Springfield Standard

Missouri State University's baseball team achieved a 14-1 win over Drury University on Thursday at Hammons Field during the ninth annual Battle for Bell fundraising exhibition.

Curry Sutherland led the Bears with three runs batted in, while Taeg Gollert and Bowen Tabola each contributed two RBIs. Gollert, Jax Ryan, and Max Knight recorded two hits each. Caden Bogenpohl reached base five times out of six plate appearances, including a solo home run and four walks.

Six pitchers took the mound for Missouri State: Michael Yusypchuk, Tyler Charlton, Owen Slater, Knight, Ross Felder, and Drew Wedgeworth. The pitching staff allowed only one earned run on six hits and struck out ten Drury batters.

Missouri State's offense started strong with five runs in the first inning. Bogenpohl began with a home run, followed by Sutherland’s three-run homer. Logan Fyffe added a sacrifice fly to complete the first-inning scoring.

Both teams scored a run in the second inning. In the third inning, Missouri State extended its lead to 9-1 with three more runs, highlighted by Tabola’s two-RBI double.

The Bears continued to add to their lead with single runs in both the fourth and fifth innings. Bogenpohl scored on a wild pitch in the fourth; Gollert drove in another run with an RBI single in the fifth.

In the final two innings, Missouri State scored three additional runs through two hit batters and another wild pitch.

The Battle for Bell is an annual exhibition game that raises funds for the Howard Bell ALS Clinic at CoxHealth. The clinic supports ALS patients throughout the region. Howard Bell was closely connected to both Missouri State University and Drury University baseball programs and played as a three-year letterman for Missouri State in the 1980s. He was named Mid-Continent Conference Player of the Year for MSU in 1986 before passing away from ALS in 2013.