CONWAY, Ark. – Behind seven shutdown innings from senior right-hander Logan Wiley, Missouri State kicked off its 2020 season in style, blanking Central Arkansas in a 1-0 pitcher's duel Friday afternoon at Bear Stadium.
Wiley (1-0) retired the final 12 batters he faced, struck out seven UCA (0-1) hitters and scattered three hits to earn his 13th career victory as a Bear in a 77-pitch effort. Sophomore closer Hayden Juenger closed out the win for his first save, working out of a two-on, nobody-out jam in the ninth with a crucial bases-loaded strikeout and a ground ball to second to preserve the slim margin and the Bears' seventh opening-game victory in eight seasons.
At the plate, four Bears accounted for all eight Missouri State (1-0) hits, with Dakota Kotowski's two-out, RBI double in the fourth producing the lone run of the afternoon. Kotowksi, the reigning MVC Freshman of the Year, added a ninth-inning single, while fellow All-MVC veteran John Privitera contributed a two-hit afternoon as well. MSU newcomers Grant Wood and Drake Baldwin delivered 2-for-4 performances in their respective debuts in Maroon and White.
Wiley, who won his last five decisions to cap the 2019 season, kicked off the new campaign in peak form, working around a leadoff single in the first, a one-out error in the second and a hit batsman in the third. Gavin Stone (0-1) turned in an equally-impressive start for the home-standing Bears, facing the minimum number of hitters through the first three innings.
It wouldn't be until Wood laced a one-out single to left in the fourth that the Bears mounted a serious scoring threat. After Ben Whetstone's bouncer to the right side forced Wood at second, Kotowski drove Stone's 0-1 offering into the left-center field gap to chase the runner all the way home with what would prove to be the game-winning run.
Given the slim cushion, Wiley yielded a leadoff single to Beau Orlando in the home half of the fourth, then proceeded to dispatch three straight UCA batters to end the threat. Wiley settled into a grove through the middle innings with three perfect innings to end his day, striking out back-to-back hitters in both the sixth and the seventh innings before turning the ball over to sophomore righty Trey Ziegenbein to open the eighth. After quickly setting the first two hitters of the inning down, Ziegenbein lost the next two batters on full-count offerings, but Juenger worked the Bears out of the jam by getting Hunter Hicks to ground out to short.
After UCA reliever Brad Verel completed his third shutout inning in the top of the ninth, Orlando lined an opposite-field single to open the home half. Juenger appeared to have struck out Christian Brasher on a two-strike pitch for the first out of the inning, only to have home plate umpire Travis Olson call it a ball. The pinch hitter took advantage of the reprieve, shooting a sharp ground ball to deep short for an infield single after Mason Hull's throw was ruled to have pulled Privitera off the second-base bag.
Next, Nathaniel Sagdahl laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position, but Juenger bounced back to fan Josh Ragan for the critical second out. The sophomore closer dealt Connor Emmet a free pass to load the bases, but pinch hitter Kolby Johnson bounced a 1-2 offering to Privitera, who tossed to Hull at second for the game-clinching force out.
Stone suffered the loss, despite allowing just one run on five hits in his 6.0 innings. Verel kept UCA close in the late innings, holding the Bears to three hits in his 3.0 scoreless frames.
Up next, the two clubs continue their series with a 1 p.m. game Saturday, before wrapping up the weekend with another 1 p.m. contest Sunday.
