SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The Missouri State baseball team used two solid pitching performances and its best offensive day of the season Saturday to earn victories of 6-1 and 15-2 in a doubleheader sweep of North Dakota State at Hammons Field. The Bears improved to 3-6 on the year, while the Bison fell to 2-4.
The series concludes at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Game 1 Recap
Pat Doyle tossed a complete-game three-hitter and the Bears scored in three of their six at bats to claim a 6-1 victory in seven innings.
Doyle (1-1) allowed three singles, one run and struck out five while getting 12 ground outs and three double plays.
The Bears scored two runs on a wild play in the first to grab the early lead. Following
Kevin Medrano’s two-out single,
Luke Voit pulled the next pitch into the left field corner for a double. The Bison relayed home and Medrano was safe as the ball skipped past the catcher. Voit took third on the throw home and pitcher Mark Schroeder, backing up the catcher, fired wildly to third, allowing Voit to score as the ball sailed back into left field.
NDSU answered in the second with an RBI single from Tyler Steen, but
Aaron Conway’s sacrifice fly in the third scored
Curt Courtwright and got the lead back to two runs at 3-1.
The Bears capped their scoring with a three-run fourth.
Christian Overstreet and
Trevor Rogers ripped back-to-back doubles to open the inning and extend the lead. Rogers moved to third on a balk and scored on a
Tyler Paxson sac fly before
Tyler Ryun belted a solo homer to left to put the Bears ahead 6-1.
Game 2 Recap The Bears led 2-0 three batters into the game on a combination of two errors, a hit batsman and a single that resulted in Medrano on third base with no out and
Travis McComack and
Zak Swyhart crossing the plate. Overstreet walked on four pitches and Rogers knocked an RBI single to right to plate Medrano. NDSU’s Kirk Dehler recorded his first out but surrendered a three-run homer to Beau Stoker as the Bears jumped ahead 6-0.
MSU added to the score in the second when McComack scored after a leadoff single on Medrano’s one-out RBI hit. Overstreet walked and Rogers sent reliever Colby Tognetti’s first pitch over the wall in center for a 10-0 lead.
The game remained 10-0 until Overstreet belted a two-run homer in with no out in the sixth for a 12-0 score, and an error on the Bison allowed Courtwright to score in the seventh following a one-out double. Two walks loaded the bases before
Zak Swyhart scored on a wild pitch and Rogers drove in Medrano with a sac fly to make it 15-0.
Mike Kickham (2-1) held the Bison to one hit through five innings and finished with seven scoreless frames and 10 strikeouts for his second win of the season.
Sean Toler struck out the side in the eighth and
Tyler Bean pitched the ninth.
