Eventually, something had to give.
After knocking a key RBI single in the 9th to bring MU (19-6) within one run before a Mississippi State (13-12) error tied the game, Trey Harris represented the winning run two innings later when he led off the 11th.
The senior flared a 1-1 breaking ball from JP France into shallow left-center for a base hit, and then veered around second to third on a Kameron Misner single to right. The Tigers, owners of a .158 average with runners on base and .091 average with runners in scoring position to this point, had something clicking.
Finally, this time, something gave.
Mark Vierling skied a fly ball to left-center, which was more than plenty deep for the man on third. Harris raced home and beat the tag by a half-second, giving Mizzou a 5-4, extra-inning, series-clinching win and prompting his teammates to flood out of the dugout and swarm the field. As he crossed the plate, it all became clear for Harris.
“It felt like that was the reason I came back to school,” Harris said. “I mean, it was just that moment — it was like, ‘I’m right where I’m supposed to be.’ It felt so great, and I’m happy it happened to a freshman.”
That freshman was Vierling, an infielder out of CBC High School who came into the at-bat 0-4, looking for something to drive.
“I was just trying to barrel something up and elevate the ball,” Vierling said. “I got a pitch that I could hit, so it worked out. We got the W.”
After losing a dreadful game in 15 innings the previous day, Missouri bounced back and defeated MSU in 11 innings on Sunday, claiming its first SEC series win of the year and ending the home stand on a positive note.
For a moment, it was all coming down for the Tigers, who led 2-0 after the first inning but let the Bulldogs vault into the lead in the seventh. Down 4-2 in the ninth, Missouri hadn’t gotten a hit with a runner in scoring position all game, and there was no sign of a reversal in luck.
But pinch hitter Zach Hanna led off with a single. Tony Ortiz, pinch hitting for Chris Cornelius, reached on an error by the MSU pitcher Jared Liebelt, sending Hanna to second. Then came Harris’ hit, a single up the middle that MU desperately needed. The Bulldogs had a tailor-made double play when Vierling sent a ground ball to third, but Jordan Westburg bobbled the ball, allowing Ortiz to score.
Brett Bond and Brian Sharp were both retired, but Missouri had climbed back into the game after appearing dead in the water.
The victory leaves Missouri with a 3-3 SEC record, a mark that the club is more than happy with considering how close it was to 2-4.
“It feels really good,” head coach Steve Bieser said. “We’re going to look back at this as a turning point, where if we don’t win this it’s a huge upfield battle in SEC play, and we knew that. We came into this game and knew that this was a must win for us. It’s early in the season, but still. When you have an opportunity to win a weekend series, you have to take advantage of it.”
Ahead of arguably its toughest challenge ahead in a road series at No. 9 Auburn next weekend, the importance of salvaging a series win after dropping such a brutal loss yesterday cannot be understated. Where last year’s team had a losing conference record, the Tigers have shown through six games that they fit right in.
“We believe in ourselves,” Bieser said. “Our team believes in Mizzou baseball. We have a lot of upper class leadership. The biggest thing is starting to believe, and a win like this really helps you believe.”
