May 31, 2003
STARKVILLE, Miss. - The Missouri baseball team saw its season come to an end Saturday night at the NCAA Starkville Regional with a 10-5 loss to No. 1 seed Mississippi State. The Tigers finish the 2003 season with a record of 36-22, while the host Bulldogs (42-19-1) will need two wins on Sunday against undefeated and No. 2 seed North Carolina to win its regional.
"It's a difficult end to a great year," Head Coach Tim Jamieson said of his team, which was the first to qualify for NCAA Tournament play since 1996 and the first Tiger squad to post an NCAA win in 12 years. "We came up a little bit short tonight. I'm thankful for my players' effort and the time they put in. I couldn't ask any more from these guys than what they gave tonight, and this entire season."
Mizzou's three starting freshmen all played a role in the Bulldogs scoring a pair of unearned runs to start the game. After right-hander Nick Admire (Lebanon, Mo.) struck out the first two batters, Steve Gendron reached on a single and a throwing error by 3B Zane Taylor (Kirksville, Mo.). Matthew Brinson singled up the middle to score Gendron, and Brinson scored when LF Tyler Williams (Delta, British Columbia) misplayed a fly ball.
The Tigers took the lead in the bottom of the first, however, when senior CF Jayce Tingler (Smithville, Mo.) walked and moved to second on a single down the left-field line by junior SS Ian Kinsler (Tucson, Ariz.). Taylor moved the runners over with a chopper to first, and both came home on junior DH Ryan Rallo's (Chesterfield, Mo.) shot to left, his ninth of the season.
Missouri extended its lead to 4-2 in the third when Kinsler was hit by a one-out pitch and junior Brad Flanders (Smithville, Mo.) reached on catcher's interference. A wild pitch and a balk by MSU starter Jeff Lacher scored Kinsler with an unearned run.
Mississippi State tied the game in the fourth inning with four singles off of Admire, yet Mizzou regained the lead in the bottom half of the fourth with an unearned run after Williams reached on a one-out throwing error by MSU shortstop Matthew Maniscalco. He went to third on a single to right by junior 2B Jeremy Hernandez (Aptos, Calif.), and scored on an infield hit up the middle by Tingler.
Admire nearly lasted the required five innings to be eligible for the win, yet fell one out short before being relieved by junior RHP Andy Shipman (Bellevue, Neb.), who struck out Craig Tatum looking to end a second-and-third threat.
In the sixth, however, Mississippi State batted around, scoring four runs on five hits and three Tiger errors to take an 8-5 lead. Shipman (9-4), who was charged with six runs (four earned), threw the entire inning and was pulled in the seventh for freshman lefty Taylor Parker (Bellaire, Texas).
Tingler finishes his career with the Missouri all-time record for hits (274), walks (168) and runs scored (226). He also finished second in at-bats (784) and stolen bases (66).