SPRINGFIELD — Silhouetted against the Bass Pro Shops sign in the Missouri State bullpen, Logan Geha scaled the left-field fence and hung onto it for a while, the No. 4 on his back facing home plate. The Bears outfielder had the best seat in the house, but all he could do was cling to the wall and watch.
What the redshirt junior from Lee’s Summit beheld was the disappearance of Missouri State’s last hopes in Tuesday’s game against Missouri. It took the form of a Clayton Peterson grand slam that put the visiting Tigers up 10-2 and put the game far out of the Bears’ reach — just about as far as the baseball sailed above Geha’s glove.
“It feels great,” Peterson said. “It’s been something that I’ve been trying to work for — not hitting home runs but just getting the barrel to the baseball."
Peterson, who said Sunday after a two-hit game that “the Tigers are hot,” was a major reason why they stayed hot Tuesday. His blast gave Missouri (26-12-1, 7-7-1 Southeastern Conference) its second five-run inning of the ballgame, providing more than sufficient offensive output to dispatch Missouri State (11-25, 4-5 Missouri Valley Conference) 14-6 at Hammons Field in Springfield.
Starter Tommy Springer kept the Bears’ bats quiet in his four innings of work as Missouri’s offense got to work.
“He was really solid,” head coach Steve Bieser said. "He was attacking the strike zone. He settled in and made some good pitches and just kept things going."
Trae Robertson and Trey Dillard allowed no runs through the eighth. Lukas Veinbergs gave up four runs in the ninth, but they came far too late to matter.
Second baseman Mark Vierling had a three-run triple in the third inning and an RBI single in the fifth to help Missouri jump out to the lead. He broke a 1-1 tie with a shot to deep center field that a diving Jack Duffy couldn’t grab, clearing the bases and putting MU up 4-1. Vierling, who thought Duffy caught the ball, was happy he didn’t.
“I’m lucky it got down,” Vierling said. "He made it really close.”
He didn’t need luck for his two other base hits Tuesday, a single and double.
“I just hit really well, and I’ll try to keep it up,” Vierling said.
Alex Peterson’s sacrifice fly promptly scored Vierling, whose single in the fifth brought home the last tally before Peterson unloaded.
In the late innings, a pair of pinch hitters added to the Missouri lead. Cameron Swanger’s home run in the seventh added a pair of runs to the Missouri lead.
“Swanger’s been really good coming off the bench. I like the way that he attacked in all off the at-bats today,” Bieser said.
Connor Brumfield snuck his first home run of the season inside the foul pole in left to lead off the eighth. Another run for good measure in the eighth finally ended the Tigers’ prolific scoring night.
The man who delivered the biggest blow said he was happy to see the Missouri State crowd dissipate as the runs mounted up.
“It’s fun. They brought a huge crowd tonight, and it’s an atmosphere that’s fun to play in front of,” Clayton Peterson said. “It’s fun when we start putting up some runs on the board, and they start scattering.
After Tuesday’s midweek win, a tough SEC series against No. 5 Georgia awaits. The three-game set begins at 5 p.m. Thursday at Athens, Georgia, and Thursday’s game can be seen on ESPNU.
