Ryan Mantle smacked a three-run double in the sixth inning to provide all the offensive cushion Missouri State would need in a 4-1 Missouri Valley Conference victory against Evansville Saturday afternoon at Hammons Field.

UE starter John Foley issued three walks and a single to begin the sixth, but the Aces caught Nolan Keane stealing third to leave the Bears with the bases loaded and one out despite the first four men reaching safely. Mantle then cleared the bases with a three-run double to right-center that brought home Brayden Drake, Ben Carlson and Christian Overstreet to make it a 4-0 MSU lead.

The Bears broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the fifth. Overstreet drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third when Evansville’s catcher threw away Mantle’s sacrifice bunt attempt. Dallas Hord then drove in Overstreet with a sac fly to shallow right for the game’s first run.

Evansville plated a run in the seventh when Greg Wallace notched a two-out RBI single, but that was all the offense UE generated off Buddy Baumann (3-3), who struck out seven and walked two over seven innings for the Bears. The southpaw scattered seven hits and tied the longest outing of his career.

The Purple Aces got two singles off reliever Jon Barnes to put runners on the corners with no outs in the eighth, but closer Matt Frevert came in and sandwiched a strikeout and a double play around a walk to preserve the three-run lead. Frevert got a fly out and another double play in the ninth for his fourth save of the year.

Missouri State managed only five hits off Foley (2-3), who went the distance for UE in the loss.

MSU improved to 21-11 overall and 7-4 in MVC games, while the Aces fell to 6-26 and 1-10 in league play.

The Bears go for their first conference sweep of the season Sunday at 1 p.m.