Bears Drop Two at Bradley to Finish Regular Season

Season Statistics | MVC Tournament Central

PEORIA, Ill. – Missouri State dropped both ends of a doubleheader Friday at Bradley to conclude regular season play with a 25-26 overall record and sixth-place Missouri Valley Conference finish at 8-13 in league games.

Both teams had plenty to play for after MSU’s series-opening victory Thursday, with the Bears able to finish anywhere from fourth to sixth and Bradley (20-27, 11-10) from third to sixth entering the day.

The Bears will be the sixth seed in next week’s MVC Tournament at Hammons Field, and will play the opening game of the event against No. 7 Illinois State at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 24.

Game 1 Recap (Bradley won 15-10)
Missouri State faced an 8-0 deficit after two innings and battled all the way back to 11-10 in the eighth before Bradley closed it with its third four-run inning of the game in the bottom of the eighth for the 15-10 win.

Bradley hit three-run homers in each of the first two innings en route to the 8-0 advantage, and Missouri State was held scoreless until the fourth when Mason Hull scored after a leadoff double and Dakota Kotowski added his 21st home run of the season to move into a tie for ninth in school history.

The Bears scored single tallies in the fifth and sixth, but the Braves homered in response each time to lead 11-4 after six complete.

Missouri State rallied with a six-run eighth, with Grant Wood and Drake Baldwin getting RBI singles, Will Duff driving a run home with a sacrifice fly, and Mason Hull capping it with a three-run homer, his 11th of the year.

With the game now in reach, Bradley slammed the door with four in its half of the eighth, including its third three-run homer of the game to make it 15-10.

Wood had three hits and two RBI, and Hull was 2-for-4 with three batted in.

Game 2 Recap (Bradley won 18-5, 7 innings)
Bradley jumped out to a 5-0 lead and scored 13 unanswered runs over its final three at bats for the run-rule victory to earn a top-four seed in the MVC Tournament.

The Bears trailed 5-0 after two innings before Drake Baldwin launched his 14th homer of the season to make it 5-2 in the third. Baldwin struck again with a tying RBI single in the fourth following a two-run run single from Spencer Nivens, but it was all Bradley after that.

Baldwin and Nivens each had two hits, and the MSU pitching staff walked nine batters in helping the Braves score their 18 runs on just 12 hits.
 

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