SPRINGFIELD – Visiting Indiana State spoiled Missouri State’s final home game of the season Sunday afternoon with a 7-6 victory at Hammons Field.
Despite the loss, the Bears (27-22, 17-7 Missouri Valley Conference) head into their final series of the season at Murray State with a one-game lead on the Racers. With one victory, MoState will claim a share of its seventh MVC regular season title, while the series winner will take the top seed into the conference tournament. The series begins Thursday, May 15 at 5 p.m. in Murray, Ky.
Missouri State fell behind 4-0 after three innings, then clawed back for a 4-4 tie with key hits from Jake McCutcheon. The junior had an RBI double in the third and a two-run single in a three-run fourth to pull the Bears even.
The Sycamores (23-28, 11-13) used three hits and two walks to score three times in the fifth, Tyler Epstein countered with a two-run homer in the bottom half for a 7-6 deficit, and neither team scored after that, with ISU’s Gavin Morris (6-3) closing it with four scoreless frames.
The Bears put the tying run on second base in the ninth on Taeg Gollert’s double before Morris recorded the final two outs, including Max Knight’s fly ball to the warning track in left field.
Knight also pitched 1.2 scoreless innings and drew three walks at the plate, and Jackson Holmes tossed three shutout frames in relief.
Nick Rodriguez singled in the third inning to extend his hitting streak to 36 games, tying for the second-longest in league history based on available data. Wichita State’s Phil Stephenson holds the record at 47 games in 1981.
Missouri State drew 10 walks and stranded nine runners on base on its way to ending the home schedule with a 19-7 record at Hammons Field.
