first, but Coleman induced an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play to avoid trouble. He faced a two-on, two-out jam in the third after a wild pitch on a third strike and a walk put runners on first and second before a fly ball to right ended the threat.
The Blue Raiders (3-4) would not log their first hit against Coleman until Chaz Vesser led off the fifth with a base hit. But Kevin Sullivan chopped a grounder to first, where Paulsen stepped on the bag and fired to Jeremy Eierman at second to complete another critical twin-killing.
In all, Coleman retired 12 of the final 14 batters he faced and capped his day with a pair of strikeouts to work around a two-out walk in the seventh.
MSU utilized a two-out rally to put the first runs on the board in the fourth, as Paulsen sparked the rally with a liner through the right side of the Blue Raider infield. Aaron Meyer drew a walk from MTSU starter Carson Lester (0-1) to keep the inning alive, before Millas delivered a run-scoring double to left-center for a 1-0 MSU lead. Ben Whetstone drew a walk to load the bases, and a pitch to Ryan Skalnik skipped past the catcher to allow Meyer to score the second run of the inning.
The Bears followed a similar formula to add to their lead in the seventh, using one-out singles by Paulsen and Meyer to initiate another scoring chance. After a Reid Clements wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, Millas plated another run with a chopper to the right side of the infield to make it a 3-0 game.
After a two-out double by Jake Burger and a hit batsman, Paulsen added to the Bears’ cushion with his third hit of the day—a double off the left-field wall that scored both Burger and Eierman for a 5-0 margin.
Alex Jefferson turned in a 2-for-4 day at the dish, while Paulsen scored two runs and drove home two more. Both Fromson and Young delivered scoreless innings in relief of Coleman to extend a dominant stretch for the Bears bullpen to start the season. With Sunday’s effort, MSU relievers have combined to allow just one earned run while striking out 31 batters in 25.1 innings over their first seven games.
Missouri State continues its season-opening road swing with a pair of midweek contests at Arkansas State, beginning with a 4 p.m. game Tuesday (Feb. 28) at Tomlinson Stadium.
