The Missouri State baseball team jumped out to an 11-1 lead and hung on for a 12-7 win against visiting Northern Iowa Sunday afternoon at Hammons Field in Springfield.

Nine different players scored a run and eight had RBIs as the Bears won their first Missouri Valley Conference series of the season to improve to 13-9 overall and 2-1 in league play. UNI dropped to 11-10 and 1-2 in the MVC.

Missouri State took a 2-0 lead in the second. Ben Carlson drew a leadoff walk, and back-to-back two-out RBI doubles from Chris Taylor and Kyle Paul accounted for two runs off UNI starter Guido Fonseca.

The Bears extended the lead in the second as Woodbury drew another leadoff walk. Nolan Keane dropped down a sacrifice bunt attempt but reached safely and moved to second on a throwing error by Fonseca. Woodbury advanced to third on the play and then scored on a Matt Lawson RBI ground out. Carlson roped a double to right center that plated Keane and made it a 4-0 lead.

Brett Featherston put the Panthers on the board with a solo home run in the fourth.

Two walks and a Tanner Mattson single loaded the bases with one out in the fourth. Reliever Angelo Cordova walked Keane to force Paul home, and Lawson hit a sacrifice fly to plate Mattson for a 6-1 MSU advantage.

Missouri State loaded the bases again in the fifth, this time with no outs. Mantle and Brayden Drake singled, and Taylor walked. Paul hit a ball off the end of his bat that dropped in right for an RBI single, Mattson added an RBI single down the right field line and Woodbury knocked in Taylor when the left fielder dropped a fly ball. Keane hit another sacrifice fly and pinch-hitter Josh Mazzola walked to bring home another runner and give the Bears an 11-1 edge.

UNI added solo homers in the sixth and seventh, and scored four in the eighth after batting around with four hits, a walk and a hit batter.

Jake Shafer pitched seven innings for the Bears, striking out six to earn his first victory of the year.

Woodbury singled home Dallas Hord to give MSU a 12-7 after eight.

Missouri State steps out of conference play to host Kansas at 7 p.m. Tuesday.