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SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State put runners on base in every inning but the third and came up with big plays time after time here Wednesday to knock off the visiting Tulsa Golden Hurricane, 3-2, at Killian Stadium.
 
With winds gusting to 50 miles per hour in the Springfield area, the playing conditions were far from ideal, but the Bears (24-14) didn't seem to notice. Starter Erin Griesbauer (6-7) went 5.0 strong innings and allowed just one run with no walks and a strikeout. Meanwhile, Steffany Dickerson closed out the final six outs to earn her fourth save of the year.
 
Dickerson also walked three times to set a team season high, while her teammates combined for seven hits to help the Bears climb 10 games over .500 for the first time this season.
 
"Another great team effort by the Bears today," said MSU head coach Holly Hesse. "We got a tremendous effort from our pitchers and we came out swinging the bats. It's hard to imagine stronger winds blowing in from center field, but our defense made the necessary adjustments, and we collected our 15^th non-conference win."
 
The Bears capitalized on a pair of Tulsa errors in the bottom of the fourth to take the early lead. A one-out grounder to third by Rachel Weber was misplayed by Tulsa third baseman Alexis Perry to allow Kelly Metter to score. Metter was in scoring position thanks to an earlier error by the Golden Hurricane in the inning.
 
Later in the frame, Payton Minnis legged out an infield single to plate Weber and give the Bears a 2-0 advantage.
 
Tulsa (26-13) cut its deficit in half in the sixth on a two-out infield grounder by Perry to bring Haley Meinen home from second base and make it a 2-1 game.
 
Missouri State tacked on a huge insurance run in the bottom of the sixth with a bases-loaded walk to Darby Joerling off Tulsa reliever Samantha Pochop. Joerling's at-bat came after Dickerson's third walk of the day, Minnis' second hit, and a single to right by Kyana Mason.
 
Tulsa, which came into the week with an RPI of 21, got a leadoff hit from Tori Stafford to start the seventh. She scored three batters later on a two-out double by Morgan Neal to make it 3-2 on the game's only exra-base hit. With the tying run in scoring position, Dickerson and the Bears found their groove for the final out on an infield pop-up to Daphne Plummer who finished the day with three putouts and five assists.
 
Madison Hunsaker added two hits to the winning cause for MSU which improved to 15-9 against non-conference foes.
 
The Bears, who are also 9-5 in the MVC, return to Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend for a three-game set at Illinois State (12-24, 6-3 MVC) on Saturday (12 p.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m.) in Normal, Ill.