SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State hit five home runs, including the first career multi-homer game from Zack Stewart to go with a career-high five RBI for the sophomore, to take the rubber match of the three-game series by a 15-5 final Sunday afternoon at Hammons Field.
Cody Kelly started the home run barrage by launching the third pitch he saw in the bottom of the first over the right field wall for a leadoff homer, but Arkansas State (9-3) scored the next five, capitalizing on a walk and hit batter before a three-run homer in the second, and two more free passes ahead of a pair of two-out singles to lead 5-1 in the fourth.
The Bears (6-5) erupted for seven runs in the bottom of the fourth, their highest scoring inning of the season, with three-run bombs by Stewart and Jahlani Rogers on either side of a Taeg Gollert sac fly.
Missouri State did not allow a run after that, with reliever Kaleb Thomas (2-1) pitching the middle three innings, and Tyler Charlton earning the three-inning save with three strikeouts.
Nick Rodriguez led off the fifth with a double to extend his hitting streak to 11 games, scored on a two-out error, then Kelly walked and Caden Bogenpohl smacked a two-run double to make it 11-5.
Stewart struck again on the first pitch of the sixth inning for his sixth dinger of the year and Jake McCutcheon added a two-out solo shot to make it 13-5.
Then in the seventh, Tyler Epstein hit a leadoff single and scored on a Bogenpohl ground out, then Gollert singled and scored on a Stewart single for the final 15-5.
Bogenpohl and Rogers each drove in three runs, while Kelly and Epstein scored three times apiece.
Missouri State is off until a March 8-10 series at Central Arkansas. Game times in Conway are 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
