WATERLOO - Friday, a postseason vibe was felt throughout Riverfront Stadium.

That's an unfamiliar feeling for the Northern Iowa baseball squad, which hadn't advanced to its conference tournament in five years entering this season.

Conversely, in the other clubhouse, Missouri State, which has six NCAA Tournament appearances in the last 13 years alone, embraced the occasion on this evening.

That might help explain why the Panthers couldn't quite wrestle away a win from the Bears' clutches, in a 3-2 Missouri State triumph. UNI's errors in both the seventh and eighth innings greatly aided the visitors' effort.

"We've been playing well," noted longtime MSU coach Keith Guttin, whose troops have won eight straight. "Guys just feel like they can come back."

"Bottom line is, we made two physical mistakes and it cost us the ballgame," explained UNI coach Rick Heller, whose 28-22 squad has lost eight of its last 10 league contests.

The Bears (38-14 overall, 18-5 MVC) migrated to the Cedar Valley clinging to faint at-large hopes for the NCAA Tournament, thanks to an RPI of 58. After its 12-2 triumph on Thursday, MSU even saw a slight window of opportunity for an MVC regular season title.

And, on Friday, MSU played with the requisite sense of urgency - in the game's latter stages, anyway.

In a game featuring two teams with batting averages well north of .300, the hosts dented the scoreboard first. In the home half of the fourth inning, senior Brett Featherston smashed a 1-1 delivery deep and over the wall in right field. The solo shot was a roundtripper worth admiring (which the first baseman did, if only for a fraction of a second).

"We were just looking for a spark," Featherston explained. "And fortunately it was a slider. He left it up, and I got a good swing on it."

That, however, was one of UNI's last good swings on a night where it registered just six hits.

And, unfortunately for the hosts, MSU eventually showed its mettle.

In the eighth, for instance, the league's leading hitter, Ben Woodbury, hit a sharp grounder that just slipped through the grasp of UNI third baseman Travis Hendrix. That error plated the go-ahead run, handing the visitors a 3-2 advantage. Until that inning, UNI starter Taylor Sinclair's biting curveball had kept the Bears' bats largely at bay.

"Taylor Sinclair was the best I've seen him this year. … (But) the last 10, 12 games that's how we've been playing: just not good enough to win," said Heller, who lamented his club's overabundance of errors in the last week.

Now, just one regular season contest remains to be played for the Panthers at 2 p.m. today.

Heller's club, now 13-10 in MVC action, is already guaranteed the fourth seed in the conference tournament.

But don't try to tell the Panthers that they're simply playing for pride today.

Panther banter

Despite the Panthers' success this season, according to USA Today Sports Weekly, UNI, with an RPI of 148, has zero shot at receiving an at-large berth into the NCAA tournament. The publication lists Wichita State (No. 40) as "a lock" to make the NCAAs and lists MSU (No. 58) as being "on the bubble."

The Panther coaching staff used ace Nick Kirk in relief Friday, in order to allow him ample time to prepare for next Wednesday's MVC tournament opener. A slew of relievers could see action today.

Benches briefly spilled onto the field in Friday's first inning, when Missouri State baserunner Nolan Keane felt as if he was tagged too hard in a run-down. Order was quickly restored without any fisticuffs.

Contact Kelly Beaton at (319) 291-1456 or kelly.beaton@wcfcourier.com

Missouri St. ab r h bi N. Iowa ab r h bi

Woodbury,cf 4 0 1 0 Embury,lf 4 0 2 0

Keane,rf 3 1 1 0 Hendrix,3b 3 0 1 1

Drake,3b 4 0 1 0 Bra.Douglas,ss 3 0 1 0

Carlson,dh 4 0 0 0 Lopez,dh 4 0 0 0

Mazzola,1b 4 1 2 2 Featherston,1b 3 1 1 1

Mantle,lf 4 0 0 0 Bre.Douglas,rf 2 0 0 0

Hord,c 3 0 0 0 Almonte,c 4 0 1 0

Playter,c 3 0 1 0 Ege,2b 3 1 0 0

Courtwright,ss 2 0 1 0 Ferguson,cf 4 0 0 0

Baumann,p 0 0 0 0 Sinclair,p 0 0 0 0

Frevert,p 0 0 0 0 Kirk,p 0 0 0 0

Totals 31 3 7 2 Totals 30 2 6 2

Missouri State 000 000 210 - 3 7 1

Northern Iowa 000 100 100 - 2 6 2

E - Woodbury; Hendrix, Ege. DP - MSU 1. LOB - MSU 3, UNI 8.

2B - Woodbury. HR - Mazzola; Featherston. HBP - Keane, Bre.Douglas.

SH - Courtwright; Bre.Douglas. SF - Hendrix. CS - Drake.

Pitching summary

Missouri St. IP H R ER BB SO

Baumann 6.1 6 2 2 3 3

Frevert (W, 6-1) 2.2 0 0 0 1 5

Northern Iowa IP H R ER BB SO

Sinclair 7.0 5 2 2 0 4

Kirk (L, 4-6) 2.0 2 1 0 0 2

T - 2:18. Att. - 512.