EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Missouri State kept its Missouri Valley Conference hot streak rolling, using big innings in each of their two games against Evansville to overcome early deficits and run its Valley regular-season win streak to 15-straight victories Saturday at Braun Stadium.

After erasing a three-run deficit with a seven-run inning Friday before inclement weather halted play in the fourth inning of the series opener, the Bears finished off a 13-8 win over the Aces in game one, before mounting their biggest comeback of the season in the second contest by scoring nine unanswered runs after UE built a 5-0 advantage.

Jeremy Eierman led the opening-game comeback with a pair of two-run homers and five RBIs altogether, while Justin Paulsen matched a program record with three doubles in the nightcap, including the go-ahead two-bagger with two out in the seventh inning to cap a six-run rally for the Bears (30-13, 11-0 MVC).

MSU drew 23 walks in the two games and extended its streak of hitting at least one home run to 15 consecutive games—its longest since 1999.

Game 1 – Missouri State 13, Evansville 8
The Bears capitalized on 13 walks and a big effort from Eierman to post a 13-8 win in the series opener, highlighted by a seven-run fourth inning that turned a three-run deficit into a 7-3 advantage. Eierman belted a pair of two-run homers, including a fourth-inning shot that put the Bears on the board and the go-ahead round-tripper in the sixth after UE rallied to tie the score.

Evansville capitalized on a pair of two-out rallies in the early going to build its 3-0 lead against MSU starter Jordan Knutson. After a Trey Hair double with one out in the first, Craig Shepherd put the Aces on the board with a chopper to shortstop that Eierman could not corral. 

After Knutson quickly dispatched the first two hitters in the second, the No. 8 and No. 9 batters in the UE order delivered back-to-back singles to set up another scoring threat. Korbin Williams came through with a two-out single to plate both baserunners for the early 3-0 lead.

After UE starting pitcher Patrick Schnieders (2-6) held the Bears hitless over the first three innings, Jake Burger led off the fourth with a single to right field and Eierman followed with his 16th home run of the season to cut the Aces lead to 3-2. The first of Blake Graham's three singles in the game kept the heat on Schnieders, who would issue three walks in the inning after an error on a would-be double-play ball gave the Bears new life. Back-to-back bases-loaded walks to John Privitera and Hunter Steinmetz pushed home the tying and go-ahead tallies, before Paulsen's line-drive single plated two more.

Eierman capped the scoring in the rally with a sacrifice fly to left, before lightning in the area halted play for the evening with MSU holding a 7-3 advantage.

Evansville would waste little time in kicking its offense into gear once play resumed Saturday, as a walk, a hit batsman and a Dylan Coleman wild pitch handed the Aces a run. Beilsmith's second single of the game brought in a second UE run, and Travis Tokarek completed the comeback with a two-run homer to right in the bottom of the fifth.

But the Bears would respond immediately, using a two-out wild pitch on a strikeout of Burger to set up Eierman's two-run blast down the left-field line that put MSU in front to stay. 

MSU expanded its lead to 13-7 with a four-run seventh, taking advantage of three more walks handed out by the Aces bullpen. Alex Jefferson started the rally by coaxing his fourth free pass of the game, before a walk to Drew Millas and an error loaded the bases. Steinmetz drove a two-run single to left-center for a four-run cushion, and Graham roped a two-run single up the middle to hike the Bears' lead to six runs.

After his rocky start to the afternoon, Coleman (6-2) settled into a groove and retired 10 batters in a row. He fanned seven over 4 2/3 innings to pick up his sixth victory of the season, before Jake Fromson closed out the win with an inning and a third of solid relief.

Eierman led the Bears with his 2-for-4 effort and five RBIs, while Graham went 3-for-6 with a pair of RBIs and Steinmetz drove home three runs.

Game 2 – Missouri State 9, Evansville 5
Game two started much the same as the first contest, with Williams belting the first pitch MSU starter Doug Still threw for a home run to left field. The Aces leadoff man blasted a second solo shot his next time up in the third, this time driving a two-strike offering down the left-field line for a 2-0 UE lead.

Hair's two-out, two-run single in the fourth upped the Aces advantage to 4-0, before a Millas throwing error on a Dalton Horstmeier steal of third brought home the fifth UE tally in the bottom of the sixth.

UE starter Connor Strain stifled the MSU lineup throughout his five innings, despite issuing six walks. The right-hander worked out of trouble in the second with two of his six strikeouts to strand a pair of runners in scoring position. He thwarted a Bears' threat again in the fifth, stranding the bases loaded by inducing a bouncer to second.

MSU loaded the bases again with one out in the sixth against reliever Ryan Brady, only to see a strikeout of Steinmetz and a fly ball off the bat of Paulsen end that scoring chance as well.

But just as Eierman ignited the MSU offense with a long ball in the opening game, Burger sparked the Bears' offense with a leadoff shot to left to open the seventh. The All-American's 18th homer of the season opened the floodgate, as six of the next eight MSU hitters would reach base and the Bears would send a total of 10 men to the plate in the six-run inning.

Three straight hits from Jefferson, Millas and Jack Duffy plated two more runs to cut the margin to 5-3, and Privitera's sacrifice fly to deep center brought home a fourth tally. A walk to Steinmetz put runners on the corners, and Paulsen came through with a line-drive double to left-center to score both runners for a 6-5 MSU lead.

The Bears added an unearned run in the eighth when Eierman singled, swiped second and scored on a two-out chopper to short that was mishandled for one of four UE errors in the game.

Paulsen added his third double to drive in a run in the top of the ninth, matching a school single-game record with three doubles. Another defensive miscue brought him home to hand the Bears a four-run lead.

Three MSU relievers combined to hold the Aces (13-29, 4-7 MVC) scoreless over the final 3 1/3 innings, with Jake Lochner (1-0) picking up the victory with a scoreless one-third of an inning. Fromson retired all six batters he faced, striking out three, and Bryan Young wrapped up the Bears' 30th win of the season with a scoreless ninth.

Paulsen finished 3-for-6 with three RBIs, while Millas added a two-hit performance.

The two clubs will wrap up their three-game series Sunday (April 30) with a 1 p.m. game.