
Bears Take Series from Valpo with 10-5 Win
April 12, 2025 | Baseball
SPRINGFIELD – Carter Bergman tied a career high with four RBIs, Zack Stewart belted his 40th career home run and Jason Schaaf matched a career best with seven innings on the mound to lead Missouri State to a 10-5 victory over Valparaiso Saturday afternoon at Hammons Field.
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The Bears (18-15, 9-2 Missouri Valley Conference) claimed their seventh series victory in nine weekends this season and remained in first place in the league standings, while Valpo dropped to 8-21 overall and 3-8 in MVC games.
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The Beacons took the early lead with a two-run double in the first inning, only to see Bergman blast a 420-foot home run in the bottom half for a 3-2 MoState lead.
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Valpo tied it in the third, and Stewart put the Bears up for good at 4-3 with a solo homer in the fourth, becoming the 10th player in school history with 40 career long balls.
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MoState broke it open with a four-run fifth, scoring on a Caden Bogenpohl double, Nick Rodriguez double and Jake McCutcheon two-run homer, his 12th of the year. Bogenpohl's hit extended his reached base streak to 46 games, while Rodriguez ran his hitting streak to 20 games, tied for eighth-longest in school history.
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McCutcheon and Knight opened the seventh with back-to-back singles, Bergman hit a sac fly and Knight worked around the bases with a steal, error and wild pitch to push the margin to 10-3.
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Pitching on short rest after starting on Monday, Schaaf (2-0) needed just 83 pitches to get through seven innings in the winning effort.
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Valpo pushed across single runs in the eighth and ninth frames for the final margin.
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McCutcheon finished 3-for-4 with three runs, and the Bears scored in double figures for the ninth time in 17 home games.
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MSU goes for the series sweep at 1 p.m. Sunday. Tickets to home baseball games can be purchased here, and MSU students are admitted free with a valid Bearpass ID.
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The Bears (18-15, 9-2 Missouri Valley Conference) claimed their seventh series victory in nine weekends this season and remained in first place in the league standings, while Valpo dropped to 8-21 overall and 3-8 in MVC games.
Â
The Beacons took the early lead with a two-run double in the first inning, only to see Bergman blast a 420-foot home run in the bottom half for a 3-2 MoState lead.
Â
Valpo tied it in the third, and Stewart put the Bears up for good at 4-3 with a solo homer in the fourth, becoming the 10th player in school history with 40 career long balls.
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MoState broke it open with a four-run fifth, scoring on a Caden Bogenpohl double, Nick Rodriguez double and Jake McCutcheon two-run homer, his 12th of the year. Bogenpohl's hit extended his reached base streak to 46 games, while Rodriguez ran his hitting streak to 20 games, tied for eighth-longest in school history.
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McCutcheon and Knight opened the seventh with back-to-back singles, Bergman hit a sac fly and Knight worked around the bases with a steal, error and wild pitch to push the margin to 10-3.
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Pitching on short rest after starting on Monday, Schaaf (2-0) needed just 83 pitches to get through seven innings in the winning effort.
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Valpo pushed across single runs in the eighth and ninth frames for the final margin.
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McCutcheon finished 3-for-4 with three runs, and the Bears scored in double figures for the ninth time in 17 home games.
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MSU goes for the series sweep at 1 p.m. Sunday. Tickets to home baseball games can be purchased here, and MSU students are admitted free with a valid Bearpass ID.
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#GoBears
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Schaaf, Jason (2-0)
L: Deliyannis, Harry (2-3)
Batting:
2B: Ilitch, Patrick 1 ; Reinertson, Kade 1
RBI: Amburgey, Austin 1 ; Giusti, Connor 1 ; Ilitch, Patrick 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Thaxton, Aidan 1 ; Amburgey, Austin 3 ; Reinertson, Kade 1
HBP: Denty, Kevin 2

Batting:
2B: Bogenpohl, Caden 1 ; Rodriguez, Nick 1 ; Epstein, Tyler 1
HR: McCutcheon, Jake 1 ; Bergman, Carter 1 ; Stewart, Zack 1
RBI: Bogenpohl, Caden 1 ; Rodriguez, Nick 1 ; McCutcheon, Jake 2 ; Bergman, Carter 4 ; Stewart, Zack 1
SF: Bergman, Carter 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bogenpohl, Caden 1 ; Rodriguez, Nick 1 ; McCutcheon, Jake 3 ; Knight, Max 2 ; Bergman, Carter 1 ; Stewart, Zack 1 ; Dunn, Logan 1
SB: Knight, Max 1 ; Epstein, Tyler 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Monday, June 15
Monday, June 08
Saturday, May 30
Friday, May 29





















