CARBONDALE, Ill. – Dakota Kotowski and Joey Polak combined for five home runs to power a surging Bears offense, and Jake Lochner stymied Southern Illinois over a career-long eight innings to lift Missouri State to its third-straight win with a 10-5 decision over the Salukis Friday night at Itchy Jones Stadium.

Polak became the ninth Bear in program history to hit three home runs in a game, and Kotowski registered his second multi-homer performance in the last three contests to give MSU its first five-homer game in nine years. The duo combined to drive in seven runs, including back-to-back round trippers in the sixth inning that put the Bears in front to stay.

MSU (10-19, 3-1 MVC) also benefited from a clutch performance from Lochner (2-0), who struck out a career-high 11 hitters in 8.0 strong innings. The left-hander retired 12-straight Salukis from the fourth inning until the eighth, giving the Bears' offense ample time to build a five-run advantage.

Kotowski and Polak set the tone for the evening in the opening inning, launching back-to-back, two-out solo shots off SIU starter Brad Harrison to hand the Bears a 2-0 lead. Lochner struggled in the early stages of the contest, giving up three-straight Saluki hits to start the game, including an RBI triple to Ian Walters and a run-producing double to Alex Lyon as part of a three-run rally.

But the Bears' power duo struck again in the third, with Polak delivering a two-run blast to put MSU in front once again after Kotowski drew a walk to start the inning.

SIU (15-11, 0-1 MVC) answered in the fourth, using one-out walk to Kenton Crawford to ignite its offense once again. The Salukis, who ranked fourth in all of Division I baseball with 73 steals entering the game, used their running game to reclaim the lead. Crawford swiped second and scored the tying run on a base hit by Addison Fugitt, who stole second and third before coming home on an errant throw to hand SIU the 5-4 edge.

After freshman reliever Sam Grace (0-1) held the Bears in check for two innings, John Privitera's base hit to start the sixth sparked the Bears' offense once again. A failed pickoff attempt and a passed ball allowed the MSU second baseman to move to third, and Drew Millas brought him home with the equalizing sacrifice fly to left. Kotowski untied the game with a long drive that cleared the wall in left, giving the freshman his second multi-homer game of the week, as well as a share of the top spot on the MVC home run leaderboard.

Not to be overshadowed, Polak followed with his third home run of the night on a 1-0 offering from Grace for a 7-5 MSU lead. In doing so, he became the ninth Bear to register a three-homer game and the first since Spencer Johnson accomplished the feat against Kansas on April 6, 2016.

MSU would use singles by Anthony Herron, Jr., and Jack Duffy to start another three-run rally in the seventh. A walk to Privitera loaded the bases, and Millas drove in his second run in as many innings with a run-scoring hit. After Kotowski's ground ball resulted in a force at the plate, Polak's fielder's choice bouncer up the middle brought home two more runs when the throw to first was wide of the bag.

Handed a five-run cushion, Lochner cruised through the late innings. He struck out four batters in a row in the fifth and sixth frames, and tallied eight of his 11 strikeouts during his string of 12-straight retired hitters. SIU would put just one batter aboard after the fourth inning—a one-out walk to Lyon in the eighth.

Freshman right-hander Hayden Juenger picked up where Lochner left off, setting down all three SIU hitters in succession in the ninth to finish off the Bears' third-straight win and their fifth in six outings since opening Valley play March 29.

Geha reached base safely in three of his five plate appearances, becoming the first Bear to steal three bases in a game in three years. In addition to Geha's career-best night on the basepaths, Herron went 2-for-4 and recorded a pair of steals, giving MSU five steals in as many attempts in the game. Duffy also logged a two-hit night, as the Bears finished with a double-digit hit total (14) for the third game in a row.

The Bears and Salukis will conclude their series with a 1 p.m. (CDT) doubleheader Saturday (April 6).