Every loss provides an extra sting this time of year as the SEC Tournament looms, and Mizzou has put itself in a spot of desperation. Bad baseball in the nation’s best conference yields bad results, and Sunday’s 3-2 loss was a microcosm of Mizzou’s season.
Zach Hise made his eighth start of the season, coming in with an 0-6 record and a 7.28 ERA on the season. On Sunday, Hise pitched as if he had a 6-0 record and a 0.28 ERA. Mizzou supplied Hise with an early lead on a Tre Morris RBI-single in the top of the first. Ty Wilmsmeyer drove in a run on a groundout in the second to give Mizzou a 2-0 lead. Starter Connor Shamblin was pulled after two innings for Alabama.
Mizzou had a chance to increase its lead in the top of the fourth inning when Trevor Austin hit a two-out double. Austin was stranded after Wilmsmeyer struck out against reliever Hunter Ruth. Another opportunity to add on to the 2-0 lead came in the top of the sixth. With no outs and runners on first and second against Jake Eddington, CJ Cepicky grounded into a critical 4-6-3 double play. Eddington struck out Austin to end the top half of the sixth, giving the Tigers zero runs in the frame.
Missed opportunities came back to haunt Mizzou, per usual. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Drew Williamson singled home Zane Denton off of Hise. Hise then got a double play of his own to avoid further damage and maintain a 2-1 lead. It was Hise’s best start of the season. He pitched seven innings of one-run ball, allowing five hits, a walk, and six strikeouts. Hise set a career high with seven innings pitched and tied a career high with six strikeouts. But the tremendous performance wasn’t enough as his bullpen and offense let him down.
Lukas Veinbergs entered the game in relief of Hise in the eighth inning and gave up back-to-back singles. William Hamiter’s sacrifice bunt created chaos as third baseman Cameron Swanger made an errant throw to first. The error scored the tying run for Alabama and moved the runners to second and third. Denton’s sacrifice fly later in the inning scored the go-ahead and game-winning run to make it 3-2. Mizzou went down 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth against Alabama closer Chase Lee, who earned his fifth save of the season.
In a season full of frustrating losses, Sunday ranks towards the top.
“Just a tough way to drop a ball game there and we’ve got to be better than that for Zach Hise,” Missouri head coach Steve Bieser said. “He pitched his tail off today and he deserved a better outcome than that.”
On April 9, things were looking up for Mizzou after an SEC series win over Texas A&M and an upset over 11th-ranked South Carolina in the series opener. The victory over the Gamecocks moved the Tigers to 11-17 on the season and 4-6 in the SEC. Since then, Mizzou has had its worst stretch of the season by losing 12 of its last 13 games, including 10 of 11 SEC matchups. When the offense shows up, pitching and defense never seem to. If the Tigers get a great performance on the mound, the offense usually comes up short.
The double play and error loomed large in Sunday’s loss, depriving Hise from his first win of the season. Plays like those have been the difference in Mizzou winning four or five games that were close losses.
Veinbergs (1-3) received the loss and William Freeman (1-1) earned his first victory of the year. The loss moves Mizzou to 12-29 and 5-16 in the SEC, while Alabama improves to 28-15 and 11-10 in the SEC.
The Tigers are now clinging by a thread to the final spot in the 12-team SEC Tournament, as of now. Missouri leads Texas A&M and Auburn by a half game each. We’re Missouri to miss out on the SEC Tournament, it would be just the second time in eight seasons since joining the league, with the only other season coming in 2014.
Up next for Missouri: a three-game home series against No. 4 Tennessee (34-11, 14-7 SEC) that starts Friday.
