SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Missouri State used a six-run fourth inning to take control of a tight battle with Southern Illinois, ultimately matching a season high for runs scored in a 14-9 victory over the Salukis that sealed another Missouri Valley Conference series win Saturday at Hammons Field.

Matt Brown led a relentless MSU offense that scored in five of the first seven innings, homering and driving in three runs as one of five different Bears to record multiple RBIs. Brown reached safely in all five of his plate appearances, drawing four walks to go along with a critical two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth that turned a 10-6 Bears lead into a six-run cushion.

MSU matched its March 17 offensive outburst against Seton Hall for its best run total of the season, thanks in part to a lineup that drew 12 walks to go along with its 11 hits. The victory allowed the Bears to maintain their one-game lead in the MVC standings, while also clinching their 14th straight Valley series victory or split.

Two of the Bears' walks helped stake them to an early 2-0 lead, after SIU starter Brad Harrison (5-5) put both Ben Whetstone and Brown aboard to start the bottom of the second. A Logan Geha sacrifice moved both runners into scoring position, and Brooks Zimmerman's sac fly put the Bears in front, 1-0. Jack Duffy doubled the lead with his clutch two-out single, bringing in the first of MSU's nine two-out tallies in the game.

The key inning for Missouri State (32-14, 15-2 MVC) started with another long ball—this one from Whetstone, whose towering drive down the right-field line handed the Bears a 3-1 lead. Walks to Brown and Duffy set up Landan Ruff's base hit up the middle that plated the first of five two-out runs for MSU in the inning. John Privitera coaxed a free pass from SIU reliever Allen Montgomery, before Jeremy Eierman snapped an 0-for-18 dry spell with a two-run single to left that stretched the Bears' lead to 6-1.

Drew Millas, who finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs, plated another run with a base hit, and Whetstone made it a seven-run MSU lead with his run-scoring single to right.

Southern Illinois (25-25, 8-9 MVC) chipped away at the deficit with a five-run fifth against Bears starter Logan Wiley, getting a run-scoring single from Kenton Crawford, before Logan Blackfan plated two more with a base hit through the shift. Alex Lyon's routine fly ball to right fell in untouched for another run-producing hit, and Austin Ulick pulled the Salukis to within two runs with a sacrifice fly to center.

But MSU reliever Davis Schwab (2-1) stopped the bleeding with an inning-ending strikeout of Jared Kengott, then followed with two hitless innings to give the Bears time to build their lead back to six runs. In all, Schwab would strike out four and allow just one run on two hits in his 3.2 innings of relief to pick up the victory.

The Bears answered the Saluki rally with a run in the home half of the fifth on Zimmerman's second RBI of the afternoon, then broke the game open again with three runs—all on home runs—in the sixth. Eierman led off the frame with the 40th round-tripper of his MSU career to become the first player in Bears history to record both 40 homers and 40 stolen bases. Millas followed with his second straight single, and Brown launched his back-breaking blast to right-center to hike the margin to 12-6.

It would become an eight-run bulge in the seventh. SIU pitching handed out four walks in the inning, including bases-loaded passes to Millas and Brown, to force home the final two MSU runs of the contest.

The Salukis made things interesting in the ninth, as the first five hitters reached safely against Austin Knight and Jake Lochner. After a walk to Drew Curtis with the bases full of Salukis brought in the second SIU run of the inning, Connor Sechler induced a line drive to short that Eierman converted into a double play by picking off the runner at second. Sechler then struck out Kengott for the final out, locking up his seventh save and the Bears' 23rd consecutive Valley regular-season home victory, dating back to May 2016.

Eierman logged a pair of hits, scored twice and drove in three runs, while Whetstone added a pair of RBIs with his 2-for-4 day. All nine MSU position starters reached base via a hit or walk, with seven of them recording at least one RBI. 

Lyon led the Salukis' 13-hit afternoon with a 3-for-5 day, while Blackfan and Nikola Vasic added two-hit games for SIU as well.

Next, the Bears and Salukis will conclude their series with a 1 p.m. game Sunday (May 13) to conclude MSU's 2018 home slate. The Bears will honor their five seniors in an on-field ceremony slated to commence at 12:50 p.m.