SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (3/1/24) – Arkansas State baseball (8-2, 0-0 SBC) fell behind early and could not recover as they fell by a score of 8-2 against Missouri State (5-4, 0-0 MVC) on Friday evening at Hammons Field.
 
Jelle van der Lelie (1-1) made his third start of the season for the Red Wolves, allowing five earned runs on five hits and four walks while striking out three over 2.2 innings pitched. Austen Jaslove and Blake Burris led the bats at two hits apiece, with the latter also recording a home run.
 
Missouri State struck first when Cody Kelly scored on a sacrifice fly from Taeg Gollert to make the score 1-0 in the opening inning.
 
In the top of the third, Blake Burris put A-State on the board with a solo-home run to right field, which is his second dinger of the season. The Bears responded in the bottom frame with an RBI-double from Gollert and an RBI-single from Logan Chambers.
 
A two-run double from Nick Rodriguez capped off a four-run inning for Missouri State as they took a 5-1 advantage. Gollert would strike again in the fourth with an RBI-single, batting in his third run of the contest.
 
After getting a runner on base with a walk in the seventh, Dylan Leach smashed a two-run homer over the right-field wall to make the score 8-1.
 
The Scarlet and Black loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth, but were only able to cash in with one run on an RBI-groundout from Cason Tollett. No more action would ensue as the Red Wolves fell by six runs.
 
Brandt Thompson (2-0) earned the win while van der Lelie took the loss as A-State drops their second consecutive matchup.

NEXT UP
Arkansas State and Missouri State are set for another contest on Saturday, March 2 at Hammons Field. First pitch is set for 2:00 p.m. and can be heard on 95.3/96.9 The Ticket Radio Network along with the A-State Red Wolves mobile app.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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