SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State sophomore Max Knight struck out nine in a four-inning save and added a solo home run to help the Bears top Evansville 7-2 and claim the series win Saturday afternoon at Hammons Field.
Knight’s nine strikeouts are the most by a Missouri State reliever since Sam Perez fanned that many against Illinois State on May 19, 2016. Perez also struck out 10 in relief a year prior at Saint Louis. Knight allowed just one hit in his third save of the season and logged his seventh game of the year with a pitching appearance and home run. He also helped the MSU bullpen run its scoreless streak to 17.2 innings.
The Bears (23-18, 13-4 Missouri Valley Conference) ended the day with a two-game lead in the league standings, while Evansville fell to 13-28 and 7-10 in Valley games.
Evansville got all its offense on back-to-back solo homers in the third inning, and it was all Bears after that.
Starter Jason Schaaf (4-0) settled in to complete five innings with five strikeouts, and Nick Rodriguez put the Bears on the board in the fourth inning with his 13th homer of the year, extending his hitting streak to 28 games in the process. Only Brayden Drake (30 in 2009) and Kevin Medrano (29 in 2010) sit ahead of Rodriguez in that category at Missouri State.
Carter Bergman opened the fifth inning with his eighth homer of the season, and the Bears then strung together four consecutive two-out singles, with Jake McCutcheon driving in two runs and Taeg Gollert another for the 5-2 lead.
It was all Knight after that, with his four scoreless innings slamming the door on the Purple Aces in addition to joining Gollert with back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning for the 7-2 final score.
The Bears go for the sweep at 1 p.m. Sunday. Tickets to home baseball games can be purchased here, and MSU students are admitted free.
