Missouri State University’s baseball team saw its school-record 17-game home winning streak end on April 19, as Western Kentucky University secured a 10-5 victory in the Conference USA series finale.
The defeat marks Missouri State’s first home loss of the season, leaving the Bears with a record of 26-11 overall and 14-4 in league play. The Hilltoppers improved to an even 20-20 overall and are now 7-11 in conference games.
Western Kentucky’s Hayden Robbins delivered a decisive two-out, two-strike grand slam in the sixth inning, giving his team a lead they would not relinquish. The game remained scoreless until the fourth inning when WKU hit a two-run triple. Missouri State responded with Curry Sutherland’s two-run homer and an RBI fielder’s choice by Taeg Gollert. In subsequent innings, both teams traded runs before Robbins’ grand slam broke open the contest.
Bryce Cermenelli extended his hitting streak to twenty games with a third-inning single, becoming only the eleventh player in program history to reach that mark. Sutherland recorded his first career multi-homer game for Missouri State. Pitcher Jason Schaaf took the loss after five innings pitched, while WKU reliever Nathan Lawson closed out the final four innings with six strikeouts and just two hits allowed.
Looking ahead, Missouri State will begin a five-game road trip starting Tuesday against No.16 Arkansas at Fayetteville. The Bears previously defeated Arkansas earlier this season in Springfield.
