Mississippi State baseball routed by Missouri 19-8

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Mississippi State baseball team surrendered runs to Missouri in the first six innings, including nine in the sixth, and wound up losing 19-8 on Saturday at Taylor Stadium to even the three-game series.

With the loss, the Bulldogs fall to 25-19 (9-11 SEC), while the Tigers improve to 23-17 (6-14 SEC).

Hits were 17-11 in favor of Missouri. For the Bulldogs, graduate student RJ Yeager was 2-for-5 with one RBI and two runs, while sophomore Lane Forsythe was 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

Every Missouri starter had a hit, scored a run and recorded an RBI. Sophomore Ross Lovich led the way with three hits, four RBIs and two runs, while junior Torin Montgomery recorded three hits, three runs and two RBIs. Sophomore Trevor Austin, senior Josh Day, senior Mike Coletta and junior Nander De Sedas all recorded two hits.

In addition to allowing 17 hits, Bulldog pitchers walked six batters and hit five more. Junior Preston Johnson (3-3) made the start and was charged with the loss after allowing nine runs on eight hits with 10 strikeouts and two walks in four innings. Senior Cam Tullar, sophomore Mikey Tepper and freshman Cole Cheatham combined to pitch the final four innings.

Missouri junior pitcher Spencer Miles (3-4) earned the win despite allowing five runs on seven hits with two strikeouts and two walks in five innings of work. Junior Austin Marozas pitched the final four innings to earn his first save.

In the top of the first inning, Yeager and senior Luke Hancock hit back-to-back singles to begin things, Junior Logan Tanner then drew a walk to load the bases. Sophomore Kellum Clark was hit by a pitch to score one run before junior Kamren James hit an RBI single to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom half of the first, redshirt junior Luke Mann drew a leadoff walk and both Day and Montgomery were hit by pitches to load the bases. Graduate student Fox Leum followed with a grand slam to center field to give the Tigers a 4-2 lead.

Forsythe hit a leadoff triple in the top of the second inning and scored on Hancock’s RBI sacrifice fly to make it 4-3. However, the Missouri scored two runs in the bottom half. Mann homered to left field before Austin doubled and came around to score on Day’s RBI single to left field to make it a 6-3 ballgame.

Lovich’s leadoff home run in the bottom of the third pushed Missouri’s lead to 7-3.

RBI singles by Tanner and Hines cut the deficit to two at 7-5 in the top of the fourth, but RBI hits by Montgomery and Lovich in the bottom of the inning extended Missouri's lead back to four at 9-5.

In the bottom of the fifth, De Sedas singled through the left side, Mann was hit by a pitch and Austin drew a walk to load the bases. Day then drew a bases-loaded walk to give the Tigers a 10-5 lead.

Yeager homered in the top of the sixth inning before the Missouri scored nine runs in the bottom half. Leum was hit by a pitch to begin the inning and Lovich followed with a two-run home run to right-center field. The Tigers then strung together a trio of singles by junior Ty Wilmsmeyer, senior Mike Coletta and De Sedas to score one run. Mann was then hit by a pitch to load the bases and Coletta came in to score on a sacrifice fly. An RBI single by Day and an RBI double by Montgomery scored two more runs before a bases-loaded walk scored a run and Coletta’s two-RBI single to right field scored two more. The inning featured seven hits, two hit batters and a walk, and Missouri led 19-6.

In the top of the ninth, MSU added a run on an RBI double by junior Matt Corder and a run on an RBI single by junior Von Seibert to end the game’s scoring at 19-8.

The series will be decided Sunday at 2 p.m. CT on SEC Network.