FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Powered by a pair of early home runs and some clutch work from its bullpen, Missouri State improved to 2-0 at the Fayetteville Regional with a hard-fought 5-4 victory over Arkansas Saturday evening at Baum Stadium.
Hunter Steinmetz and Justin Paulsen led the Bears’ power surge with matching 2-for-4 nights, as each went deep against Razorback right-hander Blaine Knight (8-5) to stake the Bears to an early lead. After a two-run sixth for MSU snapped a 3-3 tie, the Bears turned to All-America reliever Jake Fromson to turn the lights out. The right-hander did just that, closing out the Bears’ second-straight one-run victory with 2.0 hitless innings.
With the victory, the second-seeded Bears (42-17) moved to within one win of clinching their second NCAA Regional title in three seasons and will face the winner of an elimination game between Arkansas and Oral Roberts at 8 p.m. Sunday.
After Steinmetz led off the home half of the first with a long home run to right off Knight, Paulsen launched a two-run shot in the third to stake the Bears to a 3-1 lead.
Just as they did in the second, top-seeded Arkansas would battle back to even the score in the fifth, capitalizing on back-to-back singles from Chad Spanberger and Luke Bonfield and an RBI double by Dominic Fletcher off MSU starter Dylan Coleman. A chopper in front of the mound off the bat of Jax Biggers allowed the tying run to score, but MSU reliever Jordan Knutson fanned Grant Koch for the third out, stranding a pair of Razorbacks in scoring position.
The game’s critical rally started with a Jeremy Eierman one-out single in the sixth which ended Knight’s evening. UA reliever Matt Cronin plunked Blake Graham, then walked Alex Jefferson on four pitches to load the bases. After another call to the bullpen, a passed ball brought in Eierman with the go-ahead run, and a Jack Duffy grounder to short plated Graham for a 5-3 Bears lead.
Arkansas (43-18) took advantage of a leadoff hit by Bonfield and three two-out wild pitches from Knutson to pull to within a run in the seventh. Knutson worked his way out of trouble to preserve the one-run lead, however, getting Koch to bounce out to third to once again strand a UA runner in scoring position.
In all, Knutson (8-2) would allow one run on one hit over his 2 2/3 innings before Fromson took over to start the eighth. The junior retired the side in order in the eighth, before walking Spanberger to start the ninth. He blew a third strike past Bonfield for the first out, then induced the game-clinching 4-6-3 double play to finish it off.
Coleman allowed three runs on six hits, while striking out six batters over his 4 1/3 innings.
Bonfield led the Arkansas attack with a 3-for-5 night, and Biggers added a single and two walks in his four plate appearances.
