Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score | Season Stats | MVC-Only Stats
 
NORMAL, Ill. – Missouri State (26-14, 11-5 MVC) pounded out 15 runs and 18 hits – six for extra bases – here Saturday in a doubleheader sweep of rival Illinois State in Missouri Valley Conference play.
 
The Bears completed a 4-0 week with wins of 9-5 and 6-2 over the Redbirds (12-26, 6-5 MVC) on Saturday and won for the sixth time in seven games.
 
"It's nice to see us put up a bunch of runs," said MSU head coach Holly Hesse. "We needed all the separation we could get. Illinois State really swings the bats well. They have a lot of power, and for us to out-homer them on the day was a difference maker."
 
Missouri State hit a pair of home runs, doubling their season total in conference games, while ISU hit one homer and seven doubles.
 
Hesse was quick to give credit to Illinois State's hitters who collected 21 total hits on the day with double-figure hits in each game.
 
"Our pitchers did a lot of grinding today," said Hesse. "Illinois State had a lot of long at-bats, a lot of hard-hit balls, and got a lot of leadoff hitters on. We really had to compete out there."

Kyana Mason had four hits on the day for MSU with Kelly Metter and Madison Hunsaker each collecting three hits and combining for nine RBI for the doubleheader.
 
The final game of the series, scheduled for Sunday, was canceled due to forecasted snow and frigid temperatures in the Normal area.
 
Missouri State will return to Killian Stadium for a three-game series next weekend against Evansville (13-25, 3-12 MVC) on Friday and Saturday. Friday's doubleheader starts at Noon before a single game at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Bears will host a free youth clinic after Saturday's game at Killian.
 
 
Game 1
Missouri State 9, Illinois State 5
 
The Bears racked up nine runs for the first time since March 1 and collected multiple home runs for the first time this season in a 9-5 win in the series opener.
 
Seven different MSU players collected hits, including two apiece by Kyana Mason and Kelly Metter. Mason notched her 50^th career hit in the contest, while Metter tallied a career-high four RBI.
 
In a fast-paced first inning, the Bears jumped on Redbirds' starter Morgan Day to take the early lead. Mason doubled on the first pitch of the game, just ahead of a one-out single from Daphne Plummer. Madison Hunsaker then brought Mason home with a sacrifice fly to left before Kelly Metter chased Plummer around on an RBI double to give the Bears a 2-0 advantage.
 
The Redbirds countered in the bottom of the first, scattering three hits and a hit batsman off Bears' starter Steffany Dickerson. A two-run, two-out single by Ellie Weltha tied the game before Missouri State was able to get out of the inning tied, 2-2.
 
ISU briefly captured the lead in the second off a solo shot to left center by Brittni LaFountaine, her third homer of the season, to give the Redbirds a 3-2 lead.  But, Missouri State broke things open in the third, collecting five runs on just two hits in the inning to retake the lead for good, 7-3. Joerling ignited the rally with a leadoff single before Plummer walked to chase Day.
 
Mack Leonard came on in relief, but the Bears greeted her with back-to-back walks, including a bases-loaded pass to Metter. Rachel Weber then blasted a grand slam to straight-away center field for her first career home run to make it 7-3.
 
Illinois State sent eight batters to the plate in the fifth and got the home side back in the game with three hits to chase Dickerson. A fielder's choice RBI by Allison Spence with one out started the ISU fireworks before a bases-loaded single by Alyssa Wiebel made it a 7-5. MSU made three pitching changes in the inning, bringing on Hunsaker for two hitters, re-entering Dickerson to face Wiebel, and then calling on Erin Griesbauer who put out the fire with a strikeout and fly ball to keep it a two-run contest.
 
Hesse's troops then put it out of reach in the seventh on a two-run homer to left by Metter that followed a leadoff single by Hunsaker.
 
ISU had runners on base in every inning but the sixth, out-hitting the Bears 10-9 in the game. Spence led the Redbirds with three hits, including two doubles.
 
Dickerson (16-6) picked up the win for the Bears, striking out four and allowing eight hits and five runs in 4.1 innings of work. Griesbauer secured her first save of the season by giving up just two hits and no walks in 2.2 innings of relief to go with three strikeouts.
 
 
Game 2
Missouri State 6, Illinois State 2
 
In game two, the Bears erased an early deficit with two runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth to secure a 6-2, come-from-behind victory.
 
Hunsaker drove in three runs and reached base three times to ignite the MSU offense, while Mason kept the hot hand for the Bears, going 2-for-5 with an RBI.
 
Illinois State rode the early momentum of a four-hit second inning to take the lead and hold MSU to one hit through the first four innings. A two-out double off the center field wall by starting pitcher Shannon Felde put the Redbirds on the board first.
 
Felde struck out three hitters through the first four frames, but the Bears finally broke through in the fifth with a go-ahead two-run rally. Back-to-back RBI singles from Hunsaker and Metter with two outs ended Felde's shutout and lifted the visitors to a 2-1 advantage.
 
MSU continued that momentum in the sixth, racking up four more hits in the inning and sending 10 hitters to the plate to extend its lead to 6-1. Mason had an RBI double, Hunsaker drove in two more, and the Bears also took advantage of a Redbird error to push ahead by five.
 
Coming on in relief in the third, Dickerson (17-6) captured the win, setting down eight in a row during a key stretch of the game. She got the Bears out of trouble again in the sixth after the first two Redbirds reached on hard-hit singles, and then closed things out in the seventh, again working around a pair of ISU hits in the final frame.
 
Riley Hale, who doubled and scored in the seventh for ISU's final run of the day, finished 3-for-4 in the second game to lead all players while Spence and Wiebel also collected two hits apiece for the Redbirds.
 
Felde (1-7) faced 25 batters in 5.0+ innings, giving up five hits, four walks and three runs with three strikeouts for ISU.