Seventh inning outburst lifts Missouri past Tennessee, into SEC Tournament
Trey Harris was well aware of the pressure Missouri faced Saturday. Beat Tennessee, and the Tigers would earn a spot in the SEC Tournament, which begins Tuesday. Lose, and the season would end. Despite those high stakes, even in the minutes after a one-run loss Friday night, Harris said his goal Saturday was simple: to have fun. After all, the game was Senior Day, and the last game in Taylor Stadium — and potentially in a Missouri uniform — for Harris.
As Harris rounded third base in the bottom of the seventh inning, smiling and hollering at the Missouri dugout, he looked to be having plenty of fun. Even more so when he paused a step away from home plate, raised his left leg, and emphatically stomped on the plate, drawing raucous cheers from the fans.
“My grandma, everybody got to see it; my mom, my dad,” Harris said of his homer and ensuing plate-stomp. “It was just one of those moments where it was like, man, that’s crazy. Even the next two innings, my heart was still thumping because I just had so much fun.”
Harris provided the last of Missouri’s six runs in the decisive seventh inning by hitting a three-run homer over the left field wall. The blast finally put out of reach a game that, like the first two games of the series, never saw one team lead by more than a single run. The Tigers won 8-3. They will open the SEC Tournament Tuesday night against South Carolina.
Friday, Missouri coach Steve Bieser called his lineup’s performance in the first two games of the series “inexcusable.” Saturday, after a rain delay that pushed the first pitch back 45 minutes, the Tiger bats continued to struggle. Brian Sharp hit a solo home run in the first inning, but after that, Tennessee starting pitcher Will Neely retired 13 of the next 14 batters he faced. But senior second baseman Matt Berler said the Tiger hitters never panicked — thanks, in part, to the fact that starting pitcher Tyler LaPlante and reliever Nile Ball kept the game competitive.
“We talk about being the team that doesn’t throw the huge punch, but we throw jabs, and the thing was, we were knocking on the door all day today and we finally cracked through, and then the floodgates opened,” Berler said.
By the time Harris stepped to the plate in the seventh inning, those floodgates had already burst. Zach Hanna broke a 2-2 tie by leading off the Missouri half of the inning with a home run that ended up on the football practice field behind center field. Following a Chad McDaniel single and a walk drawn by Brett Bond, Tennessee coach Tony Vitello removed Neely in favor of Garrett Stallings, who had pitched both Friday and Saturday. The first batter Stallings faced, Missouri shortstop Chris Cornelius, bunted a ball right to him. Stallings fumbled it, and Cornelius reached base safely. Tiger runners stood on all three bases with no outs.
That brought another senior, Berler, to the plate. Berler lined a double off the wall in left-center field. McDaniel and Bond scored. Two batters later, Harris’ homer put the game out of reach.
Bieser believes the difference between the first 27 innings of the series and the seventh inning Saturday was simply positive momentum
“I think it was confidence,” Bieser said. “We’ve seen that our offense can be a momentum offense a little bit, and Hanna gets a good swing off and all of a sudden things start to roll our way, and then everybody starts to believe.”
That confidence actually began building in the sixth inning. In the top of the frame, with Tennessee leading 2-1, LaPlante walked the first batter he faced, then allowed that runner to advance to second on a wild pitch. After he walked the following batter as well, Bieser removed him in favor of Ball, who inherited two base runners with no outs. Ball induced a ground out, froze a hitter with a curveball for strike three, and then got one more groundout to get out of the inning unscathed.
“That was the turning point in the game,” Berler said. “He shut down what was looking to be their big inning, and who knows what happens if they open their floodgates.”
In the bottom of the frame, Neely retired his ninth and tenth consecutive Tiger batters by getting both to hit soft grounders. The third batter up, Harris, also hit a ground ball, to Tennessee shortstop Andre Lipcius. Lipcius overthrew first baseman Pete Derkay. Harris advanced to second base. The following batter, Sharp, hit a grounder at Derkis. The ball rolled straight between his legs. Harris scored, tying the score at two runs apiece.
The Tigers will face a quick turnaround from one do-or-die game to another. Bieser said the team will depart for Hoover, Alabama, at 8 a.m. Sunday morning. Tuesday’s games are single-elimination, meaning, once again, if Missouri loses, it goes home. Bieser said the fact that the team just conquered a similar situation bodes well for Tuesday.
“I think we’ve played a lot of games that felt like that,” Bieser said. “But this was the true, you know, winner-take-all, and somebody gets to move on. … It’s good to see your club have to be tested through some of that adversity.”
Despite the quick turnaround, Harris and his teammates squeezed in a little celebration — and a little reflection — before stepping off the Taylor Stadium turf for the final time. Immediately after the game, Harris stood on the side of the field, wearing a headset and facing a camera for an interview with SEC Network. Third baseman Alex Samples snuck up behind Harris and mashed a pie tin full of sour cream onto Harris’ face.
Harris said the sour cream tasted “disgusting.” Yet, he can’t imagine a sweeter way to end his final collegiate rgular season. His team advanced to the SEC Tournament, keeping his four-year goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament alive. He got to play hero in front of his family members, and even stomp on home plate. Most importantly, he achieved the one goal he had set for himself going into the day: He had a lot of fun.
“It was kind of like my career in one game,” Harris said. “I’ve had days where I’ve been really bad, where it was like I’m not even on the field, and then I would kind of find a way to squeak in there, bring some energy. And when it was time to step up, I try to step up and try to get it done. And honestly, I just try to have as much fun as possible.”