STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mizzou Baseball (13-33, 6-20 SEC) stunned No. 3 Mississippi State (36-12, 17-9 SEC) with a ninth-inning run to earn the 7-6 victory over the Bulldogs on Friday night at Dudy Noble Field.
Mizzou jumped to the early lead with a two-out, two-run single from senior Mark Vierling in the second inning. The lead was short-lived, as Mississippi State capitalized on a third-inning error to score four runs, three unearned, and take a 4-2 lead. The Bulldogs tacked on another with a two-out double in the fifth to extend the advantage to 5-2.
The Tigers pulled a run back in the fifth as sophomore Torin Montgomery recorded his third hit of the game with a single to left. Montgomery advanced to third on an error by the left fielder and crossed the plate on senior Brandt Belk's sacrifice fly to trim the deficit to 5-3.
Mizzou regained the lead in the sixth, scoring three times on a pair of infield singles. Sophomore Luke Mann sparked the inning with a shift-beating bunt single. A hit-by-pitch and walk loaded the bases with one out before Mann scampered home on a wild pitch. Junior Tre Morris tied the game with an RBI-groundout and fifth-year Andrew Keefer gave the Tigers the lead by legging out an infield single.
A solo home run from Mississippi State tied the game in the bottom half of the sixth and the game moved to the ninth tied at 6-6.
In the ninth, Keefer led off with a single and Montgomery followed with a knock of his own to put two aboard. After a sacrifice bunt from Belk, junior Joshua Day, a Mississippi native, drove home the go-ahead run.
Sophomore Spencer Miles (2-7) recorded the final five outs of the game, including a 1-2-3 ninth, to earn the win on the mound.
"Last night I pitched and threw like 15 pitches and I wasn't sure if I was going to pitch today," Miles said. "I made a joke to our trainer, Matt, and said, 'put me in to close, I'm ready.' And so, I went down to the bullpen, started warming up and I wanted the ball and I got it done."
#ShowMe top performers
- Torin Montgomery: 4-for-5, R
- Andrew Keefer: 2-for-4, R, RBI
- Joshua Day: 2-for-3, R, RBI
- Spencer Miles: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K, W
- Konnor Ash: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 K
HEAR FROM THE SKIPPER
Head coach Steve Bieser on a big win…
"We've been so close for so long and it's really good to finally get this and hopefully we can move on and we've really got to come out and respond tomorrow. This series is not over and we want to come out and get a victory tomorrow."
#MIZ TAKEAWAYS
- The win was Mizzou's first over a top-5 team since May 11, 2019.
- Montgomery's four-hit day was the first for any Tiger this season.
- Vierling's two-RBI night was his sixth of the season, good for second on the team.
- Konnor Ash and Miles combined to not allow a run out of the bullpen over a combined four innings.
- Friday's win was Mizzou's first at Dudy Noble Field.
UP NEXT
Mizzou and Mississippi State wrap the series with a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday afternoon on SEC Network+.
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