LYNCHBURG, Va. – Behind a Taeg Gollert grand slam in the sixth and a four-run ninth, Missouri State grabbed a wild 12-11 win at Liberty Saturday afternoon at Worthington Field to claim its fourth series victory in five weekends this season and improve to 2-0 in Conference USA play.
 
Caden Bogenpohl's two-run single in the ninth capped a stretch of four consecutive hits and gave the Bears (12-6, 2-0) the lead, but not before Carter Bergman led off the inning with his eighth home run of the season, Bryce Cermenelli and Gabe Roessler followed with singles and Brant Kragel smacked a pinch-hit double to pull the Bears within 11-10.
 
Tyler Charlton worked around a walk and a single in the ninth to earn the save for the second consecutive game, and Lance Wade (1-0) got the winning decision by recording the final out of the eighth. Mo State used eight pitchers and 12 position players in the contest.
 
Roessler had RBI singles in the second and fourth innings as part of a 3-for-3 day, and Jackson Beaman's two-run single put the Bears up 4-3 in the fourth.
 
Liberty (12-5, 0-2) answered with five in the fourth, using three singles, two walks and two errors to lead 8-4.
 
Gollert evened it at 8-8 with his third career grand slam in the sixth, tying eight other Bears for the school's career lead in that category.
 
The Flames fired right back, using a hit batter and double in the sixth to lead 9-8, then beginning the eighth with four consecutive hits to push their lead to 11-8.
 
The Missouri State defense turned a season-high three double plays.
 
Nine different Bears tallied a hit and 10 scored a run. Curry Sutherland's 16-game hit streak came to an end, though he did walk twice and was hit by a pitch.
 
The Bears go for the sweep on Sunday at 10 a.m. Central.