Missouri State University

Freshman southpaw Aaron Meade pitched the best outing of his young career and Nolan Keane and Chris Playter eached homered to give the Bears a Missouri Valley Conference series victory over Southern Illinois with a 5-0 win Sunday afternoon at Hammons Field.

Meade (4-1) went a career-high 7.2 innings and struck out seven Salukis while scattering four hits and issuing one walk. He retired 14 batters in a row at one point, and only one SIU baserunner advanced beyond second base while he was on the mound.

Keane broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the third, crushing his third home run of the year off SIU starter David Kington to bring home Playter and Ben Woodbury.

Playter got his long ball in the sixth, blasting a line drive over the left field bullpen to score Christian Overstreet and make it a 5-0 game.

Pat Doyle recorded the final four outs for the Bears, including the final fly out with the bases loaded in the ninth.

Missouri State improved to 17-7 overall and 4-2 in MVC play. The Salukis dropped to 13-10 and 3-3 in the league.

The Bears will next be in action when they host Arkansas on Tuesday at 7 p.m.