VALPARAISO, Ind. – Darian Frost smacked a grand slam as part of a three-homer day for Missouri State softball as the Bears completed a series sweep of Valparaiso with an 8-0 victory here Sunday afternoon.
 
MSU (19-14, 10-4 MVC) posted its third straight eight-run outing versus Valpo to run the weekend table with a 24-3 advantage over the hosts.
 
The other piece to Missouri State's triumphant day was excellent performances from its pitching staff as Madison Hunsaker, Gracie Johnston and Jacie Taber combined to shut out Valpo with each hurler surrendering just one hit.
 
"It was great to see our hitters produce up-and-down the lineup with a lot of hard-hit balls today," said head coach Holly Hesse.  "Darian put a terrific swing on her grand slam and all three of our pitchers had great command in the circle.  It's always big to get a conference sweep and an excellent way to end the road trip going into a key game on Wednesday against SIU."
 
Hunsaker faced just one over the minimum and recorded her second straight one-hit outing after following up yesterday's performance where she also allowed one hit in her four innings of work in MSU's 8-0 win in the nightcap. 
 
Johnston (4-3) earned her fourth win of the season after entering in the fourth and tossing two innings of scoreless relief.
 
On the other side, Valpo (5-25, 1-14 MVC) used four pitchers throughout the contest to try and tame the hot-hitting Bears.  Starter Taylor Knight (0-1) was tagged for the loss after giving up a first-inning score.
 
The Bears carried over their early-game success from yesterday, which saw them scratch two runs apiece in the opening frames of the Saturday twin bill, with Daphne Plummer kicking off the game with a leadoff triple.  She would come around to score on the next at-bat and push MSU ahead, 1-0.
 
In the explosive five-run third inning, three straight walks ahead of Frost set the stage for the senior slugger to blast her second career grand slam as she sailed a one-out pitch over the fence in right center. 
 
Later in the frame, Alex Boze tallied her team-high fifth home run of the season with a solo shot to cap the breakout inning and extend MSU's lead to 6-0.
 
Hunsaker added to the home run barrage in the following inning with a two-out rocket to straightaway center field.  The solo home run was her third of the year and produced the 10th extra-base hit of her 2021 campaign.
 
The Bears put the run-rule in play for the second consecutive game after Kelsie Lewis and Kat Taylor connected on back-to-back singles and Hunsaker notched her second RBI of the day with a sac fly deep enough to score Lewis.
 
Overall, MSU totaled eight hits in the contest with four of them going for extra bases.  Kelly Metter went 2-3 at the plate for her fifth multi-hit game of the season while Plummer's triple was her third of 2021 and extended her 10-game reached base streak. 
 
Missouri State returns to Killian Stadium on Wednesday, April 21 to host the single-game finale of the Southern Illinois series at 12 p.m.