May 3, 2015 Box Score
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Justin Paulsen's one-out single in the bottom of the 10th inning handed Missouri State a 3-2 walk-off victory over Wichita State Sunday at Hammons Field, capping a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series sweep for the Bears.
With the bases loaded and the score knotted at 2-2, Paulsen lined a 1-0 offering from WSU reliever Reagan Biechler into right field to bring home pinch runner Landan Ruff with the game-winning run. The go-ahead hit--Paulsen's third of the game--gave the Bears (34-10, 12-3 MVC) their second conference series sweep of the season and their fifth extra-innings victory of the year.
Paulsen, who also drove in the Bears' first run of the day with a single in the second, finished the three-game set 7-for-12 with five RBIs and four runs scored to power the MSU offense, which posted a .300 team batting mark and outscored the Shockers by a 20-6 margin in the series.
To get to the decisive rally, the Bears rode the right arm of closer Bryan Young (7-0), who followed 5.1 shutout innings from starter Jordan Knutson with 3 1/3 innings of no-hit relief. Young took over with the potential go-ahead run in scoring position in the top of the seventh, just moments after Daniel Kihle's two-run homer erased a 2-0 deficit for the Shockers.
The Bears sophomore squashed the seventh-inning threat with a strikeout of Chase Rader, then worked out of another jam the following frame after WSU put their first two batters aboard via walks. Young got a lift from catcher Eduardo Castro, who picked Tanner Kirk off third for the second out in the eighth, then escaped the inning by getting Kihle on a fielder's choice grounder to shortstop.
The final two innings proved to be less eventful for Missouri State, as Young retired six of the final seven Shockers he faced before the Bears mounted their game-winning rally.
Wichita State reliever John Hayes was able to extend the game for the Shockers (18-29, 6-9 MVC) with some clutch pitching of his own after Kihle's game-tying home run. The right-hander, who entered the game to start the seventh, stranded the potential go-ahead run in scoring position in each of his first two innings before working a 1-2-3 ninth.
Eric Cheray's third single of the game got the ball rolling for MSU in the 10th, and Hayes beaned Spencer Johnson, who was attempting to sacrifice Ruff into scoring position. Jake Burger's chopper to short resulted in a force out at second, but moved the lead runner to third with just one out.
A walk to pinch hitter Blake Graham loaded the bases for Paulsen, who jumped on Biechler's second pitch and sent a screamer beyond the reach of first baseman Ryan Tinkham to plate Ruff with the deciding tally.
MSU, which wrapped up just its third regular-season sweep of the Shockers in 25 Valley seasons, improved its 2015 home mark to 13-3 with its 25th victory in 29 games since March 15. The Bears broke on top early for the third straight day, using a Burger single in the second to spark the game's first scoring rally. Cory Kay's sacrifice moved Burger into scoring position, and Paulsen drilled a Jeb Bargfeldt offering into left-center field to put the Bears on top, 1-0.
Paulsen would play a starring role in another MSU rally in the fourth, this time delivering a one-out base hit before coming all the way around from first on an Eduardo Castro double to deep left-center that staked the home club to a 2-0 advantage.
Knutson, who surrendered just four hits and three walks while striking out five WSU hitters, worked his way through several early-inning jams to keep the Shockers off the scoreboard. The sophomore stranded a pair of WSU baserunners in scoring position with an strikeout of Rader that ended the first, then avoided trouble in the third with the help of a 7-6-5 double play after the Shockers got back-to-back singles by Kihle and Tinkham to start another threat.
Wichita State, which left a total of 12 men on base, put two baserunners in scoring position with just one out in the fourth after Rader doubled and Taylor Sanagorski drew one of nine walks handed out by MSU pitchers. But Knutson came up with strikeouts of Keenan Eaton and Trey Vickers--both looking--to extinguish yet another scoring opportunity for the Shockers.
After a leadoff walk in the sixth, MSU turned to reliever Zach Merciez, who worked his way out of trouble by retiring Kirk and Sanagorski on ground balls. But a one-out free pass to Vickers in the seventh was followed by Kihle's game-tying blast to left center.
In addition to Paulsen's effort, Cheray produced his second multi-hit performance of the series, while Burger followed up a career-best 4-for-4 day in game two of the series with two more hits in his five at-bats in the finale.
Kihle (2-for-4) and Tinkham (2-for-5) each logged two-hit games to lead the Shockers, while Hayes (4-1) was tagged with the loss after allowing the game-winning run on three hits over his 3.1-inning stint.
Missouri State embarks on its final road swing of the regular season this week, beginning with a 6 p.m. game against Saint Louis Tuesday (May 5) evening at the Billiken Sports Center in St. Louis.
