MANHATTAN, Kan. – Missouri State ended a tough stretch of four road games in three days Tuesday evening with a 12-2 loss to Kansas State at Tointon Family Stadium.
 
A day after splitting a doubleheader at Southern Illinois to maintain first place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings, the Bears (16-15) ran into a buzzsaw of a Kansas State (21-11) offense that slugged 10 extra-base hits in the seven-inning game.
 
KSU used two solo homers and a two-run double in the second to lead 4-0, and the Bears responded immediately in the third with back-to-back homers from Caden Bogenpohl and Nick Rodriguez.
 
Bogenpohl extended his reached base streak to 44 games with his sixth long ball of the year, while Rodriguez blasted his fifth in the last four games, giving him 30 as a Bear and running his hit streak to 18 games, tied for 13^th-best in school history.
 
It was all K-State after that with a two-run double in the third, solo homer and RBI double in the fourth, a solo home run in the eighth and three-run seventh capped by a Cayden Phillips round-tripper that invoked the run rule.
 
Missouri State used six pitchers on the night, with Owen Slater (1.0) and Dalen Stewart (1.1) giving the Bears scoreless outings.
 
The Bears are back at Hammons Field April 11-13 for a three-game series with Valparaiso. Friday's opener begins at 6:30 p.m. Tickets to home baseball games can be purchased here, and MSU students are admitted free with a valid Bearpass ID.