Why Missouri State feels like everything is falling into place for it at the MVC Baseball Tournament

When Drake Baldwin stepped up to the plate as the second batter of the game, the star catcher felt the same comfort the Bears have had throughout the first few games of the Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Tournament.

When he sent his second home run out of the ballpark in the last three games, he heard the roar come from a crowd at Hammons Field and he knew he and the Bears had found a different level of play.

And it couldn't have come at a better time.

Baldwin was the first of five different Bears to hit the griddy in the dugout after a home run. An MVC Tournament record-tying 11 runs in the third inning also helped give Missouri State a 19-3 win to eliminate Bradley on Friday afternoon.

"This is the time for and it's the time that matters," Baldwin said. "It's time to win championships."

The possibility of winning a championship seemed like a longshot just a few days before when the sixth-seeded Bears entered the play-in round of the tournament. After a 3-0 start to the week, the Bears are scoring seemingly at will, getting great pitching performances and are well-positioned heading into a 3 p.m. winner's bracket game on Saturday which could advance the Bears to championship Sunday.

A regular season of ups-and-downs could quickly be forgotten if the Bears finish off a remarkable run this weekend and advance to their first NCAA Tournament since 2018.

"We've always been right there," senior Grant Wood said. "I think we lost like 10 one-run games and those could have easily gone the other way. Our record doesn't show what we're capable of."

If the last three games are any indicator of what the Bears are, they're the hottest team in the Valley and they'll have a shot against either Dallas Baptist or Evansville, two teams that swept the Bears earlier in the season, when they know their matchup for Saturday afternoon.

The five home runs on Friday give the Bears 12 over their three games. Forrest Barnes' pitching gem against top-seeded Southern Illinois on Wednesday combined with Adam Link's short start on Friday — thanks to an early 17-0 lead — gives the Bears ammunition heading into a potential Sunday.

"Everything's falling the way we want it to right now," Wood said.

Friday's game couldn't have gone any better when Baldwin got it started with a two-run shot and Cam Cratic quickly followed with a solo homer of his own.

Baldwin found himself up again in the top of the second when he doubled down the right-field line to bring home two runs home. Mason Greer followed with a double off the wall to bring home Baldwin.

A lengthy top of the third saw the Bears tie their own tournament record (2010) for runs in an inning at 11.

With the bases loaded, Baldwin was hit by a pitch before Greer walked two batters later to bring home another run. With two outs, Cratic hit a high pop-up in the infield and the Braves let the ball hit the ground. Two runs came across as Cratic advanced to second after no Brave covered second base.

After a Dakota Kotowski walk, Grant Wood launched a grand slam into the netting between the field and the Bill Rowe Indoor Training Facility. Will Duff tripled right after and Walker Jenkins hit a two-run home run to bring him home.

To cap it all off, Spencer Nivens hit a solo home run to right-center to give the Bears a 17-0 lead.

"We've always been able to do it," Baldwin said. "It just kind of clicks and hitting is contagious. We got some runs, hit some balls hard and it just kept going throughout the game."

Bradley's attempt to replicate the Bears' big inning stopped after one run when Ryan Vogel doubled in a run. The Bears got the run back and added another in the fourth with Wood's double to the right-field corner to bring home Greer and Cratic. The 19th run of the game broke the Bears' Hammons Field record of 18.

Baldwin finished 2-for-3 with a homer, four RBI and three runs of his own. Wood went 3-for-5 with a homer and six RBI. Everyone in the Bears' starting lineup scored at least one run.

"It's a good feeling," MSU head coach Keith Guttin said. "I think with all the position players back healthy, we're getting production from up and down our lineup which helps us a lot."

Missouri State will play at 3 p.m. on Saturday against the winner of Friday night's game between second-seed Evansville and third-seed Dallas Baptist. A win would put the Bears in a position where they can win one of a possible two games on Sunday to clinch the championship and automatic bid.

A loss at 3 p.m. would put the Bears in an elimination game shortly after. If the Bears were to win that, they would then need to win both games on Sunday to come away with the championship.

Baldwin laughed off the idea of Missouri State being a "Cinderella" team in this year's tournament. But if the glass slipper fits, he'll griddy all the way to the NCAA Tournament wearing it.

"We just have to stay present and take it game by game," Baldwin said. "It feels a little more real winning this thing because we know we can. We just need to take it game-by-game as we get closer to the ultimate goal."

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the co-host of Sports Talk on Jock Radio weekdays from 4-6 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: MVC Baseball Tournament: Missouri State eliminates Bradley in beatdown