MSU Baseball Earns First SEC Win in Extras at Missouri

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI/MSU Athletics) – Hunter Stovall’s two-run single in the top half of the 15th inning lifted Mississippi State baseball to a 3-1 victory over No. 25 Missouri in Southeastern Conference baseball action Saturday afternoon at Taylor Stadium.

When the teams first met as SEC rivals, MSU beat Missouri 2-1 in 17 innings in the 2013 SEC tournament. This contest was also low-scoring but the Bulldogs were able to snag the victory a little quicker.

MSU improved to 13-11 overall and 1-4 in league play, while Missouri fell to 18-6 and 2-3. The Bulldogs snapped the Tigers’ 15-game home win streak.

“We’re excited to find a way to win about a five-and-a-half hour game,” MSU head coach Gary Henderson said. “It says a lot to hold your concentration as long as we did. Both teams had some great starting pitching and some great relief pitching. All four of our kids today were tremendous on the mound.”

In the 15th inning, Jake Mangum doubled and Luke Alexander singled. After a pair of strikeouts, Stovall hit a hard line drive off the Missouri pitcher and it allowed a pair of runs to come home.

Missouri scored the first in the seventh inning when Alex Samples hit a leadoff double and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Paul Gomez.

MSU tied the contest in the ninth inning when Stovall singled, took second on a sacrifice bunt by Elijah MacNamee and scored on a single by Jordan Westburg.

The Bulldogs got the lead off man on the 12th inning and the first two batters on in the 13th inning but failed to score in each frame.

“When you play 15 innings, you really come away with a hollow feeling if you don’t win,” Henderson said. “We used more than a game’s worth of pitching. It’s special to win like this on the road in these conditions. We have pitched it well both games this entire series. Now, we try to find a way to win a series.”

Ethan Small drew the start and worked the first 6.1 innings, allowing seven hits and one run (earned), with seven strikeouts and a walk. J.P. France threw an inning. Zach Neff worked 4.2 innings, allowing three hits and no runs with six strikeouts. Blake Smith (2-0) pitched the final three innings to get the win.

The Bulldogs finished with 11 hits. Mangum had three of them, while Stovall had two.

Samples had three of Missouri’s 10 hits. The Tigers stranded 16 base runners.

The two teams will face off on Sunday with the series on the line with a 1 p.m. CT first pitch from Taylor Stadium. The series finale will also be streamed live on SEC Network+.