SPRINGFIELD – Caden Bogenpohl launched the first pitch of the 10th inning well beyond the left center field wall to end a wild 15-14 Missouri State victory over 17th-ranked Arkansas Tuesday evening at Hammons Field.
Bogenpohl’s homer marked the game’s seventh lead change and helped the Bears move to 12-0 at home and 18-9 overall in front of 6,538 fans, the fourth-largest home crowd in program history.
Gabe Roessler sent the game to extras with a two-run shot in the ninth, and Curry Sutherland (1-0) – who started the game at third base – finished the game with three perfect innings and five strikeouts on the mound for the victory.
Missouri State built an early 6-1 lead with a six-run second, with Brant Kragel hitting a two-run homer, Bryce Cermenelli adding a two-run single, one run scoring on a balk and Bogenpohl hitting an RBI single. Taeg Gollert mixed in his 67th career double to tie Brayden Drake’s school record.
Arkansas scored the next six runs to lead 7-6, Kragel’s two-run double in the fourth made it 9-7 Bears, and the Hogs answered again with a three-run homer in the fifth.
In the sixth, an error extended the inning and allowed the tying run to score, and Logan Fyffe put the Bears on top 12-10 with his fourth homer of the season.
The Razorbacks responded yet again with a grand slam in the seventh, and the eighth inning passed as the only frame in the contest where neither team scored.
Fyffe led of the ninth with a single to set up Roessler’s tying homer, and Sutherland retired the heart of the Arkansas order on nine pitches in the 10th to set up Bogenpohl’s winner.
Kragel set a career high with four RBIs, and Cermenelli went 4-for-6 to extend his hitting streak to 15 games.
The Bears remain home for a Conference USA series with Sam Houston this weekend. Game times are 6:30 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
