SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Missouri State ended its Missouri Valley Conference drought with a doubleheader sweep of DBU Saturday afternoon, riding a pair of strong pitching performances and some timely hitting to a 4-3 victory in the opener and a one-hit, 6-0 blanking of the Patriots in the nightcap to clinch the Valley series win at Hammons Field.

Logan Wiley won his third-consecutive decision with 7.0 solid innings in the opening game, as the Bears (15-31, 6-9 MVC) snapped a six-game losing streak (and an eight-game MVC skid). Each of the game's seven runs scored in the third inning, as DBU—which posted a 6-1 win in Thursday's series opener—used a three-run rally to seize the lead, only to watch MSU score four times in the bottom of the inning.

Ben Whetstone's two-out, two-run home run turned a one-run Patriot lead into a 4-3 Bears advantage that Wiley and All-America closer Connor Sechler would not relinquish.

Game two featured more quality pitching by Missouri State, as Davis Schwab, Hayden Juenger and Sechler combined on a one-hit shutout. The Bears used two-out, two-run rallies in the first and fourth innings to grab control of the game, as the trio of hurlers struck out 11 Patriots (32-15, 9-6 MVC) in the first one-hit shutout by MSU since Aaron Meade and Jon Barnes joined forces to blank Wichita State (2-0) on April 19, 2009.

Game 1 – MSU 4, DBU 3
Missouri State made the most of its seven hits, countering the Patriots' three-run third inning by scoring all four of its runs in the home half of the frame. Drew Millas' two-out single--coupled with a DBU error--brought home the first two runs of the day for MSU, before Whetstone launched his decisive two-run blast to right on a 1-1 offering from Patriots starter MD Johnson (7-2).

The game's key rally was fueled by back-to-back one-out singles from Mason Hull and Jack Duffy, before Millas dropped a bloop single into shallow right-center field. A miscue by right-fielder Evan Sandmann allowed the ball to trickle deep enough to allow both MSU baserunners to come home, slicing the Patriots' lead to 3-2 and setting up Whetstone's home run three pitches later.

Wiley (3-5) and Sechler made the lead stand, combining to limit the DBU offense to a pair of singles over the final six innings. Wiley worked around a career-high five walks, escaping a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in the fifth with a pop up to short, one of his four strikeouts and an inning-ending ground ball to short to preserve the one-run lead. The junior right-hander used two more K's to strand runners on the corners in the sixth, then induced a 6-4-3 double-play grounder to avoid trouble in the seventh.

Sechler put the finishing touches on the victory, retiring all six Patriot hitters he faced over the final two innings to lock up his fourth save of the season and put an end to the Bears' eight-game Valley slide.

Millas registered a 2-for-3 effort at the plate to compliment Whetstone's critical blow, which marked the junior first baseman's sixth home run of the season.

DBU was led by a two-hit game from Evan Sandmann, who drove in one of the Patriots' three third-inning runs, following a two-run single by Jackson Glenn.

Johnson was tagged with just his second mound defeat in 12 starts this spring after allowing all four MSU runs on seven hits. The senior right-hander struck out six in his 5.1 innings, before Burl Carraway logged 2 2/3 hitless innings of relief.

Game 2 – MSU 6, DBU 0
The series finale saw the Bears register perhaps their best pitching effort of the season, with Schwab (2-4) holding the Patriots to a two-out, Jimmy Glowenke single in the third inning over his 5.0 innings. The senior lefty matched a career high with eight strikeouts and worked out of a bases-loaded spot in the third with a strikeout of Luke Bandy.

MSU used a Dakota Kotowski solo shot off DBU starter Peyton Sherlin (0-1) in the first as a springboard to an early lead. After Kotowski's opposite-field blast—his team-leading 10th of the season—opened the scoring, an error on Whetstone's chopper to the right side opened the door for another MSU tally. Back-to-back singles by Anthony Herron, Jr., and Sam Faith chased home Whetstone for a 2-0 Bears lead.

Faith's one-out hit sparked another scoring opportunity in the fourth. Logan Geha added the first of his two hits in the contest, setting up John Privitera's two-run double to deep left that doubled the MSU lead to four runs.

The duo of Privitera and Duffy ignited a seventh-inning MSU threat, which was aided by two additional Patriot errors that ultimately helped extend the spread to 6-0. After starting the rally with a base hit, Privitera trotted home on an errant throw from left following Millas' fly ball, and Duffy (who doubled to right) sprinted home moments later after Glenn's throw from third on an attempt to double up Whetstone at first was wide of the bag.

Juenger followed Schwab's five shutout innings with three hitless innings of his own. The freshman faced the minimum nine hitters, allowing just one baserunner on a leadoff walk to Christian Boulware in the seventh. He erased that threat by inducing an inning-ending 6-4-3 twin killing, then worked another 1-2-3 frame in the eighth to get the ball into Sechler's hands with the six-run cushion still intact.

Sechler picked up where Schwab and Juenger left off, dispatching the Patriots in order in the ninth to seal the victory.

Privitera led the MSU attack with his two RBIs on a 2-for-4 effort, while Faith and Geha each contributed two hits as well.

The Bears will conclude their seven-game home stand Tuesday (May 7) evening with a 6:30 p.m. (CDT) non-conference contest against Wichita State at Hammons Field.