Missouri State University

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Senior outfielder Christian Overstreet hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning Sunday to help seal the Missouri State baseball team’s third consecutive victory as the Bears (4-6) defeated North Dakota State (2-5) by a 6-2 final at Hammons Field.

    Overstreet’s homer capped a 3-for-4 afternoon and four-game series during which the Nixa native hit .727 and reached base 14 times in 17 plate appearances.

    Overstreet put the Bears on the board first with an RBI single in the first that scored Aaron Conway, marking the fourth straight game the Bears scored in the opening frame.

    North Dakota State took the lead in the third, using and RBI single from pitcher Zach Wentz and an RBI ground out from Michael Riewer to go ahead 2-1.
   
    Freshman Barrett Noirfalise drew a bases-loaded walk in the third to drive in Overstreet for a 2-2 tie, and Travis McComack’s two-out single in the fifth scored Tyler Ryun and gave the Bears the lead for good at 3-2.

    The score remained 3-2 into the eighth when Overstreet snuck his homer inside the foul pole in right to score McComack and Conway and give the Bears a 6-2 cushion.

    Freshman Pierce Johnson (1-0) picked up the win in the first start of his career, striking out six and allowing two runs in five innings. Fellow rookie Grant Gordon fanned five against one hit in three innings, and Blake Barber pitched a scoreless ninth with a strikeout to give the MSU pitching staff 12 in the game and 42 in the series.

    Missouri begins a five-game road trip Tuesday with a 3 p.m. game at Southeast Missouri State.