Mississippi State Baseball Rallies For a 15-inning Victory Over Missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Hunter Stovall was the hero of the day, as his two-run single in the top half of the 15th inning led Mississippi State to a 3-1 victory over Missouri in game two of the Southeastern Conference series Saturday afternoon at Taylor Stadium.

With the win, State improved to 13-11 (1-4 SEC), and Missouri fell to 18-6 (2-3 SEC). State also snapped Missouri’s 15-game home win streak.

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the seventh inning after Alex Samples hit a leadoff double and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Paul Gomez.

The Diamond Dawgs tied the game at one apiece in the ninth inning when Stovall singled, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Elijah MacNamee and then scored on a single by Jordan Westburg.

It took until the 15th inning to find a winner. In the 15th inning, Jake Mangum doubled and Luke Alexander singled to put two runners on base. Stovall then came in the clutch and hit a hard line drive off the Missouri pitcher, which allowed two runs to come home and give State a 3-1 game-ending lead.

MSU also led the hits battle, as the Dawgs had 11 hits against Missouri’s 10. Mangum led the way with three hits, while Stovall also added a pair.

Ethan Small got the start and pitched the first 6.1 innings, allowing seven hits and one earned run. He had seven strikeouts and a walk. JP France came in relief and pitched one shutout inning. Zach Neff pitched 4.2 innings, allowing no runs on three hits with six strikeouts. Blake Smith (2-0) pitched the final three innings to earn the win.

Missouri’s starter, Michael Plassmeyer, pitched 8.1 innings, allowing one run on five hits. Tyler LaPlante (3-1) pitched 0.2 innings, and was charged with the loss after allowing the final two runs.

The series finale will be played today at 1 p.m. CT at Taylor Stadium. It will also be streamed live on SEC Network+.