In what goes down as one of the longest SEC Baseball Tournament games in history, the Mississippi State Bulldogs defeated the Missouri Tigers 2-1 in 17 innings late into the evening on Tuesday night. After an RBI by Hunter Renfroe tied the game at one-one in the bottom of the fifth inning, the game remained scoreless until the deciding RBI by Mitch Slauter in the bottom of the 17th.
As was evident by the combined three runs scored, both teams had solid games both defensively and on the mound.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better game. It’s been a microcosm of this year. I thought Mississippi State did great on the mound, but at the same time we held our own as well,” Missouri head coach Tim Jamieson added.
Six Mississippi State pitchers combined in the effort as Will Cox earned the win finishing out strong on the mound in the final 3.0 innings pitched by the Bulldogs.
“This is a game of opportunity and I thought some guys really made the most of the opportunity, especially Cox; he did a great job for us tonight. Really, our offense was nonexistent, we had a ton of fly balls, a ton of swing-and-miss and their left-hander (Rob Zystryzny) was fabulous; the right-hander they brought in was outstanding (Keaton Steele); they can really pitch,” said Mississippi State coach John Cohen.
“We’ll all probably know (Zystryzny’s) name when he pitches in the big leagues, he’s really good. “I thought our kids battle and these are the kinds of wins that you can say will catapult you when you reach NCAA play,”’ Cohen added.
The win improves Mississippi State to 41-16 while Missouri falls to 18-32 on the year. The Bulldogs will face the Gamecocks of South Carolina following the conclusion of the 4:30 p.m. Texas A&M/Vanderbilt game on Wednesday afternoon. The game comes just after Mississippi State earned a series win over the Commodores during the final week of conference play.
Final Score: Missouri 1 – Mississippi State 2 (17 innings)
Winning Pitcher: Will Cox, Mississippi State (3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO)
