Ross Detwiler and Chris Mackey combined to three-hit South Dakota State and Missouri State pulled ahead for good with two runs in the fifth to earn a 5-1 victory over the Jackrabbits Friday afternoon at Hammons Field.
The Bears evened their record at 7-7 while SDSU fell to 9-10 on the season.
Cal Lewis gave South Dakota State a 1-0 lead in the third. The third baseman drew a leadoff walk and scored on a sacrifice bunt and two passed balls, the second of which was a strikeout that got through Clay Coulter and made its way to the backstop.
Despite trailing 1-0, Detwiler took a no-hitter into the fifth before Lewis struck again with a one-out double.
Detwiler was dominant in his longest outing of the year, going eight innings to move his record to 2-1. The southpaw allowed just two hits and an unearned run while striking out five.
Bears right fielder Nolan Keane tied the game with a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth. Kyle Paul and Ben Carlson followed with back-to-back singles, and Paul scored on an error to give Missouri State its first lead of the game at 2-1.
With one out in the seventh, the Bears strung together four straight singles and a walk to load the bases and push the advantage to 4-1. Coulter drew a walk to force Curt Courtwright home and extend the lead to 5-1 through seven frames for the final margin.
Game two of the series is tomorrow at 2 p.m.