Courtesy: MSU Photo Services Aaron Meade improved to 4-1 with his complete game
Sophomore lefthander Aaron Meade tossed his first career complete game on just 94 pitches and the offense slugged three home runs as Missouri State completed the three-game sweep of Bradley by a 9-2 score Sunday afternoon at Hammons Field.
The Bears improved 11-10 and 3-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference with their seventh straight win. Bradley fell to 5-11 and 0-3 in the league.
Aaron Meade (4-1) cruised through the first five innings, facing one batter over the minimum and throwing just 50 pitches. Bradley did get on the scoreboard in the sixth, however, with a two-run homer from Tommy Fitzgerald. Meade settled in after that, using 27 pitches to complete the last three innings for the win. He struck out five and walked one in the game.
Dallas Hord crushed his third home run in four games to lead off the MSU second and Daniel Torrente singled in Chris Playter later in the frame for a 2-0 lead.
Brayden Drake extended his hitting streak to 29 games with a two-run homer over the bullpen in the third, and the Braves misplayed two fly balls and committed an error to open the fifth and load the bases with Bears with no outs. Playter singled in Kevin Medrano and Drake and Zak Swyhart added a two-RBI single with one out to open the score up to 8-0 after five innings. Tyler Ryun hit a solo homer in the seventh for MSU’s final run.
The solid pitching performance lowered Missouri State’s team ERA for the 15th consecutive game, and the Bears have now allowed three or fewer earned runs in nine straight contests.
The Bears return to action Wednesday with a trip to 15th-ranked Arkansas. First pitch from Fayetteville is set for 6:35 p.m.
Courtesy: MSU Photo Services
