SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Behind a balanced blend of shutdown pitching, error-free defense and an opportunistic offense, Missouri State claimed the Battle for Bell with a 4-1 victory over cross-town rival Drury Saturday evening at U.S. Baseball Park.
For the third time in six years, the Bears and Panthers joined forces on the diamond to honor former Bear Howard Bell and continue their ongoing quest to help find a cure for ALS – commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease – with a nine-inning exhibition game. An estimated crowd of 2,500 witnessed shutdown performance by six Missouri State hurlers, who combined to strikeout 11 hitters while holding the Panthers to a single sixth-inning tally.
The Bears played the game’s first run in the top of the second, taking advantage of a leadoff single from Sam Faith—the first of two hits on the night for the sophomore—a walk to Anthony Herron, Jr., and a sacrifice bunt by Jordan Fitzpatrick to set up the scoring chance. With one out and Dakota Kotowski at the plate, DU starter Tom Tewes was called for a balk, allowing Faith to trot home for a 1-0 Missouri State lead.
After MSU starting pitcher Ty Buckner—who earned the mound victory—teamed up with relievers Davis Schwab and Logan Wiley to hold DU scoreless through the first five frames, junior All-American Drew Millas doubled the Bears’ lead in the sixth with a leadoff solo blast over the right-center field wall.
The Panthers rode a pair of singles and a walk to generate their first scoring rally of the game in the home half of the sixth. Clayton Engle drew a one-out walk after Millas gunned down his third DU baserunner of the night, before Bayler Hinz drove a base hit through the right side of the MSU infield to put runners on the corners. Freshman right-hander Hayden Juenger induced an infield pop-up for the second out, but Hinz and Engel executed a successful double steal to slice the MSU lead in half.
But the defending Missouri Valley Conference champs had an answer in the top of the seventh, drawing a free pass on a hit batsman to start the inning, before Collin Clayton beat out a throw to first on a bunt attempt. Mason Hull’s sacrifice put a pair of Bears in scoring position, and two wild pitches from Alex Austin got away from DU catcher Nikko Calabro to allow MSU to extend its lead to 4-1.
From there, senior lefty Jake Lochner and sophomore closer Connor Sechler slammed the door on DU, allowing just two more Panthers to reach base over the final three innings. Lochner worked around a one-out walk in the home half of the seventh, before Sechler used a strong defensive play by John Privitera on a two-out, slow roller up the middle to strand a Drury baserunner in scoring position in the eighth. The Bears’ freshman All-American last spring then fanned two Panthers in a 1-2-3 ninth to secure the victory—MSU’s third in as many Battle for Bell meetings with Drury since the initial contest in the series in 2012.
Faith finished his night 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored, while Millas went 1-for-3 with a walk and Clayton singled and scored in his first game action in a Bears’ uniform. Buckner scattered a pair of singles and a walk in his 2.0 frames, before Wiley and Sechler also registered two scoreless innings apiece to help complete the strong mound showing for MSU.
Missouri State will continue its fall slate with an Oct. 3 match-up against Pittsburg State at Hammons Field, before opening its annual Maroon and White Fall World Series the following afternoon at 3 p.m.
