SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State pitchers struck out 14 Southeast Missouri State hitters and the offense blew the game open with a six-run eighth inning Tuesday afternoon at Hammons Field for an 11-1 victory in the first of a midweek home-and-home with the Redhawks that continues tomorrow at 3 p.m. in Cape Girardeau.

The Bears (10-5) retired the first nine Redhawk (7-11) batters, with Brandt Thompson cruising through the first inning on 10 pitches and Tyler Tscherter (3-0) working through the next three frames with a career-high seven strikeouts.

Dylan Robertson put Missouri State on the board with a sacrifice fly in the second, and it was 4-0 after a three-run fifth courtesy of a Nick Rodriguez homer, Taeg Gollert RBI double – his ninth of the season – and Zack Stewart RBI single, which extended his hitting streak to 12 games, the longest by a true freshman at MSU since Dakota Kotowski hit in 12 straight in 2019.

Spencer Nivens hit a leadoff triple and scored on a Gollert sac fly in the seventh, and SEMO scratched across its lone run in the eighth for a 5-1 score.

The Bears loaded the bases with nobody out in the eighth and scored when Rodriguez walked and Nivens was hit by a pitch to force in a run before Gollert's second sac fly of the afternoon tied a school single-game record. Cody Kelly finished the scoring with a three-run homer to center field.

Missouri State used seven pitchers in the game and issued just two walks, giving the staff 54 strikeouts and 10 walks in the last four games.

Nivens scored three times in a 2-for-4 day, Kelly went 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs, and Gollert drove in three runs.