SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Despite nearly battling all the way back from an early four-run deficit against Missouri State, Drury baseball dropped a 13-5 decision after the Bears scored seven times over the final two innings of the 10th installment of the 'Battle for Bell' Saturday evening at Mark Worley Field at Meador Park.
Missouri State struck for three second-inning runs and added another in the third, before Greydon Miller's three-run homer in the bottom of the third nearly erased the Bears' lead. After Drury plated two runs on a Colin McClure double in the seventh that pulled the Panthers back to within one, MSU answered with three in the eighth to make it a 9-5 game.
The Bears put the game away with a four-run ninth keyed by Jax Ryan's three-run double, before Tristan Hunter closed out the contest with a 1-2-3 frame. Ryan reached base safely in four of his six plate appearances, driving in four runs to go along with three walks, while Max Knight added a 2-for-3 effort for the Bears.
In addition to Miller's three-run blast, McClure finished 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs to lead Drury's offense. On the mound, starting pitcher Anthony Vita struck out two Bears in a perfect first inning and finished his night with three punchouts in 2.0 innings. Additionally, Caden Crask-Weeks fanned four hitters in his 2.0 innings of shutout relief.
Since its inception in 2012, 'Battle for Bell' has assisted in the fight against Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). A portion of ticket revenue will once again be directed to the CoxHealth ALS Clinic of the Ozarks in Springfield, which provides coordinated care and support to ALS patients in the region.
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