For such a long, bizarre, mind-bending game to end, it was going to take something special.
After winning their first 12 games at Taylor Stadium in 2018, the Missouri Tigers finally dropped a home game to Mississippi State 3-1 on Saturday in 15 cold, wet innings. All appeared right for Missouri (18-6) — which led 1-0 for eight innings — until it didn’t.
The Bulldogs (13-11) brought the game to a 1-1 tie in the ninth, and despite both teams having several opportunities to score in between, it wasn’t until the 15th inning that MSU got the break it needed.
Tyler LaPlante entered and put the first two batters on second and third. After striking out the next two, coach Steve Bieser brought Konnor Ash out of the bullpen to escape the jam. Ash induced a ground ball, but of the weirdest and most unfortunate variety.
Hunter Stovall sent a sharp grounder back to the mound, which ricocheted off of Ash’s leg and into a shallow, vacant right field. It allowed Jake Magnum and Luke Alexander to score, giving the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead in the 15th, their first of the game.
Blake Smith earned the win and the save in the bottom half of the inning, handing Missouri a particularly sour loss in which it had too many failed opportunities.
“We just couldn’t find any offense,” Bieser said.
The game began as a bona fide pitchers’ duel, with Michael Plassmeyer and Ethan Small both starting off with six scoreless innings. The Tigers finally broke through against Small in the seventh, when Paul Gomez brought Alex Samples in to score with a sacrifice fly.
While Small exited the game in the seventh, Plassmeyer kept going, striking out eight and allowing just three hits through eight innings. Rather than going to his bullpen in the ninth with a one-run lead, Bieser put his faith in Plassmeyer to get the complete-game shutout.
“I felt pretty good,” Plassmeyer said. “I mean, I wasn’t ready to come out of the game. I thought I was ready to go for the complete game. But it all just kind of unfolded.”
The junior allowed two singles that led to the Bulldogs' first run of the game. Nile Ball relieved Plassmeyer who left with an impressive line: 5 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts and 1 earned run in 8.1 innings.
“That was masterful, the way Plassmeyer threw the ball,” Bieser said. “I mean, as good as an effort as you can get from a pitcher. I really wanted to give him a chance to see if he could win it on his own. I thought he was the right guy for the job.”
Neither team would score for the next five innings. Through that time, Missouri pitchers Ball and Jordan Gubelman worked masterfully but saw the offense to waste scoring opportunity time after time.
In the 12th, Kameron Misner led off with a bunt single but was caught stealing the very next pitch. In the 13th, Samples led off with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, but was stranded there.
All in all, the Missouri offense shrunk when it needed to rise up. The Tigers hit .083 with runners on base and .077 with runners in scoring position. They hit .192 altogether in 52 at-bats. For a team that ranks among the league’s best in runs scored, it was a strange sight.
“I’m just going to say it’s good pitching,” Bieser said. “That’s all I can say. On our side, they weren’t giving up and on their side they weren’t giving up. There was just a lot of good pitching. Usually with damp weather and the winds blowing in, it’s a good day to pitch.”
Missouri will have to shake off the loss when it hosts the matinee against the Bulldogs tomorrow at 1 p.m. in the rubber game of the series.
“They dealt with the same thing. They’re in the same situation,” Bieser added. “It’s the rubber match tomorrow and we both want it really bad. What I want is my guys to feel hungry and come back and really battle.”
