March 27, 2015 Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Missouri State took a 6-4 lead over Jacksonville into the final inning of the two clubs' series opener Friday at Sessions Stadium, before a power failure halted action with two out in the top of the ninth. Play will resume at 1 p.m. (Central) prior to the Bears' and Dolphins' previously-scheduled middle game of the three-game series.
Prior to the loss of power to three separate banks of lights in right field, Bears' starting pitcher Matt Hall struck out a career-high 12 hitters over 7.2 innings to help stake MSU to a two-run advantage. The junior left-hander yielded four runs (three earned) on just five hits.
After falling behind 2-0, the Bears rallied behind back-to-back home runs from Spencer Johnson and Matt Fultz to score three times in the fifth, then tacked on two more tallies in the sixth to take a 5-2 lead. JU used a two-out sixth-inning rally to pull to within a run before Hall stranded the tying run in scoring position and retired the first two batters he faced in the eighth after Dylan Becker's two-out RBI single in the top half of the inning gave the Bears some breathing room.
Following Hall's departure, the Dolphins put the tying runs on base against Zach Merciez, only to see closer Bryan Young extinguish the threat by inducing an inning-ending liner that Becker corralled and tossed to Joey Hawkins at second for a rally-killing force out.
Becker paced the MSU attack with two hits and two RBIs in his first four at-bats, and Aaron Meyer reached safely in each of his four trips to the plate, finishing his night 2-for-2 with a pair of walks.
Both starting pitchers cruised through the early portion of the contest, as Hall and JU's Michael Baumann combined to allow just one hit while striking out eight hitters over the first three innings. Baumann beaned Tate Matheny in the first and issued a two-out walk to Becker in the second, but allowed nothing else before Hawkins led off the fourth with the Bears' first hit of the game.
JU's freshman hurler brushed Matheny with a second pitch to put two on with nobody out, but Dolphins catcher Drew Luther gunned down his second baserunner of the night, nipping Hawkins at third on a double-steal attempt. Baumann escaped the inning untouched by retiring Justin Paulsen on a bouncer to third before fanning Blake Graham for the final out.
Hall was equally as effective against the Jacksonville lineup, setting down the first six Dolphins he faced in order. Luther started a JU threat in the third, however, driving a leadoff double into the gap in left-center, and Parker Perez coaxed a walk after initially falling behind in the count 0-2. An Alex Seifert sacrifice set up a first-and-third, one-out opportunity, but Hall promptly struck out Cameron Gibson and J.J. Gould to squash the rally.
But the Dolphins would cash in the following frame when Connor Marabell's one-out single sparked a two-run inning for the home club. Austin Hays followed Marabell's base hit with a liner into the right-field corner that went for three bases and a 1-0 JU lead. Hall recovered to strike out Dylan Dillard for the second out of the inning and appeared to have worked out of the jam with a comebacker off the bat of Luther. But Hall's throw to first was off the mark, pulling Paulsen off the bag and allowing Hays to cross the plate with an unearned run.
Held to just one hit through the first four innings, Missouri State's lineup roared to life in the fifth, touching up Baumann for three runs on five hits. Johnson fueled the fire by launching his second home run of the season just left of the 405-foot mark in center to start the rally. Fultz followed suit two pitches later, lofting an 0-1 pitch over the wall in left-center to knot the score at 2-2. Back-to-back one-out hits by Meyer and Becker put runners on the corners, before Hawkins's chopper to the right side gave Meyer enough time to score the go-ahead run.
MSU struck again in the sixth, getting to Baumann and JU reliever Spencer Stockton for two more tallies. Graham got the ball rolling with a leadoff single--the first of his two hits in the contest--and Johnson coaxed a walk to chase Baumann from the contest. Stockton struck out Fultz for the first out of the inning, but Burger's line-drive single to center brought home Graham for a 4-2 Bears' cushion. Next, Meyer kept the hot streak going with a base hit to right, setting up Becker's sacrifice fly to center that stretched the MSU lead to three runs.
Hall surpassed his previous career-best strikeout effort with two more K's in the sixth, but not before Jacksonville mounted a two-out rally to cut into its deficit. After Hall quickly retired the first two batters he faced, a walk to Hays and an infield single by Dillard kept the inning alive for Luther, who doubled for the second time in the game to chase home both baserunners and make it a 5-4 game.
The two clubs continue their series with game two of the three-game set immediately following Saturday's conclusion of the opener.
