Gray closed the night pitching seven innings, allowing two earned runs and striking-out five. Michael Parks received the loss, lasting two-thirds of an inning, giving-up two runs on two hits. Coming in to finish the outing was Drew Dominik, going the final inning and a third, allowing just one hit and sitting down three batters via strikeout.
At the plate, Kenton Crews, Danny Borgstrom, and Ben Komonosky led the way with a pair of hits each with Crews delivering an RBI. Tanner Craig crushed his team-best fifth home run of the season, giving the junior two RBI in the opener.
Missouri State got to work early in the contest, plating three runs in the first two innings. In the first, the Bears got a single on the first pitch of the game, following it up with a walk to put a pair on with no outs. A base-hit two batters later loaded the bases and Baldwin delivered an RBI single to center to give the Bears a 1-0 lead before Gray ended the inning with a 6-4-3 double play.
Two more runs were added by Missouri State in the top half of the second on a two-run home run by Jenkins to right field that gave the visitors a 3-0 advantage. Beginning in the third, Gray showcased the best of his stuff, facing the minimum each inning from the third to the seventh and giving Evansville’s offense a chance to get going.
The Aces bats did just that in the middle portions of the game as Crews drove home Komonsky in the third to chip away at the Bears advantage.
In the sixth, Borgstrom singled to center with just one out, turning the plate over to Craig. The Scottsburg, Ind. native took advantage, driving a towering two-run homer to center field and tying the game at three.
The turning point of the contest came in the eighth when Gray gave way to Parks. The Bears opened the inning with a base-hit, advancing the runner to second on a wild pitch with one out. The insuing at-bat saw Rolffs deliver what would prove to be the game-winning run with a double to left, scoring Wood. Two batters later, with Dominik taking over for Parks, Missouri State added a second run in the inning with an RBI single from Hull to provide a 5-3 lead for the Bears.
Evansville appeared to have something going in the eighth with a lead-off double by Simon Scherry, but Ziegenbein locked-in for the Bears and sat the next six Aces down in order, securing the 5-3 Missouri State win.
The two teams meet for a doubleheader on Saturday at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium in Evansville beginning at 1 PM.
