CONWAY, Ark. – Missouri State scored the game-winning run in its final at bat of both games Sunday at Central Arkansas, winning by scores of 8-6 and 7-6 (10 innings) to sweep the series at Bear Stadium and move its winning streak to four games.
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In game one, it was
Jahlani Rogers with a two-run single in the ninth for the win, while
Taeg Gollert hit a sacrifice fly to second base the brought home
Carter Bergman in the top of the 10
th inning in the nightcap.
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Missouri State (9-5) stays on the road for a 3 p.m. game at Saint Louis on Tuesday.
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Game 1 Recap – Missouri State won, 8-6
Rogers hit the game-winning two-run single in the top of the ninth inning to give Missouri State the 8-6 victory in a back-and-forth game. MSU piled up a season-high 14 hits, led by
Dylan Leach with a 3-for-4 game and two-hit efforts from
Nick Rodriguez,
Caden Bogenpohl,
Logan Chambers and Rogers.
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Zack Stewart put MSU on top with a solo home run in the first, his seventh of the season, UCA tied it in the second, and Rodriguez hit a solo homer in the third before a Gollert RBI single made it 3-1.
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UCA loaded the bases with one out in the fifth and scored three runs on a ground out and two wild pitches to lead 4-3, and Leach answered with a solo homer the next inning to tie it again.
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Chambers and Leach had RBI hits in the seventh to make it 6-4, but UCA got both runs back in the bottom half for yet another tie.
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Central Arkansas threatened again in the eighth with a runner on third, and MSU shortstop
Tyler Epstein made a diving stop and throw to first to record the final out and strand the runner.
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Chambers and Leach singled with one out in the ninth and
Jake McCutcheon was hit by a pitch to load the bases, giving Rogers the chance to ground a ball through the left side for the game-winning two-run single.
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Jason Schaaf made his first career start and allowed two runs in four innings, and
Hunter Day (1-1) got the final seven outs for the Bears for the winning decision.
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Game 2 Recap – Missouri State won, 7-6 (10 innings)
Tyler Charlton took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Gollert drove in Bergman with a sacrifice fly to second base in the 10
th for the 7-6 win. Gollert's pop fly was caught by the UCA (7-10) second baseman with his back to home plate and momentum carrying him away, and Bergman made a great slide to avoid the catcher and touch home for the winning run.
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The first six innings flew by, as Charlton had the longest outing of any MSU pitcher of the season and did not allow a hit until a leadoff single in the seventh. The was part of a four-hit inning for the home team that results in two runs, though Missouri State still emerged with a 6-2 lead, with Charlton tossing 6.2 innings in the start.
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UCA added a three-run homer and scored the tying run on a passed ball in the eighth for the 6-6 tie, but MSU freshman
Kaleb Thomas (3-1) struck out four and allowed one hit in the final 2.1 innings to lock down the win.
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Rodriguez opened the game with a leadoff single to push his hitting streak to 14 games and reached safely four times. MSU strung together three consecutive two-out hits in the opening frame, with a Chambers RBI single and two-run double by McCutcheon making it 3-0.
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McCutcheon hit a leadoff single and scored on a Bergman sac fly in the fourth to make it 4-0, and two walks set up RBI singles by Gollert and Chambers in the sixth for a 6-0 advantage before UCA charged back. McCutcheon and Chambers had three hits apiece.
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