Missouri State and Wichita State battled back-and-forth in a game that saw three tie scores and each team lead by at least three runs before the Shockers prevailed 12-10 in the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament final Saturday afternoon at Eck Stadium in Wichita, Kan.

Each team got a runner to second with one out in the first, but the Shockers came through with the game’s first run. Ryan Jones reached on an error and moved to second on a wild pitch before scoring when Conor Gillaspie chopped a single through the right side.

The Shockers (44-15) returned the favor in the top of the second with two defensive lapses to start the frame that put Bears on second and third with no outs. WSU made a third consecutive error when Dusty Coleman booted a Kyle Paul grounder, letting Ben Carlson score from third and tie the game. The Bears (40-17) got the lead after Curt Courtwright laid down a sac bunt and reached safely when second baseman Josh Workman dropped the ball while covering first, bringing Chris Playter in from third. A fly out and a wild pitch got Paul and Courtwright into scoring position and Nolan Keane brought both home with a single to left. In all, the Bears gained a 4-1 lead with the help of four Shocker errors.

Gillaspie tied the game in the third with a three-run homer to right-center, but Josh Mazzola hammered the first pitch of the fifth inning over the left field wall to get the lead back for MSU at 5-4. Workman then tied it at 5-5 in the bottom half of fifth with a sac fly.

MSU took the lead again in the sixth as Keane singled home Ryan Mantle with two outs to make it a 6-5 game, and reliever Sean Toler kept the Shockers off the board in the bottom half to complete three innings of one-run relief, bringing Matt Frevert in to close with three innings to go.

Workman got another game-tying RBI with a one-out single in the seventh and Tyler Weber sent the go-ahead run home with a sacrifice fly. Kevin Hall singled home Workman and Andy Dirks blooped a two-run single to end a five-run inning with the Shockers up 10-6.

The Bears came storming back, loading the bases with no outs in the top of the eighth. Brayden Drake welcomed reliever Khol Nanney with a two-run double, extending his hitting streak to 15 games in the process. Mazzola drove Keane in from third with a ground out to pull the Bears within a run, and another Shocker error by first baseman Tyler Hill let Drake score the tying run.

Now with Kyle Dyer on the mound for the Bears, Gillaspie bombed his second homer of the game to lead off the eighth, reclaiming an 11-10 lead for the home team. WSU added another run on an error before a double play ball sent the game into the ninth with the Shockers leading 12-10.

Mantle led off the MSU ninth with a walk and Woodbury hit a one-out single to bring Keane to the plate as the go-ahead run. Both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch, but Keane struck out swinging, leaving the game in Drake’s hands. The junior third baseman lashed a ball into the right field corner where Jones made a lunging catch before crashing into the wall in foul territory to record the final out.

The Bears will now wait to see if they earn an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament. The selection show will be televised on ESPN at 11:30 a.m. Monday.