LAFAYETTE, La. – Louisiana salvaged game three and avoided a sweep at the hands of Missouri State Sunday afternoon with a 9-7 victory at M. L. Tigue Moore Field at Russo Park.
 
Things started well for the Bears (2-1) with a three-run first as Curry Sutherland slugged a two-run triple and scored on a Max Knight single for a 3-0 lead.
 
The Ragin' Cajuns (1-2) evened the score in the bottom of the first, added another in the second and opened a three-run fourth with consecutive home runs on the way to a 7-3 advantage.
 
Missouri State mounted a two-out rally in the fifth with singles from Caden Bogenpohl and Taeg Gollert followed by a Bobby Atkinson double for a 7-5 score.
 
Louisiana answered right back with a hit batter and walk coming around to score, the only hiccups in an otherwise stellar relief outing from Trent Ash, who retired the final 11 batters he faced to keep the Bears within striking distance. Ash allowed one hit and one earned run while striking out five in four innings.
 
Jackson Beaman launched a 437-foot pinch-hit home run in the sixth, and Bogenpohl added an RBI single in the ninth for the 9-7 final before the game ended with the tying run on first base.
 
MoState stays on the road for a 3 p.m. Tuesday game at Oral Roberts.