MSU’s Eierman walks off against Oklahoma State

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Jeremy Eierman’s two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth handed Missouri State a 6-5 walk-off victory over Oklahoma State in the opening round of the NCAA Fayetteville Regional Friday afternoon at Baum Stadium.

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In the first-ever postseason meeting of the two Bears and Cowboys, Eierman belted a 2-1 offering from Trey Cobb (1-1) into the OSU bullpen in right field for his second home run of the game, providing a fitting finish to a wild ninth inning that saw both clubs erase one-run deficits to take leads courtesy of clutch two-out offensive performances.

After the Cowboys (30-26) mounted a two-out rally of their own to grab a 5-4 lead in the top of the ninth, Justin Paulsen sparked the Bears’ comeback with a leadoff single in the home half of the inning. Cobb recovered to retire Jake Burger on a fly ball to center and Blake Graham on a strikeout, before Eierman’s opposite-field blast capped MSU’s 18th come-from-behind victory of the season and set up a Saturday (June 3) evening matchup with the winner of Friday’s second game pitting host and top seed Arkansas against No. 4 seed Oral Roberts.

Missouri State (41-17) overcame a 13-hit barrage from the OSU offense, which was powered by a career day from Garrett Benge. The Cowboys third baseman hit for the cycle with his 4-fof-5 day, tying the game with a two-out triple into the right-field corner off Bryan Young in the top of the ninth, then scoring the go-ahead tally on a Jordan Knutson wild pitch moments later.

The victory for MSU came just moments after a gut-wrenching turn of events that saw Oklahoma State complete its comeback from an early 3-0 deficit, scoring single tallies in the fourth, fifth and sixth frames, before taking the lead for the first time with its ninth inning rally that started with Garrett McCain’s base hit after Young quickly dispatched the first two Cowboys he faced to bring the Bears to within one out of victory.

The Bears jumped on top with a first-inning run after back-to-back walks to Hunter Steinmetz and Paulsen preceded a scorching single to left off the bat of Burger that put Missouri State in front, 1-0. It would be a pair of freshmen providing critical hits in the third after Eierman walked and stole second to put the MSU offense in motion once again. Millas lashed a two-out, opposite-field double to chase home the runner from second, and Jack Duffy followed with an RBI single to center to hand the Bears a three-run bulge.

Benge put OSU on the board with his 10th home run of the year to start the fourth, before Andrew Rosa’s leadoff single off MSU starter Doug Still came home to roost on Ryan Cash’s RBI single the following inning.

Eierman, who finished 2-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBIs, answered the two Cowboy runs with his 20th home run of the season to lead off the fifth, launching a Carson Teel pitch over the left-field bullpen to hand Still and the Bears a 4-2 cushion.

A Colin Simpson single and a Ryan Sluder double set up another scoring chance for OSU in the sixth. Jon Littell’s base hit to left brought in the third Cowboy run, but Burger received Alex Jefferson’s throw and relayed to catcher Drew Millas to cut down Sluder attempting to score the tying run.

Jake Fromson held OSU in check through the seventh, working around a hit batsman and a two-out Benge single to retire Simpson on an inning-ending bouncer to third. The MVC Pitcher of the Year sandwiched a Littell single with his second and third strikeouts of the game in the eighth, before Young would take over and induce a pop-up to second to extinguish the Cowboy threat.

Still turned in a strong starting effort for MSU, allowing three runs on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings, and Fromson followed with 2.1 scoreless innings to get the ball into Young’s hands. Knutson (7-2) picked up the victory — his 20th as a Bear — after recording the final out of the ninth.

Paulsen finished with a 2-for-3 day at the plate to complement Eierman’s second multi-homer game in as many career outings at Baum Stadium. The sophomore went 5-for-5 with two homers and four RBIs in an 8-2 Missouri State victory on May 17, 2016 in his only other game as a Bear in Fayetteville.

The Bears will square off against either Arkansas or ORU Saturday at 7 p.m., while Oklahoma State will face the loser of the same contest at 2 p.m. Saturday.

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