SPRINGFIELD – Logan Fyffe hit a 406-foot walk-off home run in the 12th inning Saturday at Hammons Field to give the Bears a school-record 17th consecutive home victory with an 8-6 defeat of Western Kentucky.
The Bears (26-10, 14-3 Conference USA) needed heroics in the ninth inning as well, trailing the Hilltoppers (19-20, 6-11) 6-4 entering the final frame of regulation.
Brant Kragel led off the ninth with a double and Carter Bergman was hit by a pitch before both moved into scoring position on a sacrifice and then scored on Gabe Roessler’s single for a 6-6 tie.
Curry Sutherland (2-0) took over on the mound after that, moving over from third base to fire three shutout innings with three strikeouts and just one hit allowed. That performance kept the Bears tied, Caden Bogenpohl hit a one-out single in the 12th before Fyffe launched a 3-0 pitch well beyond the left field wall for the winner.
The Bears led 3-1 in the third on Taeg Gollert’s 10th homer of the year, which also made the senior the first player in program history with four seasons with at least 40 RBIs.
WKU tied it in the fifth, and Bogenpohl and Fyffe opened the sixth with consecutive doubles for a 4-3 lead.
The Tops scored a pair of unearned runs in the seventh to regain the lead and added a run in the eighth for a 6-4 advantage.
Owen Slater went four innings in the start, and Max Knight bridged the middle of the game with a career-long 4.2 innings, allowing three runs (one earned) with five strikeouts.
Bogenpohl and Roessler each collected three hits, and Bryce Cermenellli extended his hitting streak to 19 games, tying the 11th-longest in program history.
Mo State goes for the sweep at 1 p.m. Sunday.
