Wichita State dealt a decisive 6-1 blow to league-leading Northern Iowa Friday night. With the win, Wichita State moved ahead of UNI by a half game in the standings. Elsewhere in the Valley, Missouri State topped Indiana State 16-5 and Illinois State beat Bradley 16-12. Evansville’s opener with Chicago State and game one of the Creighton – Southern Illinois series were rained out. Both series will start Saturday.

Wichita State 6, Northern Iowa 1

WICHITA, Kan. – (Courtesy UNI Media Relations) The University of Northern Iowa baseball team was held to a season-low one run in a 6-1 loss to No. 8 Wichita State at Eck Stadium Friday night. Four of the Shockers' runs came in innings where the Panthers (25-16, 11-5) had already retired the first two batters.

Guido Fonseca (7-1) was charged with his first loss of the season, giving up five runs in 6.2 innings pitched. Fonseca struck out nine and walked seven while surrendering eight hits.

WSU's Rob Musgrave (7-1) earned the win, giving up just five hits and striking out 12 in the complete-game effort.

Cory Ege finished 1-of-3 with a double. Brett Douglas was 1-of-4 with the Panthers' only run.

The loss drops the Panthers to a game behind the first-place Shockers (34-11, 12-4) in the Missouri Valley Conference standings.

Josh Workman drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first. He moved to third on a single by Andy Dirks and scored on a single from Dusty Coleman to give the Shockers an early 1-0 lead and runners on first and third with one out. Fonseca was able to get Clinton McKeever to ground into a double play to end the inning.

In the bottom of the third, Dirks hit a two-out double off the wall in right center. He moved to third when a pick off attempt by Fonseca went into center field, and scored on a past ball to give the Shockers the 2-0 lead.

Neither team scored again until the bottom of the sixth, when Kenny Williams, Jr., hit a two-out solo home run to right to put the Shockers in front 3-0. The Shockers used a single and two hit batters to load the bases with two outs, but Cory Ege knocked down a ball that was hit up the middle and made the throw to first to retire Andy Dirks and end the inning.

Brett Douglas hit a line drive single off Musgrave's leg to lead off the top of the seventh. Travis Hendrix followed with a single through the left side. Eddie Almonte was hit by a pitch to load the bases for the Panthers with nobody out. Ege grounded into a double play, but Douglas scored to cut the UNI deficit to 3-1.

Fonseca struck out the first two batters in the bottom of the seventh then issued a walk to Ryan Engrav. Tyler Weber hit a home run into right to extend the WSU lead to 5-1.

WSU added a run in the bottom off the eighth when Workman led off the inning with a double and moved to third on a fly out by Ryan Jones. Dusty Coleman hit a sacrifice fly into left to send him home.

The Panthers were held to just five hits in the loss, while Wichita State collected nine. UNI stranded six runners on base, and the Shockers left 11 men on base.

UNI and Wichita State resume the three-game series on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Illinois State 16, Bradley 12

NORMAL, Ill. – (Courtesy Illinois State Media Relations) Trailing 11-7 after six and a half innings of play, senior Kevin Konsler and the Illinois State baseball team (20-23, 4-12) rallied to score nine runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a wild, 16-12, come-from-behind win over interstate I-74 rival Bradley in a Missouri Valley Conference game Friday night at Duffy Bass Field. Konsler, who batted 2-for-2 and tallied a career-high six RBI, helped to put the exclamation point on the frame with a towering, three-run home run to left field, as the two teams combined for 28 runs on 35 hits with nine errors.

Konsler led the Redbird hitting attack, as every starting position player recorded at least one hit in the ballgame. Sophomore Anthony Ruffolo went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI, while freshman Corey Maines tallied career-highs in hits (three) and RBI (three) in his first game back after missing the last six games with an injury. Senior Kyle Cherney also had a solid day at the plate, as the third baseman batted 2-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBI. Junior Kevin Dubler was busy on the base paths, as the catcher went 1-for-3 with a solo home run while he scored four times, the most runs scored in a game since Mike Tokarski scored four times against Indiana State April 15, 2007.

Sophomore Ryan Copeland ran into trouble early, as the left-hander lasted only 3.1 innings and surrendered 11 runs on 13 hits while he walked one and struck out two. However, freshman Kyle Nelson (1-1) was the difference out the Redbird bullpen, as the right-hander threw 4.1 innings and gave up only one run on seven hits, while he walked only one and struck out a career-high five batters.

