SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Missouri State dominated all phases of their 2016 fall opener against the Ontario Blue Jays Friday afternoon, pounding out 16 hits and drawing 13 walks at the plate, while five hurlers combined to strike out 14 hitters and allow only four hits in a 16-2 victory at Hammons Field.

Hunter Steinmetz powered the potent MSU offense with a 3-for-4 day at the dish that included a fifth-inning grand slam that capped a key six-run rally for the Bears. The sophomore outfielder reached safely in all six of his plate appearances, scored four times and drove in five runs, finishing just a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.

MSU, which also received a big day from All-America third baseman Jake Burger, answered the Blue Jays' lone scoring rally of the day in the second with a four-run rally of its own to take the lead for good. With two on and two out, Logan Geha delivered the first of his two hits by lashing a run-scoring single to left that knotted the score at 2-2. That set off a string of four consecutive RBI singles, as Trey Turner, Steinmetz and Jack Duffy added to the Bears' lead with run-producing hits for a 5-2 margin.

Geha came through again in the fourth, leading off the frame with a long solo shot into the left-field bullpen. After a walk to Steinmetz and a double by Duffy, Burger drove home his second run of the day with an infield bouncer to make it a 7-2 game.

The Bears unleashed their decisive onslaught in the sixth, as a leadoff single by Blake Graham preceded a Jeremy Eierman triple and a Justin Paulsen grounder that produced two more tallies. Junior transfer Ryan Skalnik got the ball rolling once again with a base hit, before back-to-back walks to Drew Millas and Turner set the stage for Steinmetz's long blast that caromed off the top of the clubhouse in right field, turning a 9-2 game into an 11-run MSU advantage.

MSU's mound corps wouldn't need the sizable margin, as Dylan Coleman, Jordan Knutson, Jake Fromson and Bryan Young teamed up to hold the Blue Jays hitless over the final 6 2/3 innings. Starter Doug Still fanned a pair of hitters, scattered three hits and allowed a two-run single in the second, before Coleman followed with 2.0 scoreless innings of one-hit relief. After a one-out single in the third, the sophomore worked out of trouble with a strikeout and the help of Geha, who gunned down the runner attempting to steal second.

Coleman then struck out the side in the fourth before yielding to Knutson, who promptly retired all six hitters he faced. Fromson ran the Bears' string of successive batters retired to nine in a row before issuing a two-out walk in the eighth. In all, MSU pitching allowed just two baserunners over the final six frames, while totaling 11 K's.

The Bears would added to the cushion with a three-spot in the seventh, thanks in large part to Burger's screaming two-run double into the left-field corner.

Geha added a perfect 2-for-2 appearance, and newcomers Skalnik and Duffy each chipped in with a pair of hits as well.

Missouri State will continue its fall schedule with Game 1 of the Bears' annual Maroon and White Fall Series next Wednesday (Sept. 28) at 3 p.m. Ticket information for the 2017 season will be made available through the official online home of Missouri State Athletics, MissouriStateBears.com, when it becomes available.