The Missouri State baseball team held the Missouri Valley Conference’s top offense to one run Saturday afternoon at Hammons Field in defeating 26th-ranked Indiana State 6-1 to finish the MVC season alone atop the league standings.

 

The Bears conclude the regular season at 32-19 and 17-5 in the league on the heels of a seven-game win streak. MSU swept its final two conference series against Creighton and ISU, with each opponent sitting in first place when the series began. The Sycamores are now 33-18 overall and 15-7 in league play, good for second.

 

Pat Doyle (4-2) worked seven innings for the Bears, scattering 11 singles and one run. The junior worked out of a bases loaded, one-out jam in the seventh by retiring the fourth and fifth hitters in the ISU lineup for his final two outs. He finished with a career-high six strikeouts against no walks.

 

Missouri State loaded the bases with one out in the third and scored the game’s first run when Dallas Hord drew a walk to force in Curt Courtwright, but the Sycamores tied it their next at bat after stringing together three straight two-out singles.

 

Chris Playter broke the tie with a bases-loaded single in the fifth, stinging a ball that hit in front of the second baseman and skipped off his shoulder after a high hop to score Brayden Drake. Daniel Torrente blooped a ball over the first baseman to score two more runs for a 4-1 lead.

 

The Bears threatened again in the sixth when Drake doubled with one out to push Aaron Conway to third, the game’s first extra base hit after 17 singles. Ben Carlson added to the lead with a two-run double that landed inches on the fair side of the right field line to make the score 6-1.

 

Brant Combs worked a scoreless eighth and Jon Barnes kept ISU off the board in the ninth.

 

The Bears open MVC Tournament play Wednesday against sixth-seeded Illinois Stateat Eck Stadium in Wichita, Kan.

Story courtesy of Missouri State