The Missouri State baseball team split a Missouri Valley Conference doubleheader with Illinois State Saturday, losing the first game 8-7 and winning the second 8-5 at Duffy Bass Field in Normal, Ill.

    MSU is now 18-13 overall and 6-1 in MVC play, while the Redbirds are 15-10 and 5-4 in the league.

    The Bears stole nine bases in 10 tries in the doubleheader, with Chis Playter going 4-for-4. Kevin Medrano had five hits and four RBIs in the two games.

    The two teams conclude the series at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Game 1 Recap

    The Bears fought back from an early 4-0 deficit to take a 7-5 lead before Illinois State’s Mike Stalowy completed a 5-for-5 day with a walk-off single.

    Medrano, who went 4-for-5 with three RBIs, scored MSU’s first run on a double play in the fourth, and the Bears tied it with three in the fifth. Tyler Ryun started things with a two-out single, and ISU’s Ryan Camp hit Aaron Conway after that. Medrano singled to right to plate Ryun, while Conway sped home when Anthony Ruffolo misplayed the ball to tie the game. Camp unleashed two wild pitches and walked Ben Carlson before ending the fifth.

    Illinois State retook the lead on Ruffolo’s two-out double in the fifth, and the score remained 5-4 until the Bears threatened with two in scoring position and one out in the seventh. Medrano doubled in both with his third hit of the day to give MSU its first lead at 6-5. Camp sandwiched a fly out between two walks to load the bases, and Evan Kohli booted a Trevor Rogers grounder to let another run score and prolong the inning before ISU recorded the third out with the Bears ahead 7-5.

    The Redbirds fought back for the tie with solo homers in the seventh and eighth frames, while the Bears left the bases loaded in both innings, failing to put distance between themselves and the home team.

    Illinois State put the winning run on second with one out in the ninth, bringing Jon Barnes in from the bullpen to relieve Tim Clubb (3-2) after 8.1 innings. Stalowy greeted Barnes with his fifth hit of the day, singling the game-winner inside the third base bag.

Game 2 Recap

    Buddy Baumann outdueled Ryan Copeland in a battle of two of The Valley’s top southpaws, improving to 7-0 with the win. Baumann struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits, while Copeland fanned 10 over 7.1, but was tagged for six runs on seven hits.

    The Bears opened game two much like the first game ended, stranding Conway at third base after he reached with one out, then committing two errors in the bottom of the first to fall behind 1-0.

    Missouri State quickly grabbed the lead in the second after Playter tripled home Dallas Hord and Zak Swyhart with no outs. Playter then scored when the Redbirds opted to throw home on Travis McComack’s grounder to first for a 3-1 lead.

    Copeland retired 12 Bears in a row after the first four batters reached in the rocky second, sitting MSU down in order until Brayden Drake led off the sixth with a single. Carlson followed with a single and Hord doubled in Drake to put two in scoring position with no outs and the Bears leading 4-1. Copeland retired the next two hitters, but tossed a wild pitch to let Carlson score easily from third and extend the MSU advantage to 5-1.

    Baumann kept the Redbirds off the board until the sixth when Gabe DeMarco slapped a two-out, two-run double before ending the inning with his 10th strikeout of the game and a 5-3 lead.

    The Bears wasted a leadoff triple the next inning with three straight strikeouts, but made good on Hord’s leadoff single in the eighth as the junior catcher scored on McComack’s grounder to shortstop for a 6-3 lead.

    The insurance run was much-needed for the Bears as the Redbirds opened their half of the eighth with three straight singles. Two of those runners scored, and only a sliding catch by Playter in left kept the lead at 6-5 entering the ninth.

    Missouri State matched the two Redbird runs in the top of the ninth. Conway drew a leadoff walk, stole second and scored on Medrano’s single for the first run. A sacrifice, a hit batter and a fielder’s choice put runners on the corners with two outs for Rogers, who hit a ground ball to shortstop that turned into an RBI fielder’s choice after Hord beat the throw to second.

    Barnes, who came in with a three-run lead in the eighth before two inherited runners scored, was handed another three-run cushion at 8-5 in the ninth and worked around a one-out error for his third save of the year. Playter made a diving catch on the left field line for the final out.