成人头条

The 成人头条 State (41-15, 19-5) baseball team wrapped up regular season play with a 21-5 run-rule victory over Bradley (26-25, 10-13) Saturday, May 17, on Senior Day at Eck Stadium.

With the win, WSU clinched its 19th Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title and the No. 1 seed going into the State Farm MVC Tournament May 21-24, at Eck Stadium.

The Shockers scored early and often on Saturday, sending nine hitters to the plate before BU recorded an out. BU starter Collin Brennan faced eight batters in the first inning, walking the first two before surrendering six consecutive hits.

Conor Gillaspie drove in the first runs of the game on a double to right and scored on Clint McKeever's third home run of the season for a quick 4-0 lead. Dusty Coleman kept the momentum going with a single and scored on Josh Workman's fourth home run of the season.

Tyler Weber doubled to the gap in left-center and Tyler Hill singled up the middle before Brennan was pulled without recording an out. Kevin Hall fell behind new BU pitcher Tyler Thornton before doubling home Weber. Every Shocker starter reached base in the inning and before the dust had settled, WSU had an 8-0 lead for starting pitcher Anthony Capra to work with.

The Braves got on the scoreboard in the top of the second as Matt Fritz hit a sacrifice fly to score Colby Luttrell. WSU crushed any hopes of a BU comeback in the fourth by batting around and tacking on nine runs for a 17-1 lead. Gillaspie led off the inning with a single to be the first of 13 consecutive Shocker hitters to reach base. Ryan Jones, Weber and Coleman each had 2 RBI singles in the inning, while Andy Dirks and McKeever each had an RBI.

WSU scored four more runs in the fifth on an RBI doubles by Hall and Dirks, and RBI singles by McKeever and Coleman for a 21-2 lead.

BU tacked on three runs in the seventh for the final 21-5 margin.

The run-support was more than enough for Capra who went six innings, allowing six hits and one earned run while striking out seven, to pick up his ninth win of the season.

There were plenty of offensive stars for WSU, highlighted by Hill going 4-for-5 at the plate and scoring three runs. McKeever set a new career-best with four RBI, while Coleman and Jones each collected three RBI. Dirks, Gillaspie, Workman, Weber and Hall each had two RBI in the game.

The win marked the first time the Shockers scored 20 or more runs in a game since a 21-1 win at Hawaii-Hilo on Feb. 26, 2005.

WSU will play at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 22, against the lowest remaining seed in the tournament. The Shockers will be in search of their 16th MVC Tournament title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.