The bottom of the seventh was the key in the game, as Konsler led off the inning with a walk and freshman Ronnie Calvird reached base on an error from the BU shortstop. The error moved both runners into scoring position, and Maines singled to right field to score Konsler. Freshman Kevin Tokarski (1-for-3, two walks) was then hit by a pitch and all three runners advanced on a wild pitch from BU reliever Brad Altbach (4-5). Calvird scored on the pitch and Maines came across the plate on an error from BU catcher Brett Hendricks as he tried to throw home. Dubler walked to put two runners on base, while Ruffolo delivered a two-out double to left field to plate both Dubler and Tokarski to give the `Birds the lead. Konsler then stepped up and crushed the first pitch he saw deep over the left field wall for a three-run shot, while Calvird singled and Maines recorded his second hit of the inning when he drove an RBI double over the BU left fielder's head.

The Braves struck first in the top of the first inning, as the first two batters of the game laced first-pitch doubles to the gap in left center field and later scored. But the Redbirds came back in the bottom half and took the lead, 3-2, as Tokarski and Dubler walked and each moved a base on a passed ball. Cherney followed with an RBI single up the middle, while Konsler delivered his first big hit of the game, a double to right field to score two runs. However, the lead would be short lived, as Bradley scored three runs in the top of the second to grab a 5-3 advantage.

Copeland faced his biggest test in the top of the fourth, as the first three batters of the frame reached, all on extra-base hits. After Copeland got his first out of the frame, three more runs crossed the plate and forced the left-hander out of the game with two outs. But Nelson came in and struck out Hendricks swinging to stop the damage at 11-4.

The `Birds were able to chip away at the BU margin in the fifth inning, as Dubler was hit by a pitch and Ruffolo walked, setting the stage for Cherney's RBI single to left center field. Konsler then flied out to center to plate Ruffolo, and Maines singled to bring home Cherney and cut into the deficit, 11-7. The Redbirds were unable to get anything going again until the seventh inning, when Illinois State scored its game-deciding nine runs, as only one was earned.

The Redbirds will face I-74 rival Bradley Saturday in game two of their pivotal Missouri Valley Conference series, with first pitch is slated for 2 p.m.

Missouri State 16, Indiana State 5

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – (Courtesy Missouri State Media Relations) The Missouri State baseball team sent 17 men to the plate and scored 11 runs in the fourth inning and got two home runs from Josh Mazzola to win its Missouri Valley Conference series opener with Indiana State by a 15-6 score Friday evening at Sycamore Field in Terre Haute, Ind.

Aaron Conway and Ben Woodbury opened the game with back-to-back singles for the Bears to set up Brayden Drake’s RBI single three batters into the game. Indiana State’s Michael Manus retired the next two batters on foul outs before walking Nolan Keane to load the bases, but got the final out only trailing 1-0 after four Bears reached base in the first.

The Sycamores scored four unanswered runs after that, getting a three-run homer from Nick Ciolli in the first and turning a leadoff triple into a run in the third.

Manus retired eight Bears in a row until one out in the fourth when Keane and Ryan Mantle smacked consecutive doubles to push a run across. Mazzola and Chris Playter drew back-to-back walks to load the bases when the skies opened up with a 1-0 count on Conway.

When play resumed 20 minutes later, Manus completed a walk to Conway to force Mantle home and get the score to 4-3, and Woodbury got the lead back with a two-run single to right-center. Drake singled up the middle to bring Conway home, Carlson was hit by a pitch to load the bases again and end Manus’ day after 3.1 innings. Reliever Clay Kovac hit Kyle Paul with his first pitch to force Woodbury home, a wild pitch let Drake score and Keane walked to reload the bases.

Kovac struck out Mantle and got a 2-2 count on Mazzola to get one strike away from ending the frame, but the MSU first baseman hammered a grand slam to left. A hit batter and two walks loaded the bases yet again before the inning ended, but not before the Bears scored 11 runs and sent 17 men to the plate to gain a 12-4 lead. All nine members of the starting lineup scored at least one run in the fourth.

Starter Tim Clubb sat for nearly an hour after the rain delay and MSU’s 11-run inning and showed some rust, allowing three hits and a run to the Sycamores in the fourth make the score 12-5.

Mazzola struck again in the eighth, slugging his second homer of the game and eighth of the season over the trees beyond the left field wall for a 13-5 lead. Indiana State got that run back in the bottom of frame after opening with a single and a double.

The Bears got two more runs on a Keane double in the ninth. With Kyle Paul on first, Keane lined a ball to the wall in right that Ciolli fielded and threw into the MSU dugout, letting both runners score.

Clubb completed eight innings for the Bears, throwing at least seven innings for the seventh consecutive start and moving his record to 8-0 on the season.

Game two of the series is Saturday at noon (CT).