KENNESAW, Ga. – It took two days with a weather suspension in between, but third-seeded Missouri State eventually fell to No. 2 Liberty by a 7-5 final Sunday in the semifinal of the Conference USA Baseball Championship at Mickey Dunn Stadium.
Missouri State (34-19) scored two in the first inning on a Taeg Gollert sac fly and Caden Bogenpohl RBI fielder’s choice, but Liberty (41-18) opened with three singles in the bottom half and all eventually scored for a 3-2 lead.
Gabe Roessler hit a solo homer in the second to tie it, Liberty took advantage of an error to retake the lead, and Bobby Atkinson homered for a 4-4 tie in the fourth.
Liberty scored twice after a leadoff walk and triple in the fourth, and the rain hit in the sixth, forcing a nearly two-hour delay before the decision to suspend was made shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday.
Once play resumed Sunday morning, Bryce Cermenelli drew a 12-pitch walk and scored on Bogenpohl single to make it 6-5, but Liberty answered a Mo State run for the fourth time in the bottom of the seventh thanks to an error and a two-out single for a 7-5 advantage.
The Bears got the tying run on base with one out in the ninth before Liberty’s Cooper Harrington finished off his 13th save.
Brock Lucas (6-5) went three innings in the start, and the Missouri State bullpen allowed one unearned run in five innings.
Fyffe collected three hits and Cermenelli and Atkinson had two each.
Missouri State, which entered the Liberty game ranked 22nd in the RPI, will find out its postseason fate on the NCAA selection show live on ESPN2 at 11 a.m. Monday.